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 § 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.
Claims 1-12 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokoo et al. (JP 2019086333) in view of Ichimura (US 20180292789).
Regarding claim 1, Yokoo discloses a device case (Figs. 2, 7) comprising: a case main body (5); a second exterior member (13) attached so as to surround an entire periphery of an upper outer periphery of the case main body (Fig. 2: 13 covers the upper periphery of 5); and a first exterior member attached (17) so as to surround at least an upper outer periphery of the second exterior member and the case main body (Fig. 7: 17 covers 13, 5), wherein the second exterior member (13) is interposed between the case main body (5) and the first exterior member (17) along the upper outer periphery of the case main body, and has at least a part of an outer peripheral side surface (outer surface of 13) covered by the first exterior member (Fig. 7).
Yokoo does not show the second exterior member being formed of a material softer than the first exterior member.
Ichimura teaches (Fig. 3) a second exterior member (3) surrounding a case main body (8), the second exterior member being made of a soft synthetic resin ([0026]).
Yokoo teaches an element made of a hard synthetic resin ([0012]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted Ichimura’s soft synthetic resin for Yokoo’s second exterior member and Yokoo’s hard synthetic resin for Yokoo’s first exterior member so that the second exterior member’s material is softer than the first exterior member’s material. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make these substitutions to predictably protect Yokoo’s from shocks using proven and known materials.
Regarding claim 2, Yokoo discloses (Figs. 2, 7) the device case according to claim 1, wherein the first exterior member (17) and the case main body (5) are fastened to each other by a fastener (23) at a position lower than the second exterior member (13) on an outer peripheral side surface of the case main body (Fig. 7).
Regarding claims 3-4, Yokoo discloses the device case according to claims 1-2, respectively, wherein at least an upper part of the case main body is a tube (Fig. 6), and the tube has an outer peripheral side surface (surface covered by 13 in Fig. 2).
Yokoo does not show the tube being a cylinder, and case-side locks being formed at at least two locations spaced apart in a circumferential direction on the outer peripheral side surface.
Ichimura teaches (Figs. 1, 3) an upper part of a case main body (8) being a cylinder (Fig. 1 shows that the case has a circular cross-section, and Fig. 3 shows that the case extends vertically), and the cylinder has an outer peripheral side surface on which case-side locks (holes in 8 for fitting screws 10; [0026]) are formed at at least two locations (Fig. 1) spaced apart in a circumferential direction (Fig. 1 and [0046] show that the locks are arranged circumferentially).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined Ichimura’s case-side locks with Yokoo’s device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this combination to lock the case main body and exterior members together so that the device does not fall apart the moment a user wears it.
Regarding claims 5-6, Yokoo in view of Ichimura discloses (Ichimura, Fig. 1 and [0026]) the device case according to claims 3-4, respectively, wherein exterior member-side locks (holes in 3 for fitting screws 10; [0026]) that are locked to the case-side locks ([0026]) are provided at positions (10) corresponding to the case-side locks on an inner peripheral side surface of the second exterior member. The second exterior body surrounds the upper outer periphery of the case main body (as claimed in claim 1 and seen in Yokoo Fig. 7 and Ichimura, Fig. 2), so exterior member-side locks must be located on an inner peripheral side surface of the second exterior member to match the case-side locks and be fastened together.
Regarding claims 7-8, Yokoo in view of Ichimura discloses the device case according to claims 5-6, respectively, wherein the case-side locks are disposed on the outer peripheral side surface of the cylinder at positions asymmetrical in the circumferential direction with respect to a center of the case main body. The figure below from Ichimura shows the asymmetrical circumferential positions of the locks.
PNG
media_image1.png
545
539
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claims 9-12, Yokoo in view of Ichimura discloses the device case according to claims 1-2 and 5-6, respectively, wherein the first exterior member is formed of a resin material having a high hardness ([0012] of Yokoo discloses a hard resin), and the second exterior member is formed of a resin material having a lower hardness ([0026] of Ichimura discloses a soft resin) than the first exterior member.
Regarding claim 19, Yokoo discloses (Fig. 7) the device case according to claim 1, wherein the case main body (5) includes a housing space in which a module (11) is housed.
Regarding claim 20, Yokoo discloses a timepiece comprising the device case according to claim 1 ([0001]).
Claims 13-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokoo in view of Ichimura, and further in view of Breguet (US 4204396).
Regarding claims 13-16, Yokoo discloses (Fig. 7) the device case according to claims 1-2 and 5-6, respectively, further comprising a third exterior member (19 and [0025]: “14 includes a…section 19”), at least a part of which is disposed between the first exterior member (17) and the second exterior member (13) and which is formed of a hard material ([0026]: “14b is…for vibration isolation…has a high hardness…and high damping rate”).
The combination of Yokoo and Ichimura does not disclose the third member being formed of metal.
Breguet teaches a metal member for damping shocks (col. 2:19-23).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted Breguet’s metal material for Yokoo’s third exterior member’s material. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this substitution as a known material that predictably dampens shocks to protect device components.
Regarding claims 17-18, Yokoo discloses (Figs. 3, 7) the device case according to claims 13-14, respectively, wherein the first exterior member (17) covers at least a part of the second exterior member (13) and a part of the third exterior member (19) and is fastened to the case main body by a fastener (23) at a position lower than the second exterior member (13) and the third exterior member (19) on an outer peripheral side surface (where 23 screws into 17) of the first exterior member (Fig. 7).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ueno (US 2012017687) discloses (Fig. 3) a first exterior member (8b) surrounding and harder than a second exterior member (8a) surrounding a case body. See [0024].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Matthew Hwang whose telephone number is (571)272-1191. The examiner can normally be reached M-F from 9:30-5:30 PT.
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, Renee Luebke can be reached at (571)272-2009. 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.
/MATTHEW DANIEL HWANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2831
Prosecution Insights