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 § 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 2 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 2 recites “when the connecting wall has the shape extending between the layers”. The shape extending between the layers is an optional limitation of claim 1. It is unclear if the limitation is still optional or if claim 2 requires that the connecting wall has the shape extending from a space between the layers.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ikeda et al. (US-20190348826-A1) in view of Lu (US-5226556-A).
Regarding claim 1, Ikeda discloses a box-shaped body (1) comprising: a case (5) having a tubular peripheral wall (13); and a cover (7) configured to be attached to the peripheral wall to cover an opening end of the case, wherein: the cover includes an engaging portion (47) extending in an attachment direction in which the cover is attached to the case (Fig. 1); the peripheral wall of the case has a multilayer wall structure including an inner wall (17) and an outer wall (16), and includes a connecting wall (20, 39) and an engaged portion (22), the connecting wall being configured to connect the layers of the inner wall and the outer wall, and the engaged portion being configured to be engaged with the engaging portion (Fig. 4);the engaged portion is disposed such that the outer wall is sandwiched between the connecting wall and the engaged portion (Fig. 4).
Ikeda fails to teach the connecting wall has a shape extending from a space between the layers such that an end surface of the connecting wall facing the cover is located at a position closer to the cover in the attachment direction than an end surface of at least one of the inner wall and the outer wall facing the cover, or a shape accommodated between the space between the layers such that the end surface of the connecting wall facing the cover is located at the same position in the attachment direction as the end surface of at least one of the inner wall and the outer wall facing the cover.
Lu teaches that it is known in the art to manufacture a case with a connecting wall (22) wherein the connecting wall has a shape accommodated in a space such that an end surface (at 23) of the connecting wall is located at the same position in an attachment direction as an end surface of a wall of thew case (Figs. 1, 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have manufactured the connecting wall to extend even with the peripheral wall of the case, in order to increase the strength of the connection by providing more connection area and since such a modification would have been a change in size of an existing component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 3, the modified body of Ikeda teaches wherein the peripheral wall of the case includes an auxiliary wall (25) extending toward the cover in the attachment direction, the auxiliary wall being located at a position closer to the cover in the attachment direction than the engaged portion (Fig. 6), and the engaging portion passing between the auxiliary wall and the connecting wall (Fig. 14, the inner edge is between).
Regarding claim 4, the modified body of Ikeda teaches wherein: the cover has a peripheral edge (46) overlapping the peripheral wall when the case and the cover are assembled (Fig. 4); and the peripheral edge has a recess (formed at 48) that is recessed to receive the end surface (39) of the connecting wall when the case and the cover are assembled.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ikeda et al. (US-20190348826-A1) in view of Lu (US-5226556-A), as applied above, and further in view of Kawamura (US-20190379191-A1).
The modified body of Ikeda teaches all the claimed limitations as shown above wherein the connecting wall (at 39) has an shape (at 40) that is inclined to approach the engaged portion in the attachment direction from the inner wall toward the outer wall (Fig. 13), bit fails to teach wherein the end surface of the connecting wall facing the cover is located at a position closer to the cover in the attachment direction than an end surface of at least one of the inner wall and the outer wall facing the cover.
Kawamura teaches that a peripheral wall of a case can be manufactured with a inner and outer walls of different heights (Fig. 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have manufactured the walls with different heights, such that the end surface of the connecting wall facing the cover is located at a position closer to the cover in the attachment direction than an end surface of at least one of the inner wall and the outer wall, in order to make it easier to move the cover to a closed position, and since such a modification would have been a change in size of an existing component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY R ALLEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7426. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday.
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/JEFFREY R ALLEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733
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