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 AIA . Claims 1-16 are pending in the current application.
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, 8, 9, and 16, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Krumpelman et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 9,218,927 B2, hereinafter “Krumpelman”).
Specifically, regarding Claim 1, Krumpelman discloses a mechanical key component, comprising a circuit board (520; FIG. 5A) with a first sensing electrode (570; FIG. 5A), an elastic element (540, 560; FIG. 5A) disposed on the circuit board (520), wherein a movable portion (540) of the elastic element (540, 560) is connected to a second sensing electrode (col. 11, ll. 60-63), and a key cap (510; FIG. 5A) movably disposed on the elastic element (540, 560), wherein the elastic element (540, 560) enables the key cap (510) to move between an unpressed position and a pressed position (FIGS. 5A and 5B), and the movable portion (540) drives the second sensing electrode to move relative to the first sensing electrode (570) without contacting the first sensing electrode (570; FIG. 5B), wherein, when a first sensing signal is provided to at least one of the first sensing electrode (570) and the second sensing electrode (col. 5, ll. 45-64), a coupling capacitance is formed between the first sensing electrode (570) and the second sensing electrode (col. 5, ll. 45-64), and in response to the key cap (510) being moved between the unpressed position and the pressed position, the coupling capacitance changes to indicate whether the key cap (510) is in the unpressed position or the pressed position (col. 5, ll. 45-64), wherein, in response to the key cap (510) moving between the unpressed position and the pressed position along a first direction, the movable portion (540) drives the second sensing electrode to move relative to the first sensing electrode (570) along a second direction (FIGS. 5A and 5B), the second direction is parallel to a surface of the circuit board (520), and the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction (compare du and dp; FIGS. 5A and 5B).
Regarding Claim 8, Krumpelman discloses that the key cap (510) is moved between the unpressed position and the pressed position along a first direction (a z direction; FIGS. 5A and 5B), and the movable part drives the second sensing electrode to move relative to the first sensing electrode (570) along the first direction (FIGS. 5A and 5B; col. 5, ll. 45-64).
Claim 9 includes language substantially similar to that of Claim 1 and is rejected for reasons at least similar to those discussed above with respect to Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 16, Krumpelman discloses that the key cap (510) is moved between the unpressed position and the pressed position along a first direction (a z direction; FIGS. 5A and 5B), and the movable part drives the second sensing electrode to move relative to the first sensing electrode (570) along the first direction (FIGS. 5A and 5B; col. 5, ll. 45-64).
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 of this title, 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 6, 7, 14, and 15, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krumpelman.
Krumpelman discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention but does not disclose the claimed fourth sensing electrode and the claimed fifth sensing electrode.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize such electrodes to increase detection reliability and positioning between adjacent electrodes since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 U.S.P.Q. 8.
Claims 14 and 15 include language substantially similar to that of Claims 6 and 7, respectively, and are rejected for reasons at least similar to those discussed above with respect to Claims 6 and 7, respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 and 10-13 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY R. JIMENEZ whose telephone number is 313-446-6518. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 1030am - 9pm.
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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.
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/ANTHONY R JIMENEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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