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 .
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it contains legal phraseology such as the term “comprising.” A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3, and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee in US Publication 2019/0029378.
Regarding Claim 1, Lee teaches a linear umbrella, comprising a central rod (21/22/23), a top cover (“the umbrella cover”, paragraph 0034) located at an upper part of said central rod, an umbrella hub (30) slidably connected to said central rod, and umbrella ribs connected to said top cover and said umbrella hub, characterized by further comprising: a deployment rope (41) fixed to said umbrella hub so as to pull said umbrella hub towards said top cover to deploy the umbrella; a folding rope (45) fixed (via 13/15) to said umbrella hub so as to pull said umbrella hub downwards to a lower part of the central rod to fold the umbrella; a releaser (81/82), disposed at a side of a lower part of the central rod, which fixes end parts of said deployment rope and folding rope to allow for mutual release and retraction of the deployment rope and folding rope upon rotation; and a tension component (60) to keep said deployment rope and folding rope in tension during the release and retraction.
Regarding Claim 3, Lee teaches that said tension component is an elastic component disposed at a side not winding on the releaser outside of either or both of said deployment rope and said folding rope.
Regarding Claim 6, Lee teaches that said releaser is configured as two separate components (81 and 82) corresponding to the deployment rope and the folding rope respectively, or as a dual releaser winding the deployment rope and the folding rope in opposite directions and achieve deployment and retraction of the deployment rope and the folding rope with the direction of rotation, respectively.
Regarding Claim 7, Lee teaches that a handle component (the “handle” – paragraph 0036) is also included at a lower end of said central rod, a driving unit (85) for driving rotation of said releaser and an operating unit for operating said driving unit are provided inside said handle component.
Regarding Claim 8, Lee teaches that when no power is input to said driving unit, said driving unit does not restrict rotation of said releaser, so as to manually push and pull said umbrella hub to deploy and fold the umbrella (it is well-known that a “motor” spins freely when no power is applied.
Regarding Claim 9, Lee teaches that a deployment fixing part (the ‘fixing device” – paragraph 0047) for fixing deployment of the umbrella is also included.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4, 5, and 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Russell, Pearlstine, Houston, Roche, Wu, Ma, and Ma et al. teach umbrellas.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NOAH C. HAWK whose telephone number is (571)272-1480. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Dunn can be reached at 5712726670. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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NOAH C. HAWK
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3636
/Noah Chandler Hawk/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636