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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Applicant is advised that the new art unit number is 2692. Please use the new art unit number for all future communications.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/13/2025, 2/13/2025, 8/21/2025, 10/10/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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 1-20 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 1, line 2 refers to “the earphone slot”. It is indefinite which of the “two earphone slots” introduced in claim 1, line 1 is being referred to.
Claim 1, line 4 refers to “the earphone slot”. It is indefinite which of the “two earphone slots” introduced in claim 1, line 1 is being referred to.
Claim 19, line 4 refers to “the earphone slot”. It is indefinite which of the “two earphone slots” introduced in claim 19, line 3 is being referred to.
Claim 19, line 7 refers to “the earphone slot”. It is indefinite which of the “two earphone slots” introduced in claim 19, line 3 is being referred to.
Dependent claims are rejected for including the language of rejected base claim.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-10, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tu et al. (CN 113709618 using an English machine translation) in view of Liao (CN 113891204 using an English machine translation).
Regarding claim 19, Tu discloses an earphone assembly, comprising two earphones (left 61 and 62, and right 61 and 62) and a charging case (10 and 50) accommodate the two earphones (Fig. 1),
wherein the charging case comprises two earphone slots (left slot comprises the left 21a and left 22, and right slot comprises the right 21a and right 22) that are disposed at an interval (see Fig. 9), wherein the earphone slot is configured to accommodate an earphone (see Fig. 13), the charging case comprises a case body (10) and a case cover (50) (see Fig. 1), and the case cover is rotatably connected (via hinge 503, Fig. 10) to the case body (paragraph spanning pages 10-11) (page 17, lines 18-24); and
the earphone slot comprises a top slot (21a) and a bottom slot (22) that are located in the case body (see Fig. 9), the top slot is configured to accommodate an earbud (61) of the earphone, the bottom slot is configured to accommodate a stem (62) of the earphone (paragraph spanning pages 10-11) (see Fig. 1), the case body comprises a top surface (surface of 21) disposed to face the case cover (see Fig. 9),
Tu is not relied upon to disclose both an opening of the top slot and an opening of the bottom slot are located on the top surface of the case body, and the opening of the bottom slot is lower than the opening of the top slot.
In a similar field of endeavor, Liao discloses both an opening of the top slot (111) and an opening of the bottom slot (112) are located on the top surface of the case body (see Fig. 2), and the opening of the bottom slot is lower than the opening of the top slot (see Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to: configure the case body such that: both an opening of the top slot and an opening of the bottom slot are located on the top surface of the case body, and the opening of the bottom slot is lower than the opening of the top slot,
the motivation being to allow the earphone to be displayed and/or enable the earphone to be removed by sliding it out along the direction of the accommodating slot while it is placed therein (Liao - page 4, lines 14-21).
Claim 1 recites similar limitations as clam 19, and is rejected for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 19 rejection.
Regarding claim 2, Tu-Liao discloses the charging case according to claim 1, and Liao discloses wherein the opening of the bottom slot and the opening of the top slot are disposed at an interval (see Fig. 2).
The teachings of Liao relied upon above are combinable with Tu-Liao for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 1 rejection.
Regarding claim 3, Tu-Liao discloses the charging case according to claim 1, and Liao discloses wherein a lowest part of a bottom wall of the top slot is not lower than a lowest edge of the opening of the bottom slot (see Fig. 5).
The teachings of Liao relied upon above are combinable with Tu-Liao for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 1 rejection.
Regarding claim 4, Tu-Liao discloses the charging case according to claim 1, and Tu discloses wherein the case body has a first end (Fig. 13: end facing away from viewer) and a second end (Fig. 13: end facing toward viewer) that are disposed opposite to each other, the case cover has a first end (end that is not visible in Fig. 13) and a second end (end that is visible in Fig. 13) that are disposed opposite to each other, the first end of the case cover is rotatably connected to the first end of the case body (see Fig. 13), and the second end of the case cover is far away from the second end of the case body, to open the case cover relative to the case body (see Fig .13), or the second end of the case cover is close to the second end of the case body, to close the case cover relative to the case body (see Fig. 1); and
the top slot is closer to the first end of the case body than the bottom slot (see Fig. 13).
Regarding claim 6, Tu-Liao discloses the charging case according to claim 4, and Tu discloses wherein a case body lining (21) is fastened on an inner side of a case body housing (10) (Fig. 11), the case body lining has the top slot and the bottom slot (see Fig. 11), and a top part (212) of the case body lining protrudes relative to the case body housing (10a) (see Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 7, Tu-Liao discloses the charging case according to claim 6, wherein a top surface of the case body housing is a plane (Tu - Fig. 11), and a top surface of the case body lining is a curved surface (Liao - Fig. 2).
The teachings of Liao relied upon above are combinable with Tu-Liao for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 1 rejection.
