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 .
Double Patenting
Claims 1 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as claiming the same invention as that of claims 1 and 11 of prior U.S. Patent No. 12170437. This is a statutory double patenting rejection.
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) 1-7, 11-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Morse et al. (US 9800030 hereinafter Morse).
In regards to claim 1, Morse discloses;” A conduit outlet assembly for a rigid metal conduit (abstract) raceway of an electrical system, comprising: a gasket sized to circumscribe an outer surface of a rigid metal conduit of the rigid metal conduit raceway(Fig. 2B (284), Col. 6, Lines 18-26); a gripping ring sized to circumscribe the outer surface of the rigid metal conduit (Fig. 2B (282), Col. 7, Lines 10-25); a washer sized to circumscribe the outer surface of the rigid metal conduit (Fig. 2B (283), Col. 7, Lines 60-67), Col. 8, Lines 1-13), the washer being positioned between the gasket and the gripping ring (Fig. 2B (shown)); and a condulet assembly sized to receive the rigid metal conduit with the gasket (Fig. 3A, Col. 9, Lines 1-15), the gripping ring, and the washer disposed thereon; wherein the washer is configured to maintain a relative position of at least one of the gasket and the gripping ring during insertion of the rigid metal conduit into the condulet assembly (Col. 7, Lines 60-67), Col. 8, Lines 1-13).”
In regards to claim 2, Morse discloses;” The conduit outlet assembly of claim 1, wherein the washer is configured to ensure that the gasket remains spaced apart from the gripping ring during insertion of the rigid metal conduit into the condulet assembly (Fig. 2B (Shown).”
In regards to claim 3, Morse discloses;” The conduit outlet assembly of claim 1, wherein after the condulet assembly is press-fitted onto the rigid metal conduit, the gasket is compressed to form a seal between the condulet assembly and the rigid metal conduit (Col. 7, Lines 26-42).”
In regards to claim 4, Morse discloses;” The conduit outlet assembly of claim 3, wherein a height of the washer before the condulet assembly is press-fitted onto the rigid metal conduit is equal to a height of the compressed gasket(Fig. 2B (shown)).”
In regards to claim 5, Morse discloses;” The conduit outlet assembly of claim 3, wherein a height of the washer before the condulet assembly is press-fitted onto the rigid metal conduit is less than a height of the compressed gasket (Col. 8, Lines 9-10, where the separator can be the same size as the opening of 272, and smaller).”
In regards to claim 6, Morse discloses;” The conduit outlet assembly of claim 1, wherein the washer is fabricated from at least one of a rubber material, a metallic material, and a cork material (Col. 7, Lines 53-57).”
In regards to claim 7, Morse discloses;” The conduit outlet assembly of claim 1, wherein after the condulet assembly is press-fitted onto the rigid metal conduit, the gripping ring provides grounding for the rigid metal conduit raceway (Col. 10, Lines 49-62).”
In regards to claim 11, Morse discloses;” A method (Col. 3, Lines 52-64) of fabricating a rigid metal conduit raceway of an electrical system (Col. 1, Lines 21-36), the method comprising the steps of: providing a rigid metal conduit and a condulet assembly, the condulet assembly sized to receive the rigid metal conduit (Fig. 3A, Col. 9, Lines 10-15); circumscribing an outer surface of the rigid metal conduit with a gasket (Fig. 3A (284)); circumscribing the outer surf ace of the rigid metal conduit with a gripping ring (Fig. 3A (282)); circumscribing the outer surface of the rigid metal conduit with a washer that is positioned between the gasket and the gripping ring (Fig. 3A (283)); and inserting an end of the rigid metal conduit (Fig. 3A (250)) into an end of the condulet assembly with the gasket, the gripping ring, and the washer disposed thereon until the gasket, the gripping ring, and the washer are disposed inside the condulet assembly; wherein the washer is configured to maintain a relative position of at least one of the gasket and the gripping ring during the step of inserting (Col. 7, Lines 60-67), Col. 8, Lines 1-13).”
In regards to claim 12, Morse discloses;” The method of claim 11, wherein the washer is configured to ensure that the gasket remains spaced apart from the gripping ring during the step of inserting (Col. 7, Lines 60-67), Col. 8, Lines 1-13).”
In regards to claim 13, Morse discloses;” The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of press-fitting the condulet assembly onto the rigid metal conduit to compress the gasket to form a seal between the condulet assembly and the rigid metal conduit (Fig. 3B and Col. 6, Lines 18-26).
In regards to claim 14, Morse discloses;” The method of claim 13, wherein a height of the washer before the step of press-fitting is equal to a height of the compressed gasket (Fig. 2B (shown).”
In regards to claim 15, Morse discloses;” The method of claim 13, wherein a height of the washer before the step of press-fitting is less than a height of the compressed gasket (Col. 8, Lines 7-9 where the member (283) can be within all as shown in Fig. 2B or in part of the housing (272) therefore capable of being smaller).
In regards to claim 16, Morse discloses;” The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of fabricating the washer from at least one of a rubber material, a metallic material, and a cork material (Col. 7, Lines 53-57).”
In regards to claim 17, Morse discloses;” The method of claim 11, wherein the gripping ring provides grounding for the rigid metal conduit raceway (Col. 10, Lines 49-62).”
In regards to claim 18, Morse discloses;” The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of: providing an adapter and a condulet, the adapter including a compression section and a coupling section, the compression section being sized to receive the rigid metal conduit with the gasket, the gripping ring, and the washer disposed thereon, the condulet being sized to receive the coupling section of the adapter;
coupling the coupling section of the adapter to the condulet to form the condulet assembly; and inserting the end of the rigid metal conduit into the compression section of the adapter until the gasket, the gripping ring, and the washer are disposed inside the condulet
assembly (Col. 5, Lines 38—59).”
In regards to claim 19, Morse discloses;” The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of applying compression force to an outer surface of the compression section of the adapter to compress the compression section, the gasket, and the gripping ring against the rigid metal conduit (Col. 3, Lines 1-12).”
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.
Claim(s) 8-9, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morse et al. (US 9800030 hereinafter Morse) as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Buccicone et al. (US 7686346 hereinafter Buccicone).
In regards to claim 8, Morse discloses;” The conduit outlet conduit assembly of claim 1”, but does not directly disclose;” further comprising: an adapter comprising a compression section and a coupling section, wherein the compression section is sized to receive the rigid metal conduit with the gasket, the gripping ring, and the washer disposed thereon; and a condulet sized to receive the coupling section of the adapter.”
However, Buccicone discloses a coupling structure (Fig. 2B (102)) that is compressed into an adapter (Fig. 2B (101)) and the structure (102) that has a gripping ring (Fig. 5 (502)) a washer (Fig. 5 (504)) and a gasket (Fig. 5 (505)) that is then compressed fitted to (Fig. 2B (101) by (Fig. 2B (13), Col. 3, Lines 44-54). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to use a transition structure when attaching various sized structures together. In electrical as well as other arts different size tubing and connectors are required to complete a conduit installment. Using the adapter structure as disclosed by Buccicone with the structure disclosed by Morse, the claimed invention is disclosed.
In regards to claim 9, a modified Morse discloses;” The conduit outlet assembly of claim 8, wherein the adapter further comprises a transition section formed between the compression section and the coupling section, the transition section having an inner diameter between an inner diameter of the compression section and an inner diameter of the coupling section (Buccicone Fig. 4B shown)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 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 claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL F MCALLISTER whose telephone number is (571)272-2453. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7 AM-4 PM.
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/MICHAEL F MCALLISTER/Examiner, Art Unit 2847
/TIMOTHY J THOMPSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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