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 objections
Claim 2, line 2, “the second chamber includes a recessed portion” it is unclear and ambiguous. It is not clear if the entire second chamber is the recessed portion or does the second chamber includes a recessed portion?
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.
Claims 1 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simon (EP3657524) in view of Harada (US20130119908).
Regarding claim 1, Simon teaches a power switch comprising: a communication unit 160 communicably connected to an external device (paragraph 36); a relay 110-1 configured to open and close a power line supplying electric power from a power source to a load (paragraph 34); a control unit configured to control the relay based on information received from the external device via the communication unit (paragraphs 37-39); and a housing (141, 142) configured to accommodate the communication unit, the relay, and the control unit, wherein the housing includes a chamber, the chamber is disposed with a first substrate 122, the first substrate being mounted with the relay and constituting a part of the power line (Fig. 6c), and the chamber is disposed with a second substrate 121, the second substrate including the communication unit and at least a part of the control unit (paragraph 42) and being connected to the first substrate. Simon does not teach the housing, including a first chamber and a second chamber separated from the first chamber by a partition wall, the first chamber is disposed with a first substrate, and the second chamber is disposed with a second substrate. However, Harada teaches a similar electronic device with a housing (10-13), housing including a first chamber (space defined by 12, 20) and a second chamber (space defined by 11, 10) separated from the first chamber by a partition wall 13, the first chamber is disposed with a first substrate 12 and the second chamber is disposed with a second substrate 11 (Figs. 1-6 and paragraphs 42-44), as required by claim 1, wherein the first substrate includes a bus bar constituting a part of the power line (paragraph 6), as required by claim 5. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to separate the power circuit from other components such as a communication unit by separating the housing into two chambers as taught by Harada and this will improve electrical isolation, reduce interference and manage heat.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 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.
Regarding claim 2, the prior art fails to teach or show, alone or in combination, the claimed switch wherein the first chamber includes a hollow interior of the housing, and the second chamber includes a recessed portion recessed from an outside toward the hollow interior and opened toward the outside in the housing.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED M SAEED whose telephone number is (571)270-7976. The examiner can normally be reached 10-8pm.
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, Renee Luebke can be reached at 571-272-2009. 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.
/AHMED M SAEED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
Prosecution Insights