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 of the AIA .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for domestic priority under 35 U.S.C. 120. The PCT Application Number PCT/JPO2023/037510, being filed on October 17, 2023.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in present Application No. 18/932,754, filed on October 31, 2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed December 10, 2024 and October 31, 2024 has been submitted for consideration by the Office. They have been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings were received on October 31, 2024. These drawings are approved.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words. It is important that the abstract not exceed 150 words in length since the space provided for the abstract on the computer tape used by the printer is limited. The form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as "means" and "said," should be avoided. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, "The disclosure concerns," "The disclosure defined by this invention," "The disclosure describes," etc.
Extensive mechanical and design details of apparatus should not be given.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because in lines 2-3, the abstract contains run on sentences, which is improper language for the abstract. The applicant should correct all instances of run on sentences, to provide the abstract with proper language. Correction is required. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 and 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sawamura (JP Pat Num 2011-081918A). Sawamura discloses an electrical wire terminal (Figs 1A-1C), for usage with an wire harness of an automobile (Paragraph 2), that has a watertight structure that prevents water from entering the inside of an electrical wire (Paragraph 1), at a lower cost (Paragraph 10). Specifically, with respect to claim 1, Sawamura discloses an electric wire (10, Figs 1A-1C) with a terminal (20) comprising an electric wire (10) that includes a conductor (12) including a plurality of element wires (11) and an insulation sheath (13) covering an outer periphery of the conductor (12), and that includes therein a conductor exposed portion (A) in which the conductor (12) is exposed from the insulation sheath (13), and a conductor covered portion (located at 13) in which the conductor (12) is covered with the insulation sheath (13), wherein the conductor exposed portion (A) includes a single wire (B), wherein the single wire (B) being disposed at an end of the conductor (12), and the single wire (12) being continuously and integrally connected to the plurality of element wires (11, Fig 1A), a covering material (30) that spans a portion of the single wire (B) and a portion of the insulation sheath (13) to cover an entire surface of a bundle of the plurality of element wires (11) of the conductor exposed portion (B) and a terminal (20) that includes a conductor connector (24) connected to the single wire (B) and a terminal connector (22) configured to be connected to a mating terminal (i.e. bolt, not shown, Paragraph 23), wherein the conductor connector (24) is disposed at one end of the terminal (20), and the terminal connector (22) is disposed at the other end of the terminal (20, Fig 1B). With respect to claim 3, Sawamura discloses a method of manufacturing an electric wire (10) with a terminal (20) comprising a step of covering an entire surface of a bundle of a plurality of element wires (11) of a conductor exposed portion (A) with a covering material (30) by the covering material (30) spanning a portion of a single wire (B) and a portion of an insulation sheath (13), in an electric wire (12) that includes a conductor (12) including the plurality of element wires (11) and the insulation sheath (13) covering an outer periphery of the conductor (12), and that includes therein the conductor exposed portion (A) in which the conductor (12) is exposed from the insulation sheath (13), and a conductor covered portion (located at 13) in which the conductor (12) is covered with the insulation sheath (13), wherein the conductor exposed portion (A) including the single wire (B), wherein the single wire (B) being disposed at an end of the conductor (12), and the single wire (B) being continuously and integrally connected to the plurality of element wires (11) and a step of connecting the single wire (B) to a conductor connector (24) of a terminal (20) including the conductor connector (24) and a terminal connector (22) configured to be connected to a mating terminal (i.e. bolt, Paragraph 23), wherein the conductor connector (24) is disposed at one end of the terminal (20), and the terminal connector (22) is disposed at the other end of the terminal (20, Fig 1B). With respect to claim 4, Sawamura disclose the method wherein the single wire (B) is formed by welding the plurality of element wires (11) by ultrasonic welding (Paragraph 24).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sawamura (JP Pat Num 2011-081918A) in view of Takaishi (Pub Num 2020/0266558). Sawamura discloses an electrical wire terminal (Figs 1A-1C), for usage with an wire harness of an automobile (Paragraph 2), that has a watertight structure that prevents water from entering the inside of an electrical wire (Paragraph 1), at a lower cost (Paragraph 10), as disclosed with respect to claim 1 above. Specifically, with respect to claim 2, Sawamura discloses that the inner peripheral surface of the covering material (30) contain a water sealant agent (31, Paragraph 26).
However, Sawamura doesn’t necessarily water sealant agent being adhesive is disposed on an inner peripheral surface of the covering material (claim 2).
Takaishi teaches an electrical wire (Figs 1A-1C), for usage with an wire harness of an automobile (Paragraph 27), and having sufficient amount of water sealing agent to improve the water sealing performance (Paragraph 21). With respect to claim 2, Takaishi teaches an electric wire (10, Figs 1A-1C) with a terminal (20) comprising an electric wire (40) that includes a conductor (41) including a plurality of element wires (41) and an insulation sheath (42) covering an outer periphery of the conductor (41), and that includes therein a conductor exposed portion (located at 41) in which the conductor (41) is exposed from the insulation sheath (42), and a conductor covered portion (located at 40) in which the conductor (41) is covered with the insulation sheath (42), wherein the conductor exposed portion (located at 41) includes a single wire (41a), wherein the single wire (41a) being disposed at an end of the conductor (41), and the single wire (41a) being continuously and integrally connected to the plurality of element wires (41, Fig 3), a covering material (30) that spans a portion of the single wire (41a) and a portion of the insulation sheath (42) to cover an entire surface of a bundle of the plurality of element wires (41) and a terminal (10) that includes a conductor connector (13) connected to the single wire (41a) and a terminal connector (15) configured to be connected to a mating terminal (i.e. bolt, not shown, Paragraph 51), wherein the conductor connector (13) is disposed at one end of the terminal (10), and the terminal connector (15) is disposed at the other end of the terminal (10, Fig 1A), wherein the water proofing sealant (5) may be an hot melt adhesive (Paragraph 47).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art of cables at the time the invention was made to modify the electrical wire having a terminal of Sawamura to comprise the waterproofing sealant to be a hot melt adhesive configuration as taught by Takaishi because Takaishi teaches that such a configuration provides teaches an electrical wire (Figs 1A-1C), for usage with an wire harness of an automobile (Paragraph 27), and having sufficient amount of water sealing agent to improve the water sealing performance (Paragraph 21).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please refer to the enclosed PTO-892 form for the citation of pertinent art in the present case, all of which disclose various electrical wires having terminals.
Communication
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM H MAYO III whose telephone number is (571)272-1978. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Thurs (5:30a-3:00p) Fri 5:30a-2p (w/alternating Fridays off).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani Hayman can be reached on (571) 270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/William H. Mayo III/
William H. Mayo III
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2847
WHM III
August 14, 2026
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