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 § 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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by ANDO et al. (JP 2016200636 A and ANDO hereinafter, Translation provided)
Regarding Claim 1, ANDO discloses (figs 1-8 and annotated fig below) a housing box comprising: a main body portion (10) having an opening portion (15) capable of housing electronic components therein and communicating between an inside and an outside; a cover portion (20) attached to the main body portion and detachably attached to the opening portion; and a resin packing member (30) that is provided in the cover portion, disposed at least in a water stop region between the main body portion and the cover portion, and performs water stop between the main body portion and the cover portion (annotated fig below), wherein the cover portion has a top surface portion that covers the opening
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portion and a lower wall portion that extends downward from an outer edge of the top surface portion, a groove is formed in a lower portion of the lower wall portion, and the resin packing member is provided in the groove and has a resin injection portion that is formed in a non-water stop region deviated from the water stop region and that serves as a resin injection position during resin molding (fig.8).
Regarding Claim 2, ANDO discloses (figs 1-8 and annotated fig above) the housing box according to claim 1, wherein the resin injection portion (arrow sign) is formed to extend from the water stop region to an inside of the cover portion (shows in fig.8 and description in pages 7-8).
Regarding Claim 3, ANDO discloses (figs 1-8 and annotated fig above) the housing box according to claim 1, wherein the resin injection portion extends from the water stop region to an outside of the cover portion and is formed so as to penetrate the cover portion and to be exposed to an external surface of the cover portion (shows in fig.8 and description in pages 7-8).
Regarding Claim 4, ANDO discloses (figs 1-8 and annotated fig above) the housing box according to claim 1, wherein the cover includes an inner wall and an outer wall that surrounds the inner wall, and the groove is bound by the inner wall and the outer wall.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 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 5, the prior art fails to disclose, “wherein the main body portion includes an upper edge portion that extends into the groove, the upper edge is located between the inner wall and the outer wall and abuts the packing member.”
Regarding claim 6, the prior art fails to disclose, “ wherein the cover portion includes: a hanging portion that is connected to and extends from the top surface along a first direction, a protruding portion that is connected to and extends from the hanging portion along a second direction that intersects the first direction, an inner wall that is connected to and extends from the protruding portion along the first direction, an outer wall that is connected to and extends from the protruding portion along the first direction, the outer wall is spaced away from and surrounds the inner wall, and an extension portion that is connected to and extends from the outer wall along the first direction, the groove is bounded by the inner wall, the protruding portion and the outer wall, the main body includes a side wall portion that surrounds the opening portion, the side wall extends into the groove, and the extension portion extends along an outside of the side wall.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/14/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Ando fails to teach or suggest at least the features of "the cover portion has...a lower wall portion," and "a groove is formed in a lower portion of the lower wall portion."
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The specification objections and 112(b) rejections have been withdrawn due to the amendments filed by applicant.
However, the prior art (Included in PTO 892), when taken alone, or, in combination, cannot be construed as reasonably teaching or suggesting all of the elements of the claimed invention as arranged, disposed, or provided in the manner as claimed by the Applicant.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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
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