DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-6 and 8-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yairi et al. (Pub # US 2015/0331525 A1).
Consider claim 1, Yairi et al. clearly shows and disclose a tactile sense providing apparatus, comprising: a base member (110, Fig. 1A) that includes a fluid-inlet-and-outlet opening (fluid channel) (112, Fig. 1A); and a tactile sense providing layer (122, Fig. 1A) that forms a space (130, Fig. 1A) between the base member (110, Fig. 1A) and the tactile sense providing layer (122, Fig. 1A), the space (130, Fig. 1A) accommodating therein fluid (170, Fig. 1A) that flows into and out of the space (130, Fig, 1A) through the fluid-inlet-and-outlet opening (112, Fig. 1A), the tactile sense providing layer (122, Fig, 1A) including a tactile sense providing film (a thin sheet of any material) (121, Fig. 1A) that is deformed in response to the inflow or outflow of the fluid (Fig. 1B), and a wall-formed base-member-fixed portion (fluid conduit) (114, Fig. 1A) that is fixed to the base member (110, Fig. 1A) and surrounds the tactile sense providing film (121, Fig. 1A), the base-member-fixed portion exhibiting a lower rate of deformation caused between before and after the fluid flows into the space than the tactile sense providing film [0020-0021].
Consider claim 2, Yairi et al. clearly shows and discloses the tactile sense providing apparatus, wherein the space (114, Fig. 1A) is formed by the base member (110, Fig. 1A), the tactile sense providing film (121, Fig. 1A), and the base-member-fixed portion (112, Fig. 1A) [0020].
Consider claim 3, Yairi et al. clearly shows and discloses the tactile sense providing apparatus, wherein a portion of the wall-formed base-member-fixed portion (fluid conduit) (114, Fig. 1A) that forms the space (fluid channel) (112, Fig. 1A) is thicker than the tactile sense providing film (121, Fig. 1A) [0020].
Consider claim 4, Yairi et al. clearly shows and discloses the tactile sense providing apparatus, wherein the tactile sense providing layer (121, Fig. 1A) is formed by integral molding (attached forming one structure) (Fig. 1A) [0024].
Consider claim 5, Yairi et al. clearly shows and discloses the tactile sense providing apparatus, wherein the tactile sense providing layer (121, Fig. 1A) is bonded to be fixed to the base member (110, Fig. 1A) by an inner wall surface of the wall-formed base-member-fixed portion (fluid conduit) (114, Fig. 1A) and the base member (110, Fig. 1A) being brought into contact with each other [0040].
Consider claim 6, Yairi et al. clearly shows and discloses the tactile sense providing apparatus, wherein the tactile sense providing layer (121, Fig. 1A) is bonded to be fixed to the base member (110, Fig. 1A) by a bottom surface of the wall-formed base- member-fixed portion (fluid conduit) (114, Fig. 1A) and the base member (110, Fig. 1A) being brought into contact with each other [0040].
Consider claim 8, Yairi et al. clearly shows and discloses the tactile sense providing apparatus, further comprising a housing that accommodates therein a tactile sense providing module that includes the base member and the tactile sense providing layer, wherein the wall-formed base-member-fixed portion includes a protrusion that protrudes outward in a direction of a thickness of the wall-formed base-member-fixed portion, the protrusion determining positions of the housing and the tactile sense providing module [0037].
Consider claim 9, Yairi et al. clearly shows and discloses the tactile sense providing apparatus, wherein the tactile sense providing apparatus comprises a plurality of the tactile sense providing modules, and the housing accommodates therein the plurality of the tactile sense providing modules [0037].
Consider claim 10, Yairi et al. clearly shows and discloses the tactile sense providing apparatus, wherein the wall-formed base-member-fixed portion and the base member are mated to each other using a screw structure [0039].
Consider claim 11, Yairi et al. clearly shows and disclose a tactile sense providing layer that is used in a tactile sense providing apparatus that includes a base member (110, Fig. 1A) that includes a fluid-inlet-and-outlet opening (fluid channel) (112, Fig. 1A) and the tactile sense providing layer (121, Fig, 1A) forming a space (114, Fig. 1A) between the base member (110, Fig. 1A) and the tactile sense providing layer (121, Fig. 1A), the space accommodating therein fluid (170, Fig. 1A) that flows into and out of the space through the fluid-inlet-and-outlet opening (112. Fig. 1A), the tactile sense providing layer (121, Fig. 1A) comprising, in a state of being included in the tactile sense providing apparatus, a tactile sense providing film (121, Fig. 1A) that is deformed in response to the inflow or outflow of the fluid (Fig. 1B); and a wall-formed base-member-fixed portion (fluid conduit) (114, Fig. 1A) that is fixed to the base member (110, Fig. 1A) and surrounds the tactile sense providing film (121, Fig. 1A), the base-member-fixed portion exhibiting a lower rate of deformation caused between before and after the fluid flows into the space than the tactile sense providing film [0021].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yairi et al. (Pub # US 2015/0331525 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ciesla (Pub # US 2009/0174673 A1).
Consider claim 7, Yairi et al. teaches the tactile sense providing apparatus includes the base member and the wall-formed base-member-fixed portion are in contact with each other, and the base member and the wall-formed base-member-fixed portion are fixed to each other using an adhesive provided to the contact region [0040].
Yairi et al. does not teach wherein the base member includes a hole in a contact region.
In the same field of endeavor, Ciesla teaches wherein the base member includes a hole (cavities) (520a-r, Fig, 5) in a contact region [0031] for the benefit of inflated and deflated the surface based on the application.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include wherein the base member includes a hole in a contact region as shown in Ciesla, in Yairi et al. device for the benefit of inflated and deflated the surface based on the application.
Conclusion
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/JACK K WANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686