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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1, 6-10, and 15 in the reply filed on 08/05/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 2-5 and 11-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Amemiya et al (US 2003/0,007,322; hereinafter Amemiya) in view of Okajima et al (US 2017/0,033,445; hereinafter Okajima).
Regarding claims 1 and 15, Amemiya disclose a communication apparatus (100; Figs. 1-3; paras. [0063]-[0066]), comprising:
a metallic casing (3B) in which a through-window (37) for communication waves to pass therethrough is formed (an antenna is disposed in the through-window 37 formed in the metallic panel 3B allows radio waves to be securely received by the antenna or transmitted from the antenna without being intercepted by the metallic panel; paragraphs [0011], [0066], [0112]; Figs. 3, 5, 25(A)-(B));
a non-metallic member (3A) that is provided inside the metallic casing (3B) and reinforces the metallic casing (3B) (para. [0066], Figs. 2, 3, 5, 25(C)); and
a cover part (41) made of a non-metallic material formed separately from the non-metallic member (3A) and arranged exposed as viewed from outside of the metallic casing (3B) to cover the through-window (37) (paras. [0066], [0112], [0143]; Figs. 3, 25(B)). Although Amemiya disclose the non-metallic cover part (41) may be made from plastic (¶ [0112]), Amemiya do not explicitly disclose the cover part is made of resin. In the same field of endeavor, Okajima disclose a cover part (resin frame) made of a resin to cover a through-window (21) (¶ [0036]; Figs. 1-2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to do so in order to utilize different/alternative types of non-metallic material since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 6, Amemiya and Okajima disclose the communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest:
the non-metallic member has a base part formed to cover the through-window, and
the cover part is connected to outside of the base part.
Regarding claim 7, the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest the communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the base part has a recess part formed in the outside of the base part, and the cover part is formed in the recess part.
Regarding claim 8, the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest the communication apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the base part is formed to cover an inner peripheral surface of the through-window.
Regarding claim 9, the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest the communication apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the cover part is formed by injection-molding a resin material in the recess part.
Regarding claim 10, the cited prior art fails to further disclose or fairly suggest the communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the cover part is attached to the outside of the base part.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
- Yoo et al (US 2018/0,083,663) disclose a case assembly for a mobile terminal having casings formed of resin or metal at the side and rear surfaces of the mobile terminal
- Jang et al (US 2017/0,063,424) disclose a mobile terminal mounted with a cover for the display unit and provided with a window portion that may be formed to expose at least part of the display unit while covering the display
- Choi et al (US 2025/0,366,353) disclose an electronic device that include a window at the uppermost portion and a resin layer disposed below the base glass to correspond to the display portion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LANA N LE whose telephone number is (571) 272-7891. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-5:00pm.
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/LANA N LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648
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