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 § 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.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Rice (US 12,365,146). Rice discloses a fastening system comprising: a metal fastener (19); a metal cage (14) enclosing the fastener (Fig. 9A-9B); and a sealing element (34) directly connected to the cage with a sealing area between the cage and fastener (at 38, paragraph bridging columns 7 and 8). The sealing element loosely sealingly interferes with the fastener and an insert (32) installed in the fastener and comprises a soft cap (pointed to below) on the sealing element away from the cage.
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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.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rice as applied to claims 1 and 9 above, and further in view of Bohm (US 11,542,979). Rice does not disclose the sealing element made of a relatively soft metal. Bohm discloses a sealing element (54) can alternatively be made of numerous different materials including a relatively soft metal (column 3, paragraph beginning line 36). Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to make the sealing element of Rice out of a relatively soft metal as disclosed in Bohm because Bohm teaches the relatively soft metal as one of a plurality alternative sealing materials yielding the same results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cavailles (US 2009/0245968), Copple (US 6,183,180) and Ross (US 9,114,449) are cited to teach other examples of a sealing element between a cage and fastener. The other references cited are of general interest.
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/FLEMMING SAETHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3675
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