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)(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) 1-2, 6 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Uno (US 2018/0024649).
Regarding claim 1:
Uno discloses:
Claim 1
Uno
1. (Currently Amended) An input device, comprising:
Abstract
a capacitance-type touch sensor;
Paragraph 44: "a capacitance-style touch panel"
an operating element rotatably mounted on the touch sensor, the operating element including at least one conductor there inside, the conductor being able to capacitively couple to the touch sensor and configured to rotate when the operating element is rotated, and the operating element further including
Fig. 1; contact point 5 is a conductor as per paragraph 43, and it rotates as per paragraph 38
a fixed part fixed on the touch sensor;
Paragraph 38: holder unit 3
a rotating part rotatably attached to the fixed part via a shaft; and
Paragraph 38: "rotation-shaft hole"
a plurality of capacitance changing parts in a space overlapping a region where the conductor rotationally moves, said capacitance changing parts being provided only on a bottom surface of the fixed part facing the capacitance-type touch sensor; and
Paragraph 33: contact points 4; they are only on the bottom as best seen in Fig. 2A; as Fig. 1D it can be seen both contact points 4 and 5 are "overlapping" to the extent this is defined by the claim
a detection means configured to detect a rotation angle of the operating element based on a change in capacitance of the capacitance changing parts when the operating element is rotated.
Paragraph 46
Regarding claim 2:
Uno discloses:
wherein the plurality of capacitance changing parts are arranged at intervals corresponding to the rotation angle to be detected per one rotational move (paragraphs 65-66: the interval between the parts 4 is used to determine the reference angle for one rotation).
Regarding claim 6:
Uno discloses:
wherein the operating element includes a fixed part fixed on the touch sensor (Fig. 2A: 3) and a rotating part rotatably attached to the fixed part (Fig. 2A: 2), and the capacitance changing parts are situated on the fixed part (these are Fig. 2A: 4).
Regarding claim 8:
Uno discloses:
the plurality of capacitance changing parts protrude from the fixed part in a rotation axis direction of the operating element (as per Fig. 2 they protrude downward. The rotation axis is vertical running through the center so this is a rotation axis direction).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3:
The closest prior art of record, Uno, does not teach or suggest wherein the capacitance changing parts are insulating members provided to the operating element. Instead these are the opposite, conductive members.
Regarding claim 4:
It is dependent on claim 3.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER RAY LAMB whose telephone number is (571)272-5264. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00 PM.
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/CHRISTOPHER R LAMB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2622