DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 6 and the claims that depend from claim 6 (claims 7-8), in lines 10 and 13, it is misdescriptive to claim that the first end portion and the second end portion are “to be connected to the slider body”. It is clear from the applicant’s disclosure that the first and second end portions (41, 42, figure 6) are physical and integrally connected to the slider body (21).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a(1) as being anticipated by Honda, US 10212992 B1. Honda discloses a slider (100) comprising a slider body (100) configured to guide elements in a front-rear direction; a pull tab holder (52) provided on a side of the slider body in an up-down direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction and configured to hold a shaft (302) of a pull tab (300); and, a closure member (215) attached to the pull tab holder (figure 1). The pull tab holder (50, 52) includes a first end portion (52) extending from the slider body along the up-down direction; a body (50) extending from the first end portion along the front-rear direction; a shaft-holding space (15) being defined between the body (52) and the slider body (10) in which the shaft is disposed (figure 8); and, a second end portion (54, 55) provided on a side of the body (50) opposite the first end portion (52) to face the slider body (10, figure 5); an insertion gap (as seen in figure 5, reference numeral 15 is positioned in the insertion gap) being defined between the second end portion (54, 55) and the slider body (10, 15) into which the shaft is insertable (figure 8); the body (50) includes a through hole (indicated by reference numerals 54, 55) penetrating through the body in the up-down direction, i.e., it penetrates through the body just shy of extending out the bottom surface of the second end portion, and a pair of side walls (one indicated by reference numeral 56 and the other on the opposite side of the through hole (figure 1) facing each other across the through hole in a right-left direction orthogonal to each of the front-rear direction and the up-down direction. The closure member (215) includes a base (217) provided between the pair of side walls (figure 5); and, a first leg (213) extending from the base to be fitted to the insertion gap (indicated by the location of reference numeral 15 in figure 5) from a side of the shaft-holding space.
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Regarding claims 2 and 3, Honda discloses the pair of sidewalls are in engagement with the sides of the base. And, regarding claim 3, Honda discloses a pair of front-rear opposing surfaces facing one another across the through hole.
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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 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lai, WO 2016135873 A1 in view of Mizuno, US 5621954. Lai discloses a slider with a slider body (40), a pull tab (20), a pull tab holder (43, 44, 45, 45a, 45b, 45c, 45d), a closure member (30). Lai’s pull tab holder has a first and a second end portion, a body, a shaft-holding space defined between the body and the slider body, a through-hole, i.e., the hole that extends from the top edges of the body to the top surface of the slider body, a pair of side holes facing each other across the through hole and first (41) and second (42) fitted portions . Lai discloses a closure body (30) having a base (31a, 31b) located between the pair of sidewalls and a pair of legs (33, 34, figure 8) extending from the base and fitted to the first and second fitted portions. Lai fails to disclose that the first and second fitted portions open shaft-holding space as required by the claim. Lai’s fitted portions open away from the shaft-holding space.
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However, Mizuno discloses a closure member having a pair of legs extending from a base to engage a pair of opposed fitted portions on the pull tab holder body, which open into the shaft-holding space. Mizuno’s arrangement holds the closure member to the pull tab holder equally as well as Lai’s arrangement. The specification fails to disclose any criticality associated with fitted portions opened to the shaft-holding space for attaching the legs. Therefore, it would have been obvious, prior to the earliest effective filing date, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to reverse Lai’s fitted portions/legs holding arrangement to have the fitted portions open to the shaft-holding space and the legs extending into the fitted portions from the shaft-holding space as an alternative design for securing the closure member to the pull tab holder body (as taught by Mizuno).
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Regarding claim 7, Mizuno discloses opposing front-rear surfaces in contact with the closure member.
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Regarding claim 8, Mizuno discloses a front-rear surface that is formed from the body to the second end portion and is in contact with the base and the first leg.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACK W LAVINDER whose telephone number is (571)272-7119. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday 9-4pm (EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason San can be reached at 571-272-6531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JACK W. LAVINDER
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3677
/JACK W LAVINDER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3677