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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2, line 2, “a body” is unclear to how this relates to “a base and a cover” cited in claim 1. It is understood that the body includes the base and the cover.
Claim 3 is included in this rejection because of dependency.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Allard (4626298) in view of Hiramitsu et al. (2018/0005726).
Allard discloses a wire harness assembly comprising a wire harness including an electric wire (12); and an assembly member in which the wire harness is arranged, wherein the assembly member includes a base (14); and a cover (16) attached to the base via a bonding portion (30), the bonding portion includes a wayside bonding portion arranged along the electric wire (Fig. 7), and a non-bonding region (between the lower surface of wire 12 and channel 20) in which the bonding portion is not arranged is provided between the base and the cover (re-claim 1). Allard also discloses the assembly member including a body (comprised of base 14 and cover 16) (re-claim 2).
Allard does not disclose a connector electrically connected to an end of the wire (re-claim 1).
Hiramitsu et al. discloses a wire harness assembly comprising a connector (14A) electrically connected to an end of an electric wire (11). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to electrically connect a connector to an end of the electric wire (12) of Allard to provide a connection means therefrom as taught by Hiramitsu et al.
Re-claims 2 and 3, Hiramitsu et al. discloses an assembly member including a body (21) in which the electric wire (11) is arranged; and an extension (24) in which the connector (14A) is arranged, the extension being formed as a single member continuous with the body, and the extension including a dividing portion (located between body 21 and extension 24, see [0053], the extending portion 24 extending forward from the end portion on the front side of the tubular portion 21…The tubular portion 21 is formed to extend over substantially the entire length…excluding the length of the extending portion 24). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to include an extension as a single member continuous with the body (14, Fig. 9) of Allard to support the connector as taught by Hiramitsu et al. It is noted that in the modified harness assembly of Allard (Fig. 9), there is no bonding portion included at a position of the connector and the wire in the extension; and the dividing portion can be configured to divide the extension to expose the connector.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAU N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1980. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 7am to 5:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani N Hayman can be reached at 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 published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHAU N NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
Prosecution Insights