Ex Parte Ramsauer

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

May 26, 2016

12596702 (P.T.A.B. May. 26, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
12/596,702 11/17/2009
20999 7590 05/31/2016
FROMMER LAWRENCE & HAUG
745 FIFTH A VENUE- IOTH FL.
NEW YORK, NY 10151
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Dieter Ramsauer
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
135408-2064 3738
EXAMINER
MASINICK, JONATHAN PETER
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
3679
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
05/31/2016 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
prosecutiondocketing@flhlaw.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte DIETER RAMSAUER
Appeal2014-006935
Application 12/596,702 1
Technology Center 3600
Before CYNTHIA L. MURPHY, KENNETH G. SCHOPPER, and
TARA L. HUTCHINGS, Administrative Patent Judges.
SCHOPPER, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
This is an appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the rejection of
claims 1-5, 7-10, and 12-21. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We REVERSE.
BACKGROUND
According to Appellant, "[t]he invention is directed to a snap fastener
suitable for securing a first thin wall such as a housing wall, door leaf,
shutter, or the like, ... to a second thin wall such as thin-walled wall
1 According to Appellant, the real party in interest is Dieter Ramsauer.
Appeal. Br. 2.
Appeal2014-006935
Application 12/596,702
supports such as housing frames, door frames, wall opening edge, or the
like." Spec. ,-r 3.
CLAIMS
Claims 1-5, 7-10, and 12-21 are on appeal. 2 Claim 1 is the only
independent claim and recites:
1. A snap fastener which is configured to secure a first thin
wall having a through-opening to a second thin wall similarly
having a through-opening, the snap fastener comprising:
a base part which is configured to be arranged at the first
thin wall in the through-opening thereof; and
a head part extending away from the base part, the head
part having a diameter which initially increases and then
decreases in its longitudinal section from an end of the head part
in a direction of the base part; and
an unlocking device;
wherein the head part comprises:
a male plug-in piece which, by overcoming a spring
force acting radically outward in a direction of the
diameter of the head part, is configured to be received by
an undercut female insertion piece which is formed by or
supported by the through-opening of the first thin wall;
and
a guide or a channel, in which a push element or a
holding element is arranged, the push element or holding
element being pressed by at least one spring into a position
in which the push element or holding element projects
over an end of the guide or channel;
wherein an end of the holding element or push
element which projects out of the guide or the channel has
a triangular shape in a projection line extending
2 According to Appellant, claims 6 and 11 have been withdrawn. See
Appeal Br. 22-23.
2
Appeal2014-006935
Application 12/596,702
perpendicular to the first thin wall when the snap fastener
is arranged in the through-opening of the first thin wall;
wherein the base part includes a plate which overlaps
longitudinal edges of the through-opening in the first thin wall
when the snap fastener is arranged in the through-opening of the
first thin wall;
wherein the head part is provided as a housing with
fastening projections, where the housing is configured to be
snapped into the through-opening in the first thin wall in such a
way that it grips only the first thin wall;
wherein, by means of the unlocking device, the push
element or holding element is configured to be pulled back into
the housing from the front, and the housing is configured to be
disengaged from the second thin wall; and
wherein a first distance between a holding area of the
fastening projections, which is configured to grip the first thin
wall, and a supporting plane of the base part, which supports the
base part on the thin walls when the snap fastener is arranged in
the through-openings of the thin walls, and a second distance
between a holding area of the push element or holding element,
which is configured to gr~v the second thin wall; and the
supporting plane of the base part, are selected in such a way that
the fastening projections are configured to lie on the first thin
wall with clearance, when the push element or holding element
is pulled back and the snap fastener is arranged in the through-
openings of the thin walls.
Appeal Br. 19--20 (emphasis added).
3
Appeal2014-006935
Application 12/596,702
REJECTIONS 3
1. The Examiner rejects claims 1-5, 7, 8, and 13-21under35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as unpatentable over Ramsauer '275 4 in view of
Ramsauer ' 199. 5
2. The Examiner rejects claims 9, 10, and 12 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as unpatentable over Ramsauer '275 in view of
Ramsauer '199 and Kitzis. 6
DISCUSSION
Rejection 1
With respect to claim 1, the Examiner finds that Ramsauer '275
discloses a fastener as claimed except that Ramsauer '275 "fails to disclose
wherein the head part is provided as a housing with fastening projections."
Final Action 6-8. With respect to the claimed fastening projections, the
Examiner finds:
[Ramsauer] '199 teaches (figs 52-53) the use of fastening
projections (see fig 53b) as part of a housing for the purpose of
further preventing the housing from disconnecting from a thin
wall.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having
ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to have employed
the use of fastening projections, as taught by [Ramsauer] '199,
in the device of [Ramsauer] '275, for the purpose of further
preventing the housing from disconnecting from a thin wall.
3 The Examiner has withdrawn the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second
paragraph. Ans. 2.
4 Ramsauer, WO 2005/083275 Al, pub. Sept. 9, 2005.
5 Ramsauer, WO 2005/071199 Al, pub. Aug. 4, 2005.
6 Kitzis, US 6, 722, 711 B2, iss. Apr. 20, 2004.
4
Appeal2014-006935
Application 12/596,702
LKamsauer] '275 as modified above suggests wherein a
first dimension between a holding area of the fastening
projections and those of the push members on one hand, and the
supporting plane of the base part on the other hand, are selected
in such a way that, when the push element or holding element is
pulled back, the fastening projections lie on the front panel with
clearance (see figures of [Ramsauer] '199).
Id. at 8.
It is well settled that "rejections on obviousness grounds cannot be
sustained by mere conclusory statements; instead, there must be some
articulated reasoning with some rational underpinning to support the legal
conclusion of obviousness." KSR Int 'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 418
(2007). In this case, we determine that the Examiner does not sufficiently
articulate a reasoning with a rational underpinning to combine the references
to provide a housing with fastening projections as claimed. The Examiner
finds that Ramsauer '199 teaches the use of projections for preventing the
housing from disconnecting from a thin wall. The Examiner relies only on
Figures 52-53 ofRamsauer '199 and that "it is clear from [these figures] that
the fastening projections ... are actually wider than the wall to which the
device is connected" to support this conclusion. See Final Action 8; Ans. 3.
However, we find that the Examiner reasoning for making the
proposed combination is not supported on the record before us. Specifically,
we agree with Appellant that Ramsauer ' 199 does not disclose fastening
projections for the purpose of preventing the housing from disconnecting
from a thin wall. See Appeal Br. 14. Rather, Ramsauer '199 indicates only
that the projections cited by the Examiner are part of a cover element
designed to fit within an offset in a body part of the fitting or at the edges of
two latch bars. See Ramsauer, US 7 ,690,083 B2, iss. Apr. 6, 2010
5
Appeal2014-006935
Application 12/596,702
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