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). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. PCT/ES2021/070826, filed on 11/16/2021.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1,
Pg. 2, Ln. 17, “the external side” lacks antecedent basis. To correct lack of antecedent basis, examiner suggests “the external side” should read --an external side-- or --an outer cylindrical face--
Pg. 2, Ln. 18, “the free extremity” lacks antecedent basis. To correct lack of antecedent basis, examiner suggests “the free extremity” should read --a free extremity--
Pg. 2, Ln. 20, “the base” lacks antecedent basis. To correct lack of antecedent basis, examiner suggests “the base” should read --a base--
Pg. 2, Ln. 5, “a pin” appears to refer to “the vertical pin” (Pg. 2, Ln. 20). Examiner suggests “a pin” should read --the pin--
Pg. 2, Ln. 6, “the tubular body” lacks antecedent basis but the claim appears to be definite due to preceding “a hollow cylindrical tubular piece” (Pg. 2, Ln. 17). To correct lack of antecedent basis, examiner suggests “the tubular body” should read --the tubular piece--
Regarding claim 2,
Pg. 3, Ln. 10, “the staking cord” lacks antecedent basis but the claim appears to be definite due to preceding “a cord” (Pg. 2, Ln. 17-18). To correct lack of antecedent basis, examiner suggests “the staking cord” should read --the cord--
Regarding claim 3,
Pg. 3, Ln. 13, “the support” lacks antecedent basis but the claim appears to be definite due to preceding “a fixation support” (Pg. 2, Ln. 16). To correct lack of antecedent basis, examiner suggests “the support” should read --the fixation support--
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the limitation “a fixation support to a corresponding horizontal wire” is vague and indefinite. How does the fixation support relate to the corresponding horizontal wire? Is the support connected to the wire? Is the support for attachment to the wire? For the purpose of examination, the fixation support is assumed to be for attachment to the corresponding horizontal wire.
The limitation “from the ends of which two vertical struts emerge” is vague and indefinite. Does each arm have two vertical struts or does the pair of arms have two vertical struts in total? Additionally, “the ends” lacks antecedent basis. For the purpose of examination, one vertical strut is assumed to emerge from each end of the arms which is located outside the circumference of the reel.
The limitation “two of which extend above the reel itself and end in hooks used to hang said fixation support on said corresponding wire” is vague and indefinite. This limitation directly follows “determining a form of open wraparound for the reel” which makes it unclear if “two of which” refers to the reel, the form of open wraparound, or the struts. For the purpose of examination, “two of which” is assumed to refer to the struts.
The limitation “the reel has an annular base on the lower side of which there are two or more diametrical and perpendicular recesses or grooves” is vague and indefinite. Is the lower side referring to the location of the annular base on the reel or to the underside of the annular base? Additionally, “the lower side” lacks antecedent basis. For the purpose of examination, “lower side” is assumed to refer to the location of the annular base on the reel.
Regarding claim 2, the language “finished off at the top” is vague and indefinite. If meant to describe a connection, examiner suggests including language which defines the attachment between these components. For the purpose of examination, the upper base is assumed to be located at and connected to the top of the reel.
Regarding claim 3, claim is indefinite due to dependency on claim 1.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by Flynn (U.S. Patent No. 4,254,579) and further in view of Corbin (U.S. Patent No. 4,471,921), Dearo (WIPO Publication No. WO 02/30176 A1), and Agullo (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0096487).
Regarding claim 1, Flynn, Figure 1, teaches a device for plant staking (See Flynn, Col. 1, Ln. 50-59), consisting of:
a reel 8; and
a fixation support 1 to a corresponding horizontal wire 6;
said reel 8 made up of a hollow cylindrical tubular piece 10, upon the external side of which a cord 9 is wound in order to be fixed to a plant to be hung by the free extremity of said cord 9;
said reel 8 can be displaced both axially in relation to said fixation support 1 and in rotation on a vertical pin 4 provided on the base 2 of said fixation support 1 (See Flynn, Col. 1, Ln. 50-59);
a pin 4 that emerges from the base 2 of said fixation support 1 is hollow (See Flynn, Col. 3, Ln. 23-28).