Regarding claim 8, Tu-Liao discloses the charging case according to claim 7, wherein the charging case has a width direction (downward-right direction), a thickness direction (upward-right direction), and a height direction (upward direction) that are perpendicular to each other (Tu - Fig. 1), the two earphone slots are arranged in the width direction of the charging case (Tu - Fig. 1), a dimension of the charging case in the height direction is greater than a dimension of the charging case in the thickness direction (Tu - Fig. 1), and the top surface of the case body housing is inclined to the thickness direction of the charging case (Liao - Fig. 2), and the top surface of the case body housing is inclined to the height direction of the charging case (Liao - Fig. 2).
The teachings of Liao relied upon above are combinable with Tu-Liao for the same reasons set forth above in the claim 1 rejection.
Regarding claim 9, Tu-Liao discloses the charging case according to claim 6, and Tu discloses wherein the charging case comprises a magnet (211), and the magnet is fastened to the case body lining (see Fig. 3), and the magnet is located between the top slot and the bottom slot (see Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 10, Tu-Liao discloses the charging case according to claim 6, and Tu discloses wherein the charging case further comprises a battery (40) and a circuit board (30), both the battery and the circuit board are fastened on the inner side of the case body housing (see Fig. 1), and both the battery and the circuit board are located below the case body lining (20), the circuit board is located below the bottom slot, and the battery is located below the top slot (see Fig. 1).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tu in view of Liao in view of Sun (CN 215897989 using an English machine translation).
Regarding claim 5, Tu-Liao discloses the charging case according to claim 4.
Tu-Liao is not relied upon to disclose wherein the first end of the case body is higher than the second end of the case body.
In a similar field of endeavor, Sun discloses wherein the first end of the case body is higher than the second end of the case body (see Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to: wherein the first end of the case body is higher than the second end of the case body,
the motivation being to make the earphone picking more convenient (Sun – paragraph spanning pages 5-6).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tu in view of Liao in view of Tang (JP H0716624 using an English machine translation).
Regarding claim 11, Tu-Liao discloses the charging case according to claim 1, and Tu discloses wherein the charging case further comprises a hinge assembly (503) (Fig. 10),
Tu-Liao is not relied upon to disclose the hinge assembly comprises a rotating shaft and a hinge bracket, the hinge bracket is fastened to the case body, and the case cover is rotatably connected to the hinge bracket by using the rotating shaft, to be rotatably connected to the case body.
In a similar field of endeavor, Tang discloses wherein a case (Fig. 5) comprises a hinge assembly (Figs. 3/4), the hinge assembly comprises a rotating shaft (6) and a hinge bracket (4) (Fig. 3), the hinge bracket is fastened to the case body (Fig. 4), and the case cover (1) is rotatably connected to the hinge bracket by using the rotating shaft, to be rotatably connected to the case body (2) (Figs. 1/2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to: substitute the hinge assembly of Tu with the hinge assembly of JP624,
which would result in: the hinge assembly comprises a rotating shaft and a hinge bracket, the hinge bracket is fastened to the case body, and the case cover is rotatably connected to the hinge bracket by using the rotating shaft, to be rotatably connected to the case body,
the motivation being to allow the lid to be opened with a light force (Tang - ¶ 0003).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-18, 20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112, 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In regard to claim 12, the prior art of record alone or in combination fails to teach or suggest the following limitations of the claim in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim:
“wherein the charging case further comprises a wireless charging coil, and the wireless charging coil is fastened in the case body; and the hinge bracket comprises a metal part and a plastic part, the plastic part is located between the metal part and the wireless charging coil, and the rotating shaft is inserted into the metal part.”
In regard to claim 13, the prior art of record alone or in combination fails to teach or suggest the following limitations of the claim in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim:
“wherein the case cover comprises an adapter block, and the adapter block is rotatably connected to the hinge bracket by using the rotating shaft; and
the case body is provided with a notch, and when the case cover is closed relative to the case body, the adapter block covers the notch.”
In regard to claim 18, the prior art of record alone or in combination fails to teach or suggest the following limitations of the claim in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim:
“wherein the charging case comprises a first electrode, a second electrode, a third electrode, and a fourth electrode, both the first electrode and the second electrode are at least partially located in one earphone slot, both the third electrode and the fourth electrode are at least partially located in the other earphone slot, the second electrode and the third electrode are located between the first electrode and the fourth electrode, a polarity of the first electrode is the same as a polarity of the third electrode, and a polarity of the second electrode is the same as a polarity of the fourth electrode.”
In regard to claim 20, the prior art of record alone or in combination fails to teach or suggest the following limitations of the claim in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim:
“wherein the charging case comprises a first electrode, a second electrode, a third electrode, and a fourth electrode, both the first electrode and the second electrode are at least partially located in one earphone slot, both the third electrode and the fourth electrode are at least partially located in the other earphone slot, the second electrode and the third electrode are located between the first electrode and the fourth electrode, a polarity of the first electrode is the same as a polarity of the third electrode, and a polarity of the second electrode is the same as a polarity of the fourth electrode.”
Claims 14-17 is/are dependent upon base claims having allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
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/MARK FISCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
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