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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 31 March 2025. The submission 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
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.
Claim(s) 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Liebelt (US 11,519,446 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Liebelt discloses a grommet (see Figs. 1-8), comprising:
a body (see Fig. 1) defining a receiving channel (24) and a longitudinal axis (see Fig. 1) and comprising a first axial body portion (A in annotated Figure 2 below) and a second axial body portion (B in annotated Figure 2 below) connected to each other, the first axial body portion comprising at least one first body segment (C in annotated Figure 2 below) and at least one second body segment (D in annotated Figure 2 below) disposed about the longitudinal axis and spaced apart from each other (see Fig. 2);
at least one first retaining portion (96) provided on a side of the at least one first body segment facing away from the longitudinal axis (see Fig. 4);
at least one second retaining portion (portion of 44 within the area designated by D in annotated Figure 2 below) provided at an end of the at least one second body segment away from the second axial body portion and extending away from the longitudinal axis (see Fig. 2); and
at least one operating portion (92) provided at an end of the at least one first body segment away from the second axial body portion and extending away from the longitudinal axis (see Fig. 8),
wherein the grommet has a first state and a second state, and is switchable from the first state to the second state by operating the at least one operating portion to deflect the at least one first body segment toward the longitudinal axis and drive the at least one first retaining portion to move toward the longitudinal axis (see Column 5 lines 35-51).
Applicant is reminded that "[E]ven though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process." In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985).
Accordingly, all the process limitations of being switchable between the first and second state are given limited patentable weight, all that is required of claim 1 is that the grommet is capable of being switched between a first and second state.
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Figure 1. Annotated Figure 2.
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Figure 2. Annotated Figure 2.
Regarding claim 2, Liebelt discloses wherein the body (see Fig. 1) comprises at least two first body segments (C in annotated Figure 2 above, see Fig. 4), each of which is provided with the first retaining portion (96) and the operating portion (92); and
wherein each first body segment and the corresponding operating portion are configured such that when the grommet is switched to the second state, the first body segment and the corresponding operating portion do not interfere with other first body segments and the corresponding operating portions (see Figs. 1-4 and see Column 5 lines 35-51).
Regarding claim 3, Liebelt discloses wherein each first body segment (C in annotated Figure 2 above) and the corresponding operating portion (92) is provided with a notch (F in annotated Figure 3 below and see NOTE 1 below) at least on a junction between the first body segment and the corresponding operating portion on at least one of two opposite side portions of the junction (see Fig. 3), the notch being configured such that when the grommet is switched to the second state, each first body segment and the corresponding operating portion do not interfere with other first body segments and the corresponding operating portions (see NOTE 2 below).
NOTE 1: Each of the operating portions comprise at least one notch located on the left side of the operating portion (92) when viewing the operating portion from the outside of the grommet as seen in Fig. 3.
NOTE 2: The grommet is only required to be capable of meeting the claim limitations recited after “configured”. Accordingly, the prior art is capable of having two operating portions that do not interfere with one another.
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Figure 3. Annotated Figure 3.
Regarding claim 4, Liebelt discloses wherein the notch (F in annotated Figure 3 above) spans an entire extension length of the operating portion (92).
Regarding claim 5, Liebelt discloses wherein the notch (F in annotated Figure 3 above) spans part of an extension length (see NOTE below) of the operating portion (92), so that the operating portion has a widened operating end (see Fig. 3).
NOTE: The notch spans part of an extension length when an extension length is the D1 direction shown in Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 6, Liebelt discloses wherein the body comprises two first body segments (C in annotated Figure 2 above), the two first body segments being disposed symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis (see Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 7, Liebelt discloses wherein each first body segment (C in annotated Figure 2 above) and the corresponding operating portion (92) is provided with one notch (F in annotated Figure 3 above, see NOTE 1 below), and the two notches are located on opposite sides of the two first body segments (see NOTE below); and
wherein the notch on one of the first body segments and the corresponding operating portion is configured to receive at least part of the other first body segment and the corresponding operating portion when the grommet is switched to the second state (see NOTE 2 below).
NOTE 1: Each of the operating portions comprise at least one notch located on the left side of the operating portion (92) when viewing the operating portion from the outside of the grommet as seen in Fig. 3. Therefore, each of the at least one notch is located on opposing sides of the opposing operating portions.
NOTE 2: The grommet is only required to be capable of meeting the claim limitations recited after “configured to”. Accordingly, the prior art is capable of having a notch that receives part of another first body segment.
Regarding claim 8, Liebelt discloses wherein each of the two opposite side portions of each first body segment (C in annotated Figure 2 above) and the corresponding operating portion (92) is provided with a notch (F in annotated Figure 3 above, see NOTE below).
NOTE: Each of the operating portions comprise at least one notch located on the left side of the operating portion (92) when viewing the operating portion from the outside of the grommet as seen in Fig. 3. Therefore, each of the at least one notch is located on opposing sides of the opposing operating portions.
Regarding claim 9, Liebelt discloses wherein the operating portion (92) extends substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (see Fig. 8 for example).
Regarding claim 10, Liebelt discloses wherein the body (see Fig. 1) is cylindrical (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 11, Liebelt discloses wherein the first body segment (C in annotated Figure 2 above) and the second body segment (D in annotated Figure 2 above) each extend in a circumferential direction and have a certain width (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 12, Liebelt discloses a fastening assembly (see Fig. 1) for insertion into a hole of a part (see Fig. 7 for example), comprising:
a pin (see Column 5 lines 1-5); and
a grommet according to claim 1 (see Fig. 2 and rejection of claim 1 above),
wherein the pin is at least partially inserted and retained in the receiving channel of the grommet (see Column 5 lines 1-5); and
wherein when the grommet is in the first state (see Fig. 7 for example), the grommet is inserted into the hole of the part (see Fig. 7 for example), and the first retaining portion and the second retaining portion are located on two opposite sides of the part (see Figs. 1-7 for example), respectively; and when the grommet is in the second state, the first retaining portion is disengageable from the hole of the part, enabling the grommet to be withdrawn from the hole of the part (see Column 5 lines 35-51).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY A HALL whose telephone number is (571)272-5907. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday 8:00am to 4:00pm.
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/ZAH/Examiner, Art Unit 3678
/AMBER R ANDERSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3678
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