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 § 102
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) 1-6, 8-15, 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Oda, US 4,071,928.
Regarding claim 1, Oda discloses a non-pressure-sensing slider, comprising: a core (20); two side blocking boards (15) located on both sides of the core (20) respectively, and each forming a side wall of a slot [for introducing zipper teeth along with the core]; a base (23) disposed on a bottom end face of the core (20), with both sides of the base (23) extending in a direction facing towards different side blocking boards (15) respectively; and two side bottom boards (17) disposed on bottom end faces of the different side blocking boards (15) respectively and extending in a direction facing towards the base (23), [wherein the two side bottom boards are used to contact to a cloth tape], with a height difference (see figure 3) present between the two side bottom boards (17) and the base (23) and a gap present between the base (23) and the cloth tape (37), and the two side bottom boards (17) and the two sides (of 12) of the base (23) form a bottom end of the slot (see figure 1).
Claim language set in brackets [] set forth above and below in this office action are considered by the examiner to be intended use that fails to further limit the structure of the claimed invention. Since the claimed invention is directed solely to that of the slider, the prior art must only be capable of performing the functional recitations in order to be applicable, and in the instant case, the examiner maintains that the slider disclosed by Oda (US 4,071,928), is indeed capable of the intended use statements. Note that it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations.
Regarding claim 2, Oda discloses the non-pressure-sensing slider according to claim 1, wherein two sides of the core (20) are further provided with upper boards (14), the two upper boards (14) are respectively connected to the different side blocking boards (15), and the upper boards (14) form a top end of the slot (figure 1).
Regarding claim 3, Oda discloses the non-pressure-sensing slider according to claim 2, wherein an end of the core (20) extends to a surface of the upper board (14) facing away from the base (23) through an outer edge of the upper board (14).
Regarding claim 4, Oda discloses the non-pressure-sensing slider according to claim 2, wherein a pull tab (25) is rotatably provided (via a pintle 29 and a hole 24 in the base 23) on the upper board (14), and is located on the side of the upper board (14) facing away (see figure 4) from the base (23).
Regarding claim 5, Oda discloses the non-pressure-sensing slider according to claim 1, wherein the base (23) and the two side bottom boards (17) are arranged in parallel (figure 2).
Regarding claim 6, Oda discloses the non-pressure-sensing slider according to claim 1, wherein the two side bottom boards (17) are coplanar.
Regarding claim 8, Oda discloses the non-pressure-sensing slider according to claim 1, wherein both sides of the base (20) and the edges of the two side bottom boards (17) are arc-shaped (figure 1).
Regarding claim 9, Oda discloses the non-pressure-sensing slider according to claim 1, wherein the core (20), the base (23), the two side blocking boards (15) and the two side bottom boards (17) are integrally formed.
Regarding claim 10, Oda discloses a zipper, comprising the non-pressure-sensing slider (10) according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 11, Oda discloses a zipper, comprising the non-pressure-sensing slider (10) according to claim 2.
Regarding claim 12, Oda discloses a zipper, comprising the non-pressure-sensing slider (10) according to claim 3.
Regarding claim 13, Oda discloses a zipper, comprising the non-pressure-sensing slider (10) according to claim 4.
Regarding claim 14, Oda discloses a zipper, comprising the non-pressure-sensing slider (10) according to claim 5.
Regarding claim 15, Oda discloses a zipper, comprising the non-pressure-sensing slider (10) according to claim 6.
Regarding claim 17, Oda discloses a zipper, comprising the non-pressure-sensing slider (10) according to claim 8.
Regarding claim 18, Oda discloses a zipper, comprising the non-pressure-sensing slider (10) according to claim 9.
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) 7 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oda, US 4,071,928.
Regarding claim 7, Oda discloses the non-pressure-sensing slider according to claim 6 except for wherein spacing (figure 2) between the base (23) and the side bottom board (17) is 0.05 mm to 0.2 mm. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider a spacing between 0.05 mm to 0.2 mm to accommodate coupling teeth of a particular size because zipper teeth are manufactured in different sizes and the spacing must be sufficiently large to receive and to guide said teeth, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 16, Oda teaches a zipper, comprising the non-pressure-sensing slider (10) according to claim 7.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 for similar art cited. For example, Yoshida (US 3,854,175) teaches a slider having a low profile guide post combined with bottom flanges for concealing the slider in a zipper.
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/R.D./ Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/ SPE, Art Unit 3677
