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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 2 (Claims 12-14 and Figures 3-14) in the reply filed on 2/26/2026 is acknowledged. Additionally applicant has cancelled claims 1-11 and claims15-20 and added claims 21-37 as new.
Claims 12-14 and 21-37 are pending in the current application.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Paragraph [0102] line 6 recites “head member 304”. The examiner believes the head member is reference #404 for the drawings described.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 12-14, 21-23, 26-29 and 31-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kavanaugh, US 9265240. Cavanaugh discloses a floatation device comprising a generally oval body #102 (although an oval or football shaped body is shown, Kavanaugh discloses other shapes may be included in the embodiments); a slot #108 that extends through at least a portion of the body wherein the slot comprises: an outer portion; an inner portion; and a center portion and further comprising a plurality of handles #104, #106 wherein each of the plurality of handles is configured to fit a hand of a user. Kavanaugh further discloses the features of the claims indicated below:
Claims 21-23: partially rounded handle base attachments #140, #160 comprising ends and sloped portions.
Claims 26-29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 37: Slot 108 is shaped to perform the functions as claimed. The methods of claims 36 and 37 are embodied in the disclosure of Kavanaugh.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the shape of the flotation device of Kavanaugh from oval to cylindrical. Such changes of shape are envisioned by Kavanaugh and are typically considered to be within the skills and abilities of a routineer.
Claims 24, 25 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kavanaugh in view of Hicks, US 5412902. Kavanaugh discloses the invention set forth above including a slot #108 to receive a line. Kavanaugh does not explicitly disclose the slot comprises two sloped faces creating a wider gap toward an outer edge of the cylindrical body or wherein the outer portion is V-shaped. Hicks discloses a flotation device #20 comprising a generally cylindrical body including a slot #98 having sloped or V-shaped faces.
Hicks also discloses wherein the center portion applies pressure to the line when received in the center portion. (See Figure 23d and and column 20 lines 6-14).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill n the art to modify the flotation device of Kavanaugh with a slot having sloped or V-shaped faces creating a wider gap toward the outer edge and narrowing toward the center and to have the center portion of the slot apply pressure to the line. The motivation for doing so is to allow the line to quickly be placed in the wider opening of the slot at the outer edge to start the movement toward the narrower center portion and to secure the float in a fixed position on the line.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY D WIEST whose telephone number is (571)270-5974. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:00 - 3:00.
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/ANTHONY D WIEST/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615B
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