DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-4 of U.S. Application 19/022043 filed on January 15, 2025 are presented for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on January 15, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. Claims 1, 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Matsumoto (WO 2023248703, see English Machine Translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Matsumoto teaches (see figs. 1, 5 and 11 below) an electric compressor comprising (title, Abstract):
a compression part (4) configured to compress a fluid (page 2);
a motor (2) configured to drive the compression part (4) (page 2); and
an inverter (3) configured to drive the motor (2) (Abstract; page 2),
the inverter (3) having: a circuit board (51); and
a connector (see annotated fig. 1 below) mounted on the circuit board (51), the connector (see annotated fig. 1 below) having a case (61) in which a connecting terminal (56) that is electrically connected to a circuit pattern formed on the circuit board (51) is accommodated (Abstract; pages 4-5),
the circuit board (51) having a through hole (59), and the case (61) having a protruding portion (see annotated fig. 11 below) that is inserted into the through hole (59) and in which an insertion port (see annotated fig. 11 below) is opened (Abstract; pages 4-5),
the insertion port (see annotated fig. 11 below) guiding a lead (53) that is electrically connected to the connecting terminal (56) toward the connecting terminal (56), wherein a hole (see annotated fig. 11 below) from which the lead (53) is exposed is formed on a side of the case (61) opposite to the insertion port (see annotated fig. 11 below) across the connecting terminal (56) (fig. 11; Abstract; pages 4-5).
PNG
media_image1.png
608
805
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
516
962
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 3/1, Matsumoto teaches (see figs. 1, 5 and 11 above) the case (61) closes the gap between the protruding portion (see annotated fig. 11 above) and the through hole (59) (page 5).
Regarding claim 4/1, Matsumoto teaches (see figs. 1, 5 and 11 above) the lead (53) extends out through the hole (see annotated fig. 11 above) (fig. 11; Abstract; pages 4-5).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claim 2 is 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.
Conclusion
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER A SINGH whose telephone number is (571)270-0243. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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, Seye Iwarere can be reached at 571-270-5112. 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.
/ALEXANDER A SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
Prosecution Insights