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
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 1, Figures 1-18, in the reply filed on August 7, 2026, is acknowledged. Claims 1-10 are pending.
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.
Claim 6 is 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 6 recites: “wherein the side wall is configured to be reduced in thickness.” The phrase “configured to be reduced in thickness” is not the same as “a side wall having a thickness that decreases from its proximal end toward its distal end.” As the claim is drafted, the thickness could be any thickness and without any variation but the thickness is merely prepared to be machined down. The claim should describe what the invention is, not what the invention could be. This claim is unclear and indefinite because it cannot be determined what the Applicant is particularly and distinctly claiming here. Applicant should amend the claim to recite what the thickness is rather than what the thickness is configured to be.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent No. 11,862,956 to Naugler et al. (Naugler).
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Regarding Claim 1: Naugler discloses a clip configured to hold an elongated conductor bar, comprising: a structurally rigidified base (See Annotated Fig. A); a first side wall (See Annotated Fig. A) and a second side wall (See Annotated Fig. A) vertically extending upward from the base and having an upper opening (See Annotated Fig. A) that is configured to allow the conductor bar to pass therethrough; a receiving space (See Annotated Fig. A) defined by the base, the first side wall and the second side wall and configured to hold the conductor bar therein; and a retainer strip (See Annotated Fig. A) formed in an upper end of the second side wall and configured to engage an upper surface of the conductor bar held in the receiving space, wherein the first side wall (See Annotated Fig. A) is configured to have rigidity, wherein the second side wall (See Annotated Fig. A) is configured to elastically deform in a direction away from the first side wall, wherein the first side wall includes a guide portion (See Annotated Fig. A) formed in an inner surface thereof and having an inclined surface (See Annotated Fig. A) that is configured to obliquely guide the conductor bar passing through the upper opening to the receiving space, wherein the guide portion includes an elastic strip (See Annotated Fig. A) formed in a lower end periphery (See Annotated Fig. A) thereof and configured to press the conductor bar held in the receiving space against the second side wall, and wherein the retainer strip projects into the upper opening, thereby defining an upper opening portion (See Annotated Fig. A) in the upper opening (See Annotated Fig. A).
Regarding Claim 2: Naugler discloses a clip as described in claim 1, wherein the first side wall includes a guide strip (See Annotated Fig. A) projecting upward from the guide portion (See Annotated Fig. A) and configured such that its upper end surface is positioned above the retainer strip.
Regarding Claim 3: Naugler discloses a clip as described in claim 1, wherein the retainer strip includes an upper surface (See Annotated Fig. A) inclined downward from the upper end of the second side wall toward the first side wall.
Regarding Claim 4: Notably no additional structure is claimed here. Therefore, to the same extent as that of the instant claims, Naugler discloses a clip as described in claim 1, wherein the upper opening portion (See Annotated Fig. A) is configured to have a width substantially equal to a thickness of the conductor bar.
Regarding Claim 5: Naugler discloses a clip as described in claim 1, wherein the elastic strip (See Annotated Fig. A) is configured to press a portion of a lower half of the bus bar held in the receiving space.
Regarding Claim 6: Notably no additional structure limitations are claimed here. Rather the claim effectively recites that the second side wall is configured to have its thickness reduced. Similarly, the Naugler device also has a side wall that is configured to have its thickness reduced. As such, Naugler discloses a clip as described in claim 1, wherein the second side wall (See Annotated Fig. A) is configured to be reduced in thickness from its proximal end toward its distal end.
Regarding Claim 10: Naugler discloses a clip as described in claim 9, wherein the first side wall includes a clearance (See Annotated Fig. A) formed therein and configured to allow the elastic strip to flex toward the first side wall.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 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.
Reasons for Allowable Subject Matter
None of the cited prior art, considered alone or in combination, discloses or teaches a rib that gradually reduces in height that is formed in the outer surface of the second side wall; an engagement leg configured to connect the base to an object and a projection formed in the base; or a bulged portion formed in the first side wall.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. In addition to the references used in this rejection and those cited in the PTO-892, the following references are very relevant to the claimed invention: US 10208874.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERET C MCNICHOLS whose telephone number is (571)270-7363. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 9:00 - 5:00 (Eastern).
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ERET C. MCNICHOLS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3632
/ERET C MCNICHOLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
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