DETAILED ACTION
This communication is a first office action on the merits. Claims 1-20, as originally filed are currently pending and have been considered below.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 10-14 and 16-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 27 February 2026. Claim 10 includes language for a spring-preloaded adjustment part not present in Species A but instead present in non-elected Species S and V. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there is no undue burden on the Examiner. This is not found persuasive because at least as shown in the withdrawal of claim 10, searching for the additional features represented in Species S and V for claim 10 were not present in the applied prior art and would pose an undue burden to include these other Species.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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 1-9 and 15 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.
In the last two lines of Claim 1, Applicant describes the locking element as a passive magnetic armature. The intended structure and behavior behind this language is unclear. The locking elements shown in Figs. 1A-5D do not have any suggestion of being a passive magnetic armature. Page 30, lines 29-32 of the Specification describes the locking elements as being “in the shape of bolts”, as being magnetic and “made entirely or partially from a ferromagnetic material, or have one or a plurality of permanent magnets”. The remaining claims 2-9 and 15 inherit this deficiency.
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) 1-9 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Saitoh et al. (US 2006/0174455).
Regarding claim 1, Saitoh et al. discloses an apparatus comprising:
a first closure part (12) comprising a body, and a second closure part (14), said closure parts for closing the closure device are placeable against one another along a closing direction and in a closing position being connected to one another (Fig. 3 as shown); and
at least one locking element (32) disposed so as to be movable on the body of the first closure part, and at least one engagement portion (46) molded on the second closure part, wherein the at least one locking element and the at least one engagement portion in a closing position are mutually engaged in such a manner that the first closure part and the second closure part are locked to one another (Fig. 3 as shown),
wherein the first closure part has a first magnetic installation (34) and the second closure part has a second magnetic installation (48), wherein the first magnetic installation and the second magnetic installation when placing the first closure part and the second closure part against one another mutually interact in a magnetically attracting manner, and the at least one locking element is magnetically configured in such a manner that the at least one locking element in the closing position by way of the first magnetic installation and/or the second magnetic installation is loaded in the direction of engaging with the at least one engagement portion (Fig. 3 as shown),
wherein the first magnetic installation comprises a first permanent magnet (Paragraph 22, line 18),
wherein the second magnetic installation comprises a second permanent magnet (Paragraph 24, line 3), and
wherein the at least one locking element is configured as a passive magnetic armature from a ferromagnetic material (as best understood the embedded magnetic structure meets this limitation).
Regarding claim 2, Saitoh et al. further discloses wherein one of the first closure part or the second closure part has an engagement opening (44), while the respective other of the first closure part or the second closure part has an engagement element (22), which, in the closing position of the closure device, engages in the engagement opening (Fig. 3 as shown).
Regarding claim 3, Saitoh et al. further discloses wherein the at least one locking element is disposed on the first closure part so as to be movable in a linear manner or pivotable in a plane defined by the closing direction and a transverse direction extending transversely to the closing direction (Figs. 1-3 as shown).
Regarding claim 4, Saitoh et al. further discloses wherein the at least one locking element is received so as to be movable in a receptacle opening of the first closure part (Fig. 3 as shown).
Regarding claim 5, Saitoh et al. further discloses wherein the receptacle opening in relation to the closing direction and in relation to the transverse direction extends obliquely in such a manner that the at least one locking element in the receptacle opening is movable along an adjustment direction, which extends obliquely in relation to the closing direction and obliquely in relation to the transverse direction (Figs. 1-3 as shown).
Regarding claim 6, Saitoh et al. further discloses wherein the engagement portion has a first ramp, which extends obliquely in relation to the closing direction, extends in a rectilinear manner, or is curved, and the first closure part in the region of the receptacle opening has a second ramp, which extends obliquely in relation to the closing direction, extends in a linear manner, or is curved, wherein the at least one locking element in the closing position is disposed between the first ramp and the second ramp (Fig. 2 shows the face of the engagement member as a ramp extending in a rectilinear manner, interior surface of the bore 30 facing the aperture 54 wherein locking element 32 is disposed between the two ramps).
Regarding claim 7, Saitoh et al. further discloses wherein at least one of: the first ramp and the second ramp in the plane defined by the closing direction and the transverse direction are disposed so as to be parallel to each other or at an angle of greater than zero or smaller than zero, and one of the ramps has a first portion, which at an angle of greater than zero in relation to the respective other ramp, is disposed in the plane defined by the closing direction and the transverse direction, and a second portion, which at an angle of smaller than zero in relation to the respective other ramp, is disposed in the plane defined by the closing direction and the transverse direction (the ramps as indicated in claim 6 above are parallel to each other and shown in Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 8, Saitoh et al. further discloses wherein the at least one locking element in longitudinal terms extends perpendicularly to the plane defined by the closing direction and the transverse direction, or at least, in portions, extends circumferentially about the closing direction (Figs. 1-3 as shown).
Regarding claim 9, Saitoh et al. further discloses an adjustment part (52) activatable in an activation direction so as to bring the at least one locking element to disengage from the at least one engagement portion in order to release the first closure part and the second closure part from one another.
Regarding claim 15, Saitoh et al. further discloses wherein the second closure part has a base on which the at least one engagement portion is disposed (Fig. 2 shows the engagement portion disposed on the lip of the female member).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chorny (US 2020/0158152) discloses a closure with sliding locking elements arranged in a manner similar to the instant invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL S LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-5735. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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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.S.L/Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/ SPE, Art Unit 3677
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