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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS/IDSs) submitted on 3/3/2025, 11/18/2025, & 1/8/2026 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS/IDSs is/are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, requires the specification to be written in “full, clear, concise, and exact terms.” The specification is replete with terms which are not clear, concise and exact. The specification should be revised carefully in order to comply with 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112. Examples of some unclear, inexact or verbose terms used in the specification are: referring to PgPub 20250283911 for the convenience of paragraph numbers, ¶¶ [0024], [0027], and [0027] are incomprehensible and need human translation or a complete rewrite. ¶ [0003] starts “In the replated art,” which needs to be corrected to “In the related art.”
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent App. Pub. No. 20150160265 to Nakamura et al. in view of WIPO Patent Document No. WO2018143577A1 to Baek.
Regarding claim 1, Nakamura teaches a probe unit comprising:
a plurality of probe groups (e.g., 10 & 20 and 30 & 40) each including two contact probes configured to come into contact with one electrode of a contact target on one end portion side in a longitudinal direction (e.g., 10 & 20 are configured to contact 61), each of the two contact probes coming into contact with a different electrode of a substrate on another end portion side (10 contacts 71 and 20 contacts 72); and
a probe holder configured to hold the contact probes (100), the probe holder including a plurality of holder holes configured to hold the plurality of contact probes (the spaces toward the middle of housing body 51 in which the contact probes are contained),
wherein each of the two contact probes includes:
a distal end portion configured to come into contact with the one electrode of the contact target at a distal end (e.g., 11f); and
a flange portion extending from a proximal end side of the distal end portion and having a maximum length in a direction orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the contact probe larger than a maximum length of the distal end portion (e.g., 11), and
the holder hole has a stepped shape configured to be locked by the flange portion and has a wall surface abutting on the first flat surface portion (e.g., 52).
But Nakamura does not teach explicitly the flange portion including a first flat surface portion having a planar shape provided on a part of a side surface of the flange portion.
However, Baek teaches the flange portion including a first flat surface portion having a planar shape provided on a part of a side surface of the flange portion (515 or 612/712, depending on the orientation of the contact probe).
It 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 to combine the flat surface portion on a side surface of the flange portion of Baek with the probe unit of Nakamura in order to provide certainty of proper arrangement and thin physical footprint (“The flange 612 serves to make the plurality of first plate portions 614 be regularly arranged in parallel when the plurality of contact members 610 is arranged. The first plate portion 614 is formed in the shape of a plate having a narrow width to avoid interference between the adjacent terminals 12 to be tested at narrow pitches.”).
Regarding claim 2, Nakamura in view of Baek teaches the probe unit according to claim 1, and Baek further discloses wherein the first flat surface portion includes two flat surfaces provided on opposite sides to each other with respect to the longitudinal axis (e.g., 712).
Regarding claim 3, Nakamura in view of Baek teaches the probe unit according to claim 1, and Baek further teaches wherein the first flat surface portion is constituted of one flat surface (e.g., 612).
Regarding claim 4, Nakamura in view of Baek teaches the probe unit according to claim 1, and Beak further teaches wherein the flange portion includes a second flat surface portion (see, e.g., the flat surfaces 90 degrees from elements 612 and 712) facing another one of the two contact probes at a position different from the first flat surface portion in a state where the two contact probes are installed in the probe holder (see figure 8: the sides of the flanges of the probes 12 face one another).
Regarding claim 5, Nakamura teaches a contact probe for coming into contact with one electrode of a contact target on one end portion side in a longitudinal direction, the contact probe comprising:
a distal end portion configured to come into contact with the one electrode of the contact target at a distal end (e.g., 11f); and
a flange portion extending from a proximal end side of the distal end portion and having a maximum length in a direction orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the contact probe larger than a maximum length of the distal end portion (e.g., 11).
But Nakamura does not teach explicitly the flange portion including a flat surface portion having a planar shape provided on a part of a side surface of the flange portion.
However, Baek teaches the flange portion including a flat surface portion having a planar shape provided on a part of a side surface of the flange portion (515 or 612/712, depending on the orientation of the contact probe).
It 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 to combine the flat surface portion on a side surface of the flange portion of Baek with the probe unit of Nakamura in order to provide certainty of proper arrangement and thin physical footprint (“The flange 612 serves to make the plurality of first plate portions 614 be regularly arranged in parallel when the plurality of contact members 610 is arranged. The first plate portion 614 is formed in the shape of a plate having a narrow width to avoid interference between the adjacent terminals 12 to be tested at narrow pitches.”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
United States Patent App. Pub. No. 20210175658 to Nakamura discloses an inspection socket having probe contacts, a flange, and an irregular pattern for engagement with a solder ball.
United States Patent App. Pub. No. 20130099814 to Kazama et al. discloses a contact probe and probe unit having a stepped-shape holder hole, tapered segments acting as flanges, and an irregular pattern for engagement with a solder ball.
United States Patent App. Pub. No. 20150285840 to Matsui et al. discloses a probe unit having a stepped-shape holder hole, a flange, and an irregular pattern for engagement with a solder ball.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert P Alejnikov whose telephone number is (571)270-5164. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00a-6:00p M-F.
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, Arleen Vazquez can be reached at 571.272.2619. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT P ALEJNIKOV JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2857
/ARLEEN M VAZQUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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