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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bunish et al. (3800065).
Bunish et al. discloses a wire harness assembly comprising a wire harness including an electric wire (23); and an assembly member (13/31) in which the wire harness is arranged, wherein the assembly member has a pull-out portion (26/29) configured to pull out the electric wire arranged inside the assembly member to the outside of the assembly member to change an arrangement of the end of the electric wire (re-claim 1). Bunish et al. also discloses that the pull-out portion is a separation portion to be torn off by contact with the electric wire by moving the electric wire arranged inside the assembly member toward the outside of the assembly member (re-claim 2); and the separation portion is arranged along the electric wire arranged inside the assembly member (re-claim 3).
Bunish et al. does not disclose a connector being electrically connected to an end of the electric wire and being arranged to be exposed to an outside of the assembly member (re-claim 1).
Although not disclosed in Bunish et al., it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to electrically connect a connector to an end of the electric wire (23) of Bunish et al., outside of the assembly member (13/31), to provide a connection means to the electric wire since such feature is well-known in the art. It is noted that in the modified harness assembly of Bunish et al., the arrangement position of the connector is changed, wire 23 being pulled out of the assembly member (13/31).
Claims 1, 2, and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boyd et al. (4472598).
Boyd et al. discloses a wire harness assembly (21) comprising a wire harness including an electric wire (23/25); and an assembly member (27) in which the wire harness is arranged, wherein the assembly member has a pull-out portion (in contact with the wire) configured to pull out the electric wire arranged inside the assembly member to the outside of the assembly member to change an arrangement of the end of the electric wire (re-claim 1). Boyd et al. also discloses that the pull-out portion is a separation portion to be torn off by contact with the electric wire by moving the electric wire arranged inside the assembly member toward the outside of the assembly member (re-claim 2); and the separation portion includes a restriction portion (hole 29, not in contact with the wire) configured to restrict tearing-off of the separation portion by avoiding contact with the wire (re-claim 4).
Boyd et al. does not disclose a connector being electrically connected to an end of the electric wire and being arranged to be exposed to an outside of the assembly member (re-claim 1).
Although not disclosed in Boyd et al., it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to electrically connect a connector to an end of the electric wire (23) of Boyd et al., outside of the assembly member (27), to provide a connection means to the electric wire since such feature is well-known in the art. It is noted that in the modified harness assembly of Boyd et al., the arrangement position of the connector is changed, wire 23 being pulled out of the assembly member (27).
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.
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/CHAU N NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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