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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hukari (US 5927921).
Regarding claim 1, Hukari discloses a fastening member 10 Fig. 1 comprising: a thread forming portion 38 having an external thread or an internal thread 18 formed thereon; and a bearing surface forming portion 26 including a bearing surface abutting on a target fastening member 40, wherein the bearing surface forming portion includes a flange 19 at a position closer to the bearing surface, the flange being formed in a shape expanding outward in a radial direction and configured to apply a compressive force to the target fastening member, the flange includes an inclined surface on a surface opposite to the bearing surface, the inclined surface being inclined so as to come closer to the bearing surface as going toward an outside in the radial direction, and the inclined surface includes: an inner inclined surface (19a of Annotated Fig. 2, below); and an outer inclined surface (19b of Annotated Fig. 2, below) located outside the inner inclined surface in the radial direction. However, Hukari fails to explicitly disclose that the outer incline surface has a larger inclination angle with respect to the bearing surface than the inner inclined surface. Nevertheless, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the angle of the inner and outer inclined surfaces to any number of ranges (i.e. larger than) disclosed by Applicant, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
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Regarding claim 2, Hukari as modified discloses wherein a boundary between the inner inclined surface 19a and the outer inclined surface 19b is located inside an outermost abutting portion 28 abutting on the target fastening member 40 at an outermost position in the radial direction of the bearing surface.
Regarding claim 3, Hukari as modified discloses wherein the inner inclined surface has the inclination angle, and the outer inclined surface has the inclination angle, but fails to explicitly disclose where the angles are between 35° to 50° and 20° to 30°, respectively. Nevertheless, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the angle of the inner and outer inclined surfaces to any number of ranges (i.e. larger than) disclosed by Applicant, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 9, Hukari as modified discloses wherein the inner inclined surface 19a and the outer inclined surface 19b are formed in a linearly tapered shape in a cross section in the axial direction.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: In view of a review of the prior art by the Examiner; the prior art of record neither teaches nor suggests all of the claimed subject matter of claims 4-8 including where the flange includes a recess formed between the inner inclined surface and the outer inclined surface on the surface opposite to the bearing surface, and the recess is formed inside an outermost abutting portion abutting on the target fastening member at an outermost position in the radial direction. There is no motivation to modify the prior art references, absent the applicant’s own disclosure, in the manner required by the claims.
Claim 10 is allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: In view of the Applicants arguments and a review of the prior art by the Examiner; the prior art of record neither teaches nor suggests all of the claimed subject matter of claim 10 including where the flange includes a recess formed on a surface opposite to the bearing surface, and the recess has a shape with an outermost edge of the recess in the radial direction located closest to the bearing surface. There is no motivation to modify the prior art references, absent the applicant’s own disclosure, in the manner required by the claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUGENE G BYRD whose telephone number is (571)270-1824. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kristina Fulton can be reached at 5712727376. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EUGENE G BYRD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3675
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