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 . 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.
Foreign Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements submitted on 29 September 2025 and
12 May 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because of the following informalities:
a. In FIG. 7, reference character 121 should be changed to 112 in order to be consistent with the remainder of the disclosure.
b. In FIG. 8B, reference character 22U should be changed to 21U in order to be consistent with the remainder of the disclosure.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informality:
In line 2 of claim 3, “the second connector” should be changed to --the second connector terminal-- in order to more clearly refer back to that set forth in line 5 of independent claim 1. Appropriate correction is required.
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
Claims 1, 6, 9 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Minaguchi et al. (US 7,500,254).
With respect to claims 1, 6 and 9, Minaguchi et al. (US 7,500,254) teach a connection structure allowing an electronic equipment (1) and an optical disk drive (30) detachably attachable thereto to be electrically connected with each other (see lines 39-42 in column 5, for instance, i.e., “When the optical disk drive 30 is inserted into the second receptacle 8 through the second opening 14, the connector 43 is fitted in the connector receptacle 16 of the printed-circuit board 15”), the connection structure comprising a first connector terminal (43) provided on the optical disk drive (as shown in FIG. 8, for instance); a second connector terminal (16) provided on the electronic equipment (as shown in FIG. 3, for instance) in a manner connectable to the first connector terminal (see lines 39-42 in column 5, for instance, i.e., “When the optical disk drive 30 is inserted into the second receptacle 8 through the second opening 14, the connector 43 is fitted in the connector receptacle 16 of the printed-circuit board 15”); a circuit board (15) housed in a housing of the electronic equipment (as shown in FIG. 4, for instance), the circuit board having the second connector terminal mounted thereon (as shown in FIG. 4, for instance, see also lines 59-60 in column 3, for instance, i.e., “printed circuit board 15 has a connector receptacle 16”); a ground part (includes 70, for instance) provided on the circuit board (see lines 7-8 in column 7, for instance, i.e., “plating layer 70 is electrically connected to the ground of the printed circuit board 15”); and a conductive member (50) causing the ground part and a metal part (includes 31, for instance, see also lines 50-51 in column 1, for instance, i.e., “metallic case of the optical disk drive”) of the optical disk drive to be electrically connected with each other in a state where the first connector terminal and the second connector terminal are connected with each other (as shown in FIG. 15 relative to FIGS. 3 and 14, for instance) [as per claim 1]; wherein the conductive member is secured to the optical disk drive ( see lines 52-54 in column 5, for instance, i.e., “grounding metal member 50 (an electrical conduction member) is attached to the housing 31 of the optical disk drive 30”) [as per claim 6]; and wherein the metal part includes a lower plate (includes surface 39a, for instance) of the optical disk drive for placement onto the electronic equipment (as shown in FIG. 15, for instance) [as per claim 9].
With respect to claim 11, Minaguchi et al. (US 7,500,254) teach an optical disk drive (30) detachably attachable to an electronic equipment (1), the optical disk drive comprising a connector terminal (43) connectable to an equipment-side connector terminal (16) mounted on a circuit board (15) of the electronic equipment; and a conductive member (50) electrically connected to a ground part (includes 70, for instance) provided on the circuit board (see lines 7-8 in column 7, for instance, i.e., “plating layer 70 is electrically connected to the ground of the printed circuit board 15”) in a state where the connector terminal is connected to the equipment-side connector terminal (as shown in FIG. 15 relative to FIGS. 3 and 14, for instance).
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.
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.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Minaguchi et al. (US 7,500,254) in view of Nozawa (US 2021/0298167).
Minaguchi et al. (US 7,500,254) teach the connection structure as detailed in paragraph 8, supra. Minaguchi et al. (US 7,500,254), however, remain silent as to “wherein the ground part includes a ground pattern and a shield, the ground pattern being formed on the circuit board, the shield covering electronic components mounted on the circuit board” as per claim 2, and “wherein the shield is provided on the circuit board in a manner exposing the second connector” as per claim 3.
Nozawa (US 2021/0298167) teaches that a ground part (see FIG. 8, for instance) including a ground pattern (includes G1, for instance) and a shield (includes 31, for instance), the ground pattern being formed on a circuit board (10), the shield covering electronic components mounted on the circuit board (see paragraph [0029], for instance, i.e., “(the SoC 15, the video signal control circuit 16, the LAN communication control circuit 17, and the storage device control circuit 18) are each disposed inside the shield area A1”), wherein the shield is provided on the circuit board in a manner exposing a connector (11, for instance, as shown in FIG. 8, for instance, see also paragraph [0029], for instance, i.e., “(the video signal connector 11, the LAN connector 12, and the two USB connectors 13) mounted on the printed board 10 are each disposed outside the ground pattern G1 surrounding the shield area A1”), is a notoriously old and well known connection structure configuration. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have had the ground part of Minaguchi et al. (US 7,500,254) include a ground pattern and a shield, the ground pattern being formed on the circuit board, the shield covering electronic components mounted on the circuit board wherein the shield is provided on the circuit board in a manner exposing the second connector, as taught/suggested by Nozawa (US 2021/0298167). The rationale is as follows:
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have had the ground part of Minaguchi et al. (US 7,500,254) include a ground pattern and a shield, the ground pattern being formed on the circuit board, the shield covering electronic components mounted on the circuit board wherein the shield is provided on the circuit board in a manner exposing the second connector, as taught/suggested by Nozawa (US 2021/0298167) since such is a notoriously old and well known connection structure configuration, and selecting a known connection structure configuration on the basis of its suitability for the intended use is considered to be within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This includes Nozawa (US 2019/0364703), which teaches an electronic apparatus grounding configuration.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Craig A. Renner whose telephone number is (571) 272-7580. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 AM - 7:30 PM.
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, Steven Lim can be reached at (571) 270-1210. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CRAIG A. RENNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688
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