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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is a continuation of the PCT Application PCT/JP2023/016984, being filed on April 28, 2023.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in present Application filed on November 15, 2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed November 15, 2024 have been submitted for consideration by the Office. It has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Applicants must continue to submit prior art references throughout the patent application process. A supplemental IDS must be submitted if prior art is discovered through a foreign patent application or an International Patent Search, or a related application before a prosecution closes.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 102 which forms the basis for all rejections set forth 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.
(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 1-2, 4-7, 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) (whichever apply) as being anticipated by Kato et al. (JP2008-305656 (cited reference, see IDS submitted on 11/15/2024), herein referred to as Kato) Shinya et al. (JPH11-260151 (cited reference, see IDS submitted on 11/15/2024), herein referred to as Shinya).
Rejection of claim 1, Kato (see figures 1-3; paragraphs 0007-0032) or Shinya (figures 1-5 and specification) discloses a wiring harness, comprising:
a plurality of wires and an exterior member for covering the plurality of wires; the exterior member including a tape member to be wound to bundle the plurality of wires (see wires covered by a covering tape member in the figures of Kato; or see wires covered by a covering tape member in the figures of Kato),
a tape cutting wire being provided such that an intermediate part in a length direction is covered by the tape member, the tape cutting wire being capable of cutting the tape member by an end part in the length direction being pulled (see a tear wire 4 in the figure of Kato; or see a tear wire 1 in the figure of Shinya).
Rejection of claim 2, Kato (see figures 1-3; paragraphs 0007-0032) or Shinya (figures 1-5 and specification) discloses the wiring harness of claim 1, wherein the tape cutting wire is a wire dedicated for tape cutting (see specification of Kato or Shinya).
Rejection of claim 4, Kato (see figures 1-3; paragraphs 0007-0032) The wiring harness of claim 2, Kato discloses the wiring harness of claim 2, wherein the tape cutting wire is made of a single material (see material of 4 disclosed in the Kato).
Rejection of claim 5, Kato (see figures 1-3; paragraphs 0007-0032) or Shinya (figures 1-5 and specification) discloses the wiring harness of claim 1, wherein the tape cutting wire includes at least one of the plurality of wires (see the figures Kato or Shinya).
Rejection of claim 6, Kato (see figures 1-3; paragraphs 0007-0032) or Shinya (figures 1-5 and specification) discloses the wiring harness of claim 1, wherein the tape cutting wire has an angular transverse cross-sectional shape (see wire 4 in the figure 3 of Kato; or See figure 3(b) of Shinya) .
Rejection of claims 7 and 10, Kato (see figures 1-3; paragraphs 0007-0032) or Shinya (figures 1-5 and specification) discloses the wiring harness of claim 1, wherein the tape member includes an inner tape member helically wound on the plurality of wires such that parts in a width direction of the tape member overlap 9claim 7); and wherein the exterior member is composed only of the tape member (see the covering tape member in the figures of Kato; or see the covering tape member in the figures of Shinya).
Rejection of claims 11-12, Kato (see figures 1-3; paragraphs 0007-0032) or Shinya (figures 1-5 and specification) discloses the wiring harness of any one of claim 1, comprising:
terminals to be fixed to both end parts of each of the plurality of wires; fixing members to be fixed to both end parts of the tape cutting wire; and connectors, the terminals and the fixing members being fixed to the connectors; wherein the fixing members are terminals (see connectors 5 wherein tear wire 4 and other wires with contacts are connected to corresponding terminals holes or openings in figures of Kato; wherein Kato further discloses it is crimped or made pressure contact piece; and in the first half of the terminal 10 is an existing one having an elastic piece inside a rectangular cylindrical peripheral wall).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato or Shinya.
Rejection of claim 3, Kato or Shinya discloses the wiring harness of any one of claim 1 fails to disclose wherein the tape cutting wire is thinner in diameter than the plurality of wires.
Examine makes official notice that the tape cutting wire is thinner in diameter than the plurality of wires (see applicant and examiner cited references ). Because Smaller in size of wire is sufficient enough to cut the tape thefore it would be more economical as well as it is be easily identifiable from electric wires.
It would have been obvious to ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to modify the wiring harness of Kato or Shinya to have size of tear or cutting wire for the reason given in the examiner official notice above.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato and additionally or alternatively Takano et al. (US9595791, herein referred to as Takano).
Rejection of claim 13, Kato discloses the wiring harness of any one of claim 1fails to discloses wherein the fixing members are rubber plugs.
It would have been obvious to ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to modify the wiring harness of Kato to have pressure contact piece made of rubber material is well known and old so that it provides elasticity and able to absorb stress thefore prevent or reduce damage due to any contact resistance between terminal and connector.
Additionally or alternatively, Takano discloses the fixing members are rubber plugs used for fixing end of wires (5 or 50 in figures 1A-7B) .
It would have been obvious to ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to modify the wiring harness of Kato to have rubber plugs to fix the wires ends to connector holes, furthermore it provides waterproofness and provides elasticity and able to absorb stress thefore prevent or reduce damage due to any contact resistance.
Pertinent Prior Arts
The prior arts made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please refer to the enclosed PTO-892 form for the citation of pertinent arts in the present case, all of which disclose various wire harnesses.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9 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 1 and any intervening claims.
Communication
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PARESH PAGHADAL whose telephone number is (571)272-5251. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00AM-4:00PM, Monday - Thursday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Timothy Thompson can be reached on (571)272-2342. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PARESH PAGHADAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847
Prosecution Insights