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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
Claims 1 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Torres et al. (US Patent No. 11294431 B2 and Torres hereinafter)
Regarding Claim 1, Torres discloses (figs. 1-12B) a central housing of a foldable electronic device for pivotally connecting at least one first pivoting module and at least one second pivoting module, the central housing of the foldable electronic device comprising: at least two base shell units (22), each of the base shell units including a body block (14), a track block (46) , at least one first inner arc-shaped slider (30) and at least one second inner arc-shaped slider (30), wherein the track block extends outward from a side of the body block along a first direction (folding axis), the first inner arc-shaped sliders and the second inner arc-shaped sliders are respectively formed on the body block at intervals from each other (fig.10), the first pivoting module pivots (P1) relative to the body block via the first inner arc-shaped sliders, and the second pivoting module pivots (P2) relative to the body block via the second inner arc-shaped sliders; and at least one connecting shell unit (24) connected to any two of the base shell units, wherein the base shell units and the connecting shell unit are integrally formed (fig.11).
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Regarding Claim 8, Torres discloses (figs. 1-12B) the central housing of the foldable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the connecting shell unit and the base shell units are formed by a 3D printing process (product by process, MPEP §2113).
Regarding Claim 9, Torres discloses (figs. 1-12B) the central housing of the foldable electronic device of claim 8, further comprising a continuous bottom surface, wherein each of the base shell units further includes a base bottom surface, the connecting shell unit includes a connecting bottom surface, and the base bottom surfaces and the connecting bottom surface are connected to each other to jointly form the continuous bottom surface (shows in fig.11).
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Regarding Claim 10, Torres discloses (figs. 1-12B) the central housing of the foldable electronic device of claim 8, wherein the connecting shell unit has a roughly U-shaped cross section (fig.11).
Regarding Claim 11, Torres discloses (figs. 1-12B) the central housing of the foldable electronic device of claim 8, wherein each of the base shell units further includes a screw lock hole (col 5, lines 30-35).
Regarding Claim 12, Torres discloses (figs. 1-12B) the central housing of the foldable electronic device of claim 8, wherein a height of the connecting shell unit is less than a height of any of the base shell units.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 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.
Regarding claim 2, the prior art fails to disclose, “ wherein the body block has a first protruding portion and a second protruding portion spaced apart from each other, the second protruding portion is located between the first protruding portion and the track block and is adjacent to the track block, the connecting shell unit is connected to a side of the first protruding portion away from the second protruding portion or is connected to a side of the second protruding portion away from the first protruding portion, and the track blocks are respectively formed on the connecting shell unit.”
Claims 3-7 are objected being depend on claim 2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROCKSHANA D CHOWDHURY whose telephone number is (571)272-1602. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8 AM - 4:30 PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Allen L Parker can be reached at 303-297-4722. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROCKSHANA D CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841