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 .
Status of Claims
As per the submission to the Office filed on 08/28/2025 the following represents the changes from the previous claims: Claims 6-7 were canceled. Claims 1-5 and 8-10 are presented for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-5 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Renforth (US Patent 6318300) in view of Crosby (US PGPUB 20200323171) and Huang (US PGPUB 20070289550).
Regarding claim 1, Renforth teaches an interactive device for pets (pet toy 100; Fig. 4) comprising:
a main body (mount 102; Fig. 4) comprising a supporting portion (hole 404; Figs. 6A, 6B), wherein an included angle defined between the supporting portion and a vertical direction of the main body (due to the suction cup mounts in Renforth and the relative elasticity commonly found in suction cups, it is noted that such connections may not necessarily provide for the supporting hole’s 404 longitudinal axis to be exactly parallel to vertical axis and would inherently provide for at least a slight angle of the hole 404 relative to the vertical axis); and
a stick having a first end and a second end (support 104 has two ends; see Fig. 5), wherein the first end of the stick is inserted into the supporting portion (end 402 of support 104 is inserted into hole 404; Fig. 4) with the second end of the stick (distal end 112 of support 104; Fig. 4) being located at a start position (wherein the start position is shown as the solid lines in Fig. 2 as the support 104 is in a horizontal steady state position), and the stick is rotatable with respect to the main body (support 104 rotates in hole 404 of mount 102; Fig. 3), wherein the second end of the stick returns to the start position when rotation of the stick ends (fig. 2 and Col. 3, lines 24-26 while the support 104 is rotatable with respect to the main body as shown in Fig. 3, the second end of the stick does return to the “start position” as shown in Fig. 2 horizontal steady state position when rotation of the stick ends. That is when the stick rotates either left or right it may still cause some oscillations of the stick in the up and down positions but will return to a steady state once all movement ends).
Renforth does not teach a circuit unit disposed in the main body; an image capture unit disposed in the main body and electrically connected to the circuit unit, and wherein the included angle is 16.6 degrees.
Crosby teaches an interactive device for pets (devices for automatically entertaining
animals: wall-mounted system 200; Fig. 2; paras [0001], [0029]), comprising:
a circuit unit (controller 245; Fig 2) disposed in the main body (housing 201 and housing for camera 210; Fig. 2);
an image capture unit disposed in the main body and electrically connected to the circuit unit (camera 210, speakers 215, microphone 220 are disposed in a housing (see Fig. 2) and is connected to controller 245 via a circuit unit; paras [0029], [0057]; Fig. 2).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide an image capture unit (camera, speakers, microphone) electrically connected to a circuit unit, wherein the circuit unit is disposed in the main body, as taught by Crosby, to the device of Renforth, since this allows a user to remotely view the animal’s behavior which provides entertainment or reassurance to the human that the animal is doing well, as taught by Crosby (para [0040]).
Huang teaches an interactive device for pets (cat toy; Fig. 1), wherein the included angle is 15 degrees (see Fig. 6, wherein the angle defined between hole 52 and rotating seat 50 is 15 degrees); para [0029]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide an angle of 15 degrees, as taught by Huang, to the included angle defined between the supporting portion and a vertical direction of the main body of Renforth, as modified, since this provides the toy at an angle and position which is attractive to a pet while also allowing the toy to rotate freely within the housing, as recognized by Huang (para [0031]) and as understood by one having ordinary skill in the art.
Renforth as modified by Crosby and Huang, discloses the claimed invention except for wherein the included angle is 16.6 degrees, however, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide an angle of 16.6 degrees defined between the supporting portion and a vertical direction of the main body of Renforth as modified by Crosby and Huang since this angle encourages rotation of the pet toy which is entertaining to a pet without requiring too much physical force from the pet and since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 167 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Regarding claim 2, Renforth as modified by Crosby and Huang teaches the limitations of claim 1 and Renforth teaches further comprising:
a stand (projecting portion 406; Fig. 6A) disposed on an outer surface of the main body (mount 102), and the supporting portion is configured to be disposed in the stand (hole 404 is disposed in projection portion 406; see Figs. 6A-6B).
Regarding claim 3, Renforth as modified by Crosby and Huang teaches the limitations of claim 1 and Renforth teaches further comprising: a pet toy configured to be connected with the second end of the stick (object 106 is connected to distal end 112 of support 104; Figs. 1 & 5).
Regarding claim 4, Renforth as modified by Crosby and Huang teaches the limitations of claim 1 and Renforth further teaches wherein the stick is a cat teaser (see Fig. 1, wherein support 104 is being used as a cat teaser with objection 106 attached to a distal end 112).
Regarding claim 5, Renforth as modified by Crosby and Huang teaches the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches wherein the start position (Renforth —wherein the start position is shown as the solid lines in Fig. 2 as the support 104 is in a horizontal steady state position) is located in an image capturable range of the image capture unit (Crosby — see Figs. 2-3, wherein the cable 110 holding a toy is located within an image capturable range of the camera 210 when cable 110 is in various positions).
Regarding claim 8, Renforth as modified by Crosby and Huang teaches the limitations of claim 1 and Crosby further teaches wherein the image capture unit comprises a camera, a microphone, and a speaker (camera 210, speakers 215 and microphone 220; Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 9, Renforth as modified by Crosby and Huang teaches the limitations of claim 8 and Crosby further teaches wherein the image capture unit (camera 210, speakers 215 and microphone 220) has communication function for transferring audio and video files output by the camera and the microphone to a user device (wall mounted device 200 may communicate with a personal computing device 405 via network 410 for transferring audio and video files output by camera 210 and microphone 220; Fig. 4; paras [0042]-[0043]), and outputting an audio file received from the user device via the speaker (two-way audiovisual communication is possible between wall mounted device 200 and personal computer device 405, which would allow the output of an audio file received from personal computer device 405 via speaker 215; para [0043]; also see claim 7 on Page 7).
Regarding claim 10, Renforth as modified by Crosby and Huang teaches the limitations of claim 9 and Crosby further teaches wherein the user device is a smart phone, a personal computer, a laptop computer or a tablet computer (personal computing device 405 may include a personal desktop computer or laptop or a mobile phone; para [0043]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 08/28/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues “Applicant submits that Renforth constitutes a teaching away from the present invention because its disclosure criticizes and discourages the presently claimed feature wherein "the second end of the stick returns to the start position when rotation of the stick ends." Renforth leads a person having ordinary skill in the art away from arriving at the present invention. And Renforth discourages a person skilled in the art from combining this feature with the other prior art to arrive at the present invention.”
The examiner respectfully disagrees as Renforth does not teach away from the limitation “wherein the second end of the stick returns to the start position when rotation of the stick ends” as fig. 2 and Col. 3, lines 24-26 depict that the second end of 104 returns to its start position once the second end stops moving from the up and down positions. The start position is where the second end of the stick is at a steady state and does not move in the up and down positions. As the stick rotates either left or right, as shown in fig. 3, it will oscillate in the up and down positions as shown in fig. 2. Once the stick stops rotating from left to right, so will the oscillation. Therefore, the second end of the stick will return to the start position once all movement ends.
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 extension fee 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 SAHAR ALMATRAHI whose telephone number is (571)272-2470. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter Poon can be reached at 571-272-6891. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SAHAR ALMATRAHI/Examiner, Art Unit 3643
/DAVID J PARSLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3643