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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In both claims, the phrase “protrusions extending from the mount face” can be confusing in that the body has a “mount face” limitation as well. As currently written, the “mount face” limitation in this phrase can reference back to the body mount face or to the cartridge mount face. It is recommended that further disclosure be added to the phrase so it is clear the cartridge/cartridges mount face is only being referenced.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 and 6-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Williams (2022/0281094) in view of Roden et al. (11,192,271).
With regards to claim 1, Williams discloses the invention including a saw system (Fig. 1) having a body (22) with a prime mover (49) and a transmission element (23), one or more interchangeable saw cartridges interchangeably connectable to the body (21), the cartridges have a saw blade (21, Fig. 1), and the connection of the cartridges to the body causes the saw blades to be drivable by the transmission element (paragraph [0018] lines 1-5).
With regards to claims 2, 3, 7, and 9-16, Williams discloses each of the cartridges has a different form factor from another one or more of the cartridges (Fig. 1), the cartridges have a cartridge body (27), the saw blade is a circular saw (Fig. 1), the transmission element is insertable into a transmission aperture (23, 26), the saw blades have a different form factor from another one or more of the saw blades of the cartridges (Fig. 1), the cartridge bodies are substantially identical to another one or more of the cartridge bodies (Fig. 2), the body has a housing (48) and a first handle (Fig. 1), the prime mover is disposed within the housing (Fig. 4), the prime mover is an electric variable speed motor (paragraph [0024] lines 11-15), the body includes a battery receiving area (58), a user interface disposed on the body (51), the prime mover is controlled by the user interface (paragraph [0024] lines 4-6), the user interface is a trigger (51), the cartridges are oil-less cartridges (21), the cartridges are connectable to the body without the use of separate tools (Fig. 1).
With regards to claim 17, Williams discloses the invention including a method of operating a saw system (Fig. 1) including connecting one of a plurality of interchangeable saw cartridges (21) to a body (22) with a prime mover (49) and a transmission element (23), activation of the prime mover drives the transmission element (paragraph [0024] lines 19-22), each of the interchangeable saw cartridges (21) have a saw blade (Fig. 1), the connection of the cartridges to the body causes the saw blades to be drivable by the transmission element (paragraph [0018] lines 1-5), activating the prime mover to drive the transmission element such that the transmission element drives the saw blade (paragraphs [0018] and [0024]), and removing the connected cartridge from the body and connecting a different cartridge to the body to drive that cartridge (Fig. 1).
With regards to claims 18-20, Williams discloses at least one of the cartridges has a different form factor from another one or more of the cartridges (Fig. 1), each of the cartridges has a cartridge body (27) and a saw blade (Fig. 1), the saw blade is a circular saw (Fig. 1), the transmission element is insertable into a transmission aperture (23, 26).
However, with regards to claims 1, 6, 8, 9, 17, 20, and 21, Williams discloses the invention but fails to disclose the body has a mount face defining a plurality of depressions, the transmission element extends from the mount face, the cartridges have a mount face, a plurality of protrusions extending from the mount face of the cartridges, the protrusions are configured to be inserted into the depressions of the body, the transmission aperture is defined in the mount face of the cartridges, at least one blade has a guide bar and chain, a second handle extending from the housing, a handguard extending from a front end of the housing, the second handle extends perpendicular to the first handle, and the depressions and protrusions aligns the cartridges with the mount face of the body.
Roden et al. teach it is known in the art of saw body (12b) and cartridge (14b) connections (Fig. 10) to incorporate the body has a mount face (Fig. 10) defining a plurality of depressions (58b), the transmission element extends from the mount face (52b, Fig. 10), the cartridge has a mount face (14b, Fig. 10), a plurality of protrusions extending from the mount face of the cartridge (46b), the protrusions are configured to be inserted into the depressions of the body (46b, 58b), the transmission aperture is defined in the mount face of the cartridge (Fig. 10), at least one blade has a guide bar and chain (50a, 18a), a second handle extending from the housing (Fig. 1), a handguard extending from a front end of the housing (34a), the second handle extends perpendicular to the first handle (Fig. 1), and the depressions and protrusions aligns the cartridges with the mount face of the body (46b, 58b). It would have been well within one’s technical skill to have utilized any reasonable connection means as long as the cartridges are able to perform the required cutting function and saw option (including a chainsaw) especially in light of the paragraph [0017] disclosure in Williams. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of filing, to have provided Williams with the connection structures and chainsaw, as taught by Roden et al., because the substitution of one known element for another would have yielded predictable results and all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective function and the combination would have yielded predictable results.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection is not specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 JASON DANIEL PRONE whose telephone number is (571)272-4513. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday: 7:00 am-3:00 pm.
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02 December 2025
/Jason Daniel Prone/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3724
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