Flynn teaches all of the elements of the plant staking device except for the arms and struts of the fixation support, the reel having an inner shaft that moves on the pin on the fixation support, the struts ending in hooks, and the base of the reel having recesses which can mate with the arms on the fixation support.
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Figure 1. Annotated Figure 2 from Corbin
However, Corbin, Figures 1-5 and annotated Figure 1 above, teaches the base 21 of said fixation support 20 comprises a pair of perpendicular arms 26a, 30a, from the ends of which two vertical struts 26b, 30b emerge, determining a form of open wraparound for the reel 15 (See Corbin, Fig. 1, Col. 2, Ln. 49-55), and inside the tubular body 110 of said reel 15 there is an inner shaft 140 that moves in the middle of said pin 135 (See Corbin, Fig. 5, Col. 3, Ln. 18-23).
Although Corbin teaches pin 135 as a solid post in its preferred embodiment, it is implied that the post can be made hollow as long as it can receive the tubular bearing member located on the reel (See Corbin, Col. 4, Ln. 38-41).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Flynn with arms, struts, an inner shaft of the reel, and a pin, as taught by Corbin, for the purpose of smoothly and efficiently supplying the wire without kinks of bends (See Corbin, Col. 1, Ln. 39-41).
Dearo, Figure 2, teaches two of which 17 (assumed to refer to the vertical struts, see Claim Rejections 35 U.S.C. 112 above) extend above the reel 11 itself and end in hooks 20 used to hang said fixation support 10 on said corresponding wire 3 (See Dearo, Abstract);
Although Dearo teaches a single extended strut with a hook, mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Flynn in view of Corbin with hooks located on the struts, as taught by Dearo, for the purpose of attaching the fixation support to the horizontal wire (See Dearo, Col. 1, Ln. 39-41).
Agullo, Figures 1-4, teaches these struts 26 interact with said reel 14, as the reel 14 has an annular base 22a, 27 on the lower side of which there are two or more diametrical and perpendicular recesses or grooves 29 that can be fitted into and removed from said arms 30, 36 of said base 32 of said fixation support 12 (See Agullo, Para. 0040, Ln. 1-9);
Although Agullo teaches a single strut and arm, mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Flynn in view of Corbin and Dearo with a reel which has recesses that mate with the arms of the fixation support, as taught by Agullo, for the purpose of increasing simplicity safety of operation (i.e., disengaging the brake and paying out the cord) (See Agullo, Para. 0013-0017).
Regarding claim 2, Flynn in view of Corbin, Dearo, and Agullo are advanced above.
Flynn further teaches wherein said reel 8 is finished off at the top with a disc-shaped upper base 11.
Flynn in view of Corbin, Dearo, and Agullo teach all the elements of the plant staking device except for the hole being located in the upper base.
However, Flynn teaches an aperture 16 located in the wall of the tubular portion 3 of the stem portion which supports the reel 8 (See Flynn, Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Flynn in view of Corbin with a hole located directly on the reel’s upper flange rather than on the support structure for the purpose of stabilizing the staking cord (See Flynn, Col. 3, Ln. 23-28). The difference between these locations is a matter of design choice.
Regarding claim 3, Flynn in view of Corbin, Dearo, and Agullo are advanced above.
Corbin further teaches a casing that constitutes the support 20 for said reel 15 further comprises a reinforcement ring 80 that joins said struts 26b, 30b (See Corbin, Fig. 5, Col. 3, Ln. 18-23).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Such references show plant staking devices which include a wound wire and a hook for attaching the device to a horizontal wire.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIFFANY DOMONIQUE JEFFERSON whose telephone number is (571)272-0403. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:30am-7:30pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gene Crawford can be reached on (571)272-6911. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/T.D.J./Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/WILLIAM A. RIVERA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654