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 .
Second Non-Final Rejection
A further consideration has resulted in this Office Action being a second non-final rejection based on new grounds. The examiner regrets the resulting inconvenience to the applicant and their counsel.
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)(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 10-13 and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ostanin et al. (US 11,459,068 B2).
Regarding claim 10, it is noted that claim does not positively recite any connection with a stern module, but rather sets forth the stern module merely in terms of a capability statement. In the present case, Ostanin et al. disclose a surfboard that, in entirety, is considered to be a bow module. Any part of the surfboard – such as the connector [102], the fin or the fin box – can be broadly considered as a connection portion, which would be capable of being connected to, and therefore configured to connect to a stern module of another watercraft.
A remote control operated by an operator is configured to transfer movement control signals to a controller [304, 311] for operating a motor drive (col. 2, lines 39-46; and col. 5, lines 49-51). A receiver in the form of an antenna [309] is configured to wirelessly receive control signals from the remote control (col. 5, lines 65-67). The receiver is located at a distance from and connected to a transmitter [308] by a cable (col. 4, lines 45-52). The transmitter is connected to the remote control and configured to transmit the movement control signals received from the remote control on to the controller.
Re claim 11, because the transmitter is in the form of a radio transceiver, it is capable of, and therefore configured for wirelessly transmitting the movement control signals to any stern module.
Re claim 12, the connection between the remote control and the transmitter is at least partially wired.
Re claim 13, the remote control is releasably fixed to the bow module (see col. 2, lines 40-42).
Re claim 15, a power supply [301] in the form of a battery supplies power to one or more of the transmitter and the receiver.
Re claim 16, the battery is charged using a charging port [314], implying that the battery is a rechargeable battery (Fig 3a; col. 5, lines 49-51)
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 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ostanin et al. (US 11,459,068 B2) in view of WO 2013191501 A1 ('501), as cited by the applicant.
Ostanin et al. disclose a watercraft module comprising a rechargeable battery, but fails to disclose a solar cell for charging the rechargeable battery.
WO '501 discloses a watercraft comprising a rechargeable battery [22], wherein a solar cell [21] is attached to the bow module for charging the rechargeable battery.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the module of Ostanin et al. with a solar cell, as taught by WO '501. Having such an arrangement would have provided an environment-friendly solution to recharge and extend the operational time and range of the battery.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 and 7-9 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 10/02/2025 have been considered but they are moot in view of new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Weisenburger (US 11180224) shows a watercraft having a transmitter and receiver.
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/AJAY VASUDEVA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615