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 . Claims 1-20 are pending in the current application.
Claim Objections
Regarding Claim 1, line 6: perhaps the term “to” should be deleted.
Regarding Claim 9, the last line, perhaps the term “different” should be changed to “the different”.
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 1, 2, and 9, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baity et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,602) in view of Watson et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,308 B1, hereinafter “Watson”).
Specifically, regarding Claim 1, Baity discloses a switch structure (Abstract) electrically linked with a light source (26; the switch and lamp are linked as the switch actuator serves as a light conductor for the lamp, Abstract, FIG. 2), comprising a main body (12; FIG. 2), a push button assembly (35; FIG. 2), and at least one contact block (50, 52; FIG. 1), the main body (12) including a base (22, 49) provided with a plurality of power terminals for connecting to an external power source (e.g., inherent via the volume and tuning applications shown in FIG. 3), and an internal switch assembly (24) and a light source (26), the contact block (50, 52) including a plurality of control terminals (50, 501) for connecting to external devices to be controlled (inherent as the contacts within the contact block establish electrical conductivity to external circuitry or devices via, e.g., “circuit runners”), the push button assembly (35; FIG. 5) being able to drive the internal switch assembly (24) and the contact block (50, 52), such that the contact block (50, 52) can change an electrical connection state between the control terminals (Abstract).
Baity does not disclose that the internal switch assembly (i) is serially connected between the power terminals and a light source, and (ii) can synchronously control an electrical connection state of the light source to the external power source, as recited in Claim 1.
However, Watson discloses that the internal switch assembly (i) is serially connected between the power terminals and a light source (e.g., between adjacent contacts 29; col. 3, ll. 34-38, FIG. 1), and (ii) can synchronously control an electrical connection state of the light source to the external power source (col. 5, ll. 64-65), as recited in Claim 1.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Watson with those of Baity to provide an unobstructed path from the light source to the cap and indicate that a switch function is on, has changed status, or to illuminate the cap for identification purposes.
Regarding Claim 2, Baity discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention and further discloses that the internal switch assembly (24) includes two fixedly spaced conducting sections (each of 50) and an elastic conducting element (48, 52) located between the two conducting sections (50 is electrically between each of 52 in a depressed state; FIG. 6), and the elastic conducting element (48, 52) being driven by the push button assembly (35) to contact with or separate from the two conducting sections (50), but does not disclose that the two conducting sections is electrically connected to the power terminals and the light source, respectively.
However, Watson discloses the two conducting sections (each of 29; FIG. 1) being electrically connected to the power terminals and the light source (FIG. 1), respectively. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Watson with those of Baity and couple the light source between adjacent terminals actuated upon depression so as to control the light source to electrically connect to or electrically disconnect from the external power source.
Regarding Claim 9, Baity discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention but does not disclose the claimed light source. However, Watson discloses that the light source is a light emitting body capable of producing different color lights and includes a plurality of input pins (col. 3, l. 64 - col. 4, l. 5, col. 6, l. 38 - col. 6, l. 44), the light source able to indicate different control states via different color lights (col. 6, l. 38 - col. 6, l. 44), a set of input pins (inherently disclosed at, e.g., col. 3, ll. 31-34).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Watson with those of Baity to increase optical feedback options to a device user.
The combination of Baity and Watson discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention but does not disclose the (i) internal switch assembly including the elastic conducting element location, and (ii) different positions of the second conducting sections. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to utilize such positions to coordinate device actuation and light source illumination since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 U.S.P.Q. 70.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 and 10-20 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 claims 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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/ANTHONY R JIMENEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
