DETAILED ACTION
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 13, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Elvin-Jensen (MX 2015008850 A).
Applicant’s prior art clearly discloses all structural limitations. The tapered, hollow shape appears to be shown at least in Figure 9 and would naturally enable stacking (i.e., “receive, at least in part, the paddle of another unit).
Regarding claims 19 and 20, the region at 58, relative to the upper portion, meets claim recitations.
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.
Claims 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Elvin-Jensen (MX 2015008850 A) in view of Pucillo et al. (U.S. Patent 8,070,380).
As discussed above, stacking would naturally be enabled. Further, Pucillo exemplifies that it is well known to stack hollow, tapered devices (Figure 4 and claim 7, for example). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have configured Elvin-Jensen in the manner of Pucillo in order to ease storage and transportation, as is the purpose of stacking.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 5-7, 11, 12, 21 and 22 are allowed
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 30 December 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive with respect to claim 13. The examiner maintains the Figure 9 appears to show a tapered shape. With respect to the 103 rejection, the examiner has added a secondary reference in order to demonstrate that the Official notice was proper. Because this reference was added solely to address this issue, this action is properly made final.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY S HARTMANN whose telephone number is (571)272-6989. The examiner can normally be reached 11-7:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Will can be reached at 571272-6998. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GARY S HARTMANN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671
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