DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-18 are pending in the application.
The amended Specification filed on 07/20/2023 is accepted, except as otherwise noted.
Drawings
The Drawings are objected to because they are considered informal with handwritten characters, elements or features, and include copies of photographs instead of line drawings.
The Drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The Drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the claimed feature limitations: “magnetic coupling”, “receiver”, “optical indicator”, “optical window”, “watertight enclosure”, “stock commodity PVC members”, “antenna”, “first magnet”, “second magnet” and “drive screw” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). It is suggested that appropriate reference characters corresponding to these feature(s) in the written description be provided both in the Drawings and Specification to facilitate clarity for these features).
6. The Drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show the above feature(s) consistent with the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d).
7. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. No new matter should be entered.
8. In addition to Replacement Sheets containing the corrected drawing figure(s), applicant is required to submit a marked-up copy of each Replacement Sheet including annotations indicating the changes made to the previous version. The marked-up copy must be clearly labeled as “Annotated Sheets” and must be presented in the amendment or remarks section that explains the change(s) to the drawings. See 37 CFR 1.121(d)(1). Failure to timely submit the proposed drawing and marked-up copy will result in the abandonment of the application.
Specification
9. The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The Specification does not include drawing reference characters for the features indicated in paragraphs 5 and 6 of this Office Action.
Appropriate correction is required.
The Specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required: The claimed feature limitation “antenna” is not found in the Specification as is recited in the claims. Claim limitations should be consistent with features found in and described in the Specification. In addition, terminology and/or nomenclature should be consistent throughout the disclosure (including the Abstract, Specification and Claims).
The Title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. The invention as disclosed and claimed is a Buoy Release Device and not an Ocean Species Harvesting Device.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
12. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
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.
13. Claims 2-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor, regards as the invention.
14. The claimed limitation “The device” lacks sufficient antecedent basis in the claims (should be The buoy release device). Same applies to “the rope” (should be the recovery rope).
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informality:
The claimed limitation “PVC (polyvynyl chloride)” should be replaced with - polyvynyl chloride (PVC) - . An acronym should follow in parentheses after a term whenever an acronym is used. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
16. 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.
As best understood by the examiner, claims 1-4, 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1: D1: US 7534152 B1 (Lloyd et al.). Regarding claims 1-4, 16 and 17, D1 discloses a buoy release device [10], comprising: a tether release (or delayed release device) [60] (defined by a lever) securing a tether [24, 22] between a buoy [14] and submersible object [12]; magnet(s) [44, 46, 50, 54] disposed in magnetic communication with the release [60] and adapted to secure the tether based on a magnetic field; and an actuator [34, 42] attached to the magnet(s) for disposing the magnet out of magnetic communication with the tether release for disengaging the tether from the release, magnetic coupling (connection of magnets as shown in Figs. 3 and 4) and housing [18]. The buoy release system further includes a signal reception device that includes a battery, a signal reception transducer, and a PC board. The PC board is formatted to decipher a predetermined signal transmitted from a remote signal transmission device. The system has a backup mechanism that releases the floating object automatically after a certain period of time, if the transmission unit is not effective. D1 does not explicitly disclose that the device is “for an underwater harvesting apparatus” nor “securing a tether between a buoy and a submersible harvesting containment” nor “for a buoy engaged with an underwater lobster trap” nor “the buoy tethered to a deployed lobster trap”. However, such are considered intended use limitations for which the device is considered capable of being used for; and Fig. 1 shows that the submersible object [12] is in a form of a cage, trap or other for use as a harvesting apparatus or containment, as would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art. It would have been considered 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 to provide such features to facilitate proper function and use of the device as intended with a reasonable expectation of success, as would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art. The rejection combines known features to achieve expected results; no unknown features or unexpected results are achieved for the claimed subject matter.
Allowable Subject Matter
As best understood by the examiner, claims 5-15 and 18 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
19. The prior art cited and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
The prior art references cited disclose release devices with magnets for tethered floats/buoys.
20. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL V VENNE whose telephone number is (571) 272-7947. The examiner can normally be reached between M-F, 7am-3:30pm Flex. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Samuel J. Morano can be reached on (571) 272-6684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
21. If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Daniel V Venne/
Senior Examiner, Art Unit 3615
10/15/2025