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 § 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 4 and 7-9 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.
Claim 4 recites the limitation “cross-like” which is indefinite.
Claim 7 recites the limitation “plate-like” which is indefinite.
Claims 8-9 are rejected as depending from rejected Claim 7.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nobis, DE Patent 4231003.
Regarding Claim 1, Nobis teaches:
A clip (Fig. 1) having a clip band (see below) which has two ends which can be connected to each other by a clamping apparatus (see below) which has a clamping screw (1) having a head portion (7/8) and a shaft portion (6), wherein the shaft portion has a thread region (Abstract) and the head portion has a clamping head (7) for applying a pretensioning force and an assembly head (8) for tightening the clamping screw, characterized in that wherein the clamping head has a shear plane (see element 9) at the upper side thereof, wherein the shear plane is arranged between the clamping head and the assembly head, wherein the assembly head shears off from the clamping head of the clamping screw at the shear plane if a predefined torque is applied (see Abstract).
**Examiner’s Note: Examiner notes that the above claim contains the claim language “for applying a pretensioning force“ and “for tightening the clamping screw”, and a claim containing a “recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus” if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim because the prior art need only be capable of meeting the claimed limitations. See MPEP 2114 [R-1].
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Regarding Claim 2, Nobis teaches:
Wherein the clamping screw (1) is configured integrally (see 9) with the clamping head (7) and the assembly head (8).
Regarding Claim 3, Nobis teaches:
Wherein the assembly head (8) has at the lower side thereof a conical attachment (see below), wherein the conical attachment is formed between the shear plane (9) and the assembly head (8).
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Regarding Claim 4, Nobis teaches:
Wherein the assembly head (8) has at the upper side thereof a recess (11) for the positive-locking insertion of a tool when the clamping screw (1) is tightened, wherein the recess is cross-like (see Col 3, Lines 25-35, see paragraph [0018] in Machine Translation).
Regarding Claim 5, Nobis teaches:
Wherein the assembly head (8) has at least two sides (10), wherein the assembly head (8) is particularly in the form of a hexagon (10).
Regarding Claim 10, Nobis teaches:
Wherein the clip is a hose clip for securing a hose end to a fixed connection or to a hose connector (see Abstract).
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.
Claim(s) 6-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nobis ‘003 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hersh, U.S. Patent 11,499,585.
Regarding Claim 6, Nobis teaches:
The clamping head has a lower contact side (see below) which produces a pressing contact at the clamping apparatus of the clip when the clamping screw is tightened (see Fig. 1, see drawing selections above).
Nobis does not teach:
The pressing contact is produced over a circumferential pretensioning lip at the contact side.
Hersh teaches a threaded fastener with a:
a circumferential pretensioning lip at the contact side (see 26).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide Nobis with a circumferential lip such as that taught by Hersh because that would provide a tension which reduce the likelihood of the threaded fastener becoming unfastened.
Regarding Claim 7, Nobis as modified by Hersh in the instant combination would meet the limitations as claimed (see annotated drawing selection below).
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Regarding Claim 8, Nobis as modified by Hersh does not explicitly teach the limitations as set forth in the instant claim. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to provide Nobis-Hersh with the claimed dimensions because Applicant has not provided any criticality for the claimed dimensions and “where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. See MPEP 2144.05 [R-5].
Regarding Claim 9, Nobis as modified by Hersh would satisfy the limitations of these claims because the pretensionsing lip is conical (see Fig. 2) and the position (see rejection above) would satisfy the limitations as set forth.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW J SULLIVAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5218. The examiner can normally be reached IFP, Typically M-Th, 8:00-6:00, regular Fr availability.
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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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/M.J.S/Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/SPE, Art Unit 3677