DETAILED ACTION
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being antipated by Lee (KR10-2021-0136718) Lee teaches a flange portion (100) having a through hole (110) formed therein; an electrode rod (200) inserted through the through hole formed in the flange portion; a sensor unit (300) provided at an upper end of the electrode rod to detect partial discharge ultra-high frequency; a sealing member (50/500) provided between the electrode rod and the flange portion and a cover member 400 supporting a lower end of the sealing member. See fig. 3 for example.
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) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (KR10-2021-0136718).
Regarding claim 2, Lee teaches the salient features of the claimed invention except for wherein the flange portion is integrally formed to include a bottom portion formed in a circular plate shape having a first diameter and a protrusion portion formed in a columnar shape having a second diameter by protruding from a center of the bottom portion. A second embodiment of Lee (fig. 2) teaches that it was known to form the flange portion integrally formed to include a bottom portion formed in a circular plate shape having a first diameter and a protrusion portion formed in a columnar shape having a second diameter by protruding from a center of the bottom portion. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to utilize the features of fig. 2 for the purpose of improved support for the rod.
Regarding claim 3, Lee teaches the salient features of the claimed invention except for the sealing member includes a first O-ring coupled to a surface of the bottom portion of the flange portion, and a second O-ring coupled to an inner circumference of the protrusion portion of the flange portion. Fig 1 of Lee teaches that it was known to provide a first O-ring coupled to a bottom portion of a flange portion, and a second O-ring coupled to an inner circumference of a protrusion portion of the flange portion. See fig. 1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to utilize the features of fig for the purpose of further improved support of the rod and improved insulation.
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.
Conclusion
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/CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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