DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 2, “at” should be replaced with –on—because it is unclear what spatial relationship is encompassed by “at”.
Line 6, “the major axis” lacks antecedent basis because the bollards only have a longitudinal axis. They could only have a major axis if they had a minor axis which would require the bollards to have an elliptical cross section. As the bollards do not have an elliptical cross section, they cannot have a major or minor axis.
Line 7, “the main rope” lacks antecedent basis - it is unclear if Applicant is referring to the “the climbing rope” in line 3.
Line 8, “the climber” lacks antecedent basis.
Line 8, “when descending” is objected to because it is unclear what element of the invention is descending.
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 2, “the gate includes a hand operated latch” is objected to because the gate 3 does not include the latch, rather, the base plate 2 includes the latch. See figure 6, which shows the gate 3 including only the aperture 9 and not the latch.
Line 3, “an anchored rope” is objected to because it is unclear if applicant is intending to set forth another rope in addition to “the main rope” and/or “the climbing rope”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 4, “it” is objected to – applicant should replace the pronoun with the name of the element of the invention to which the pronoun refers to avoid confusion.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—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.
Claims 1, 2, and 5 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 or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Specifically, in line 9 of claim 1, the recitation of “one of the two bollards includes a rotatable cam” conflicts with the recitation of “one of the bollards” on line 6. The language allows for the bollard on line 6 and line 9 to be the same bollard which conflicts with applicant’s disclosure. The bollard on line 6 has to be different from the bollard on line 9.
Further, the recitation of “to vary the distance between the two bollards” on lines 9-10 is unclear because the cam varies the effective distance between the bollards rather than the actual distance between the bollards.
Claim 5 is 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 or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Specifically, the recitation of “the bollard” on line 3 is unclear because the cam 7 and not the bollard 4 is pulled away from the base plate 2. Similarly, the recitation of “the bollard” in line 4 is unclear because the cam is axially rotated to the required angular position, not the bollard. Also in line 5, recitation of “the bollard” is unclear because the cam is locked in the new position, not the bollard.
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 1-2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bingham (US20120118666) in view of Merritt (US10258829) and further in view of Bolkovac (US1200703).
Bingham discloses a rope wrench (Figs. 1-8, 10) comprising: a base plate (see marked up Fig. 5 of Bingham below) having a lever arm at one end; a lever handle (see below) opposite the lever arm; a pair of bollards (see below) at the lever arm end for receiving therebetween an anchored climbing rope (22, Figs. 2 and 3); and a gate (124, see below) spaced from the back base plate and pivotable about one of the bollards, thereby permitting mid-rope access to the bollards when open and preventing mid-rope detachment when closed (Bingham [0033]: ”Optionally, as shown in FIG. 5, one of the side members 124 may be swingable about an axis of the friction element 136. The second aperture 132 has an open end (i.e., is a notch along the edge of the side member 124) so that the side member 124 can release from the friction element 137)”); the arrangement being such that, when the gate is closed and the lever arm is rotated by the handle about the major axis of one of the bollards, the rope assumes a serpentine shape to shorten the effective length of the main rope and assist ascent by the climber or to impart friction to the rope when descending whereby to permit controlled descent (see Figs. 2 and 3 and Bingham [0024]: “rope climbing apparatus 10 serves as a friction assist tool”).
Bingham fails to disclose wherein one of two bollards includes a rotatable cam by which to vary the distance between the two bollards to suit rope diameter or rope type and wherein the bollard with the cam includes an indexing arrangement whereby particular angular positions of the cam can be selected as required. Merritt teaches, in the context of rope wrenches, wherein one of two bollards (119b, Fig. 5) includes a rotatable cam (108b) by which to vary the distance between the two bollards to suit rope diameter or rope type (col. 6, lines 33-36: “As eccentric pin 108b is rotated to different positions, the eccentric position of the center barrel consequently moves bollard 109 in a reciprocal fashion constrained by bolt 501 within the slot (fourth aperture) in lower side plate 104”) and wherein the bollard (119b) with the cam (108b) includes an indexing arrangement whereby particular angular positions of the cam can be selected as required. (Merritt col. 4, lines 48-55: “Eccentric pins 108a and 108b are drilled and tapped through the rotational axis to receive bolts 119a-119c. Further, one end of each of eccentric pins 108a and 108b may be milled and/or shaped to a pattern matching that cut/milled into the third aperture of upper side plate 102 and lower side plate 104, thus providing a mechanism for indexing the position of rotation of the eccentric pin (see FIG. 5)”). It 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 to have provided one of the bollards of Bringham with a cam member 108b and indexing arrangement, as taught by Merritt in order to adjust the distance between the bollards to allow for use of various sizes of climbing rope and also for varying of the amount of friction, see [0029] of Bingham.
Bingham in view of Merritt fails to disclose wherein the indexing arrangement is spring biased and wherein a spring of the spring-biased indexing arrangement exerts a force on the cam along a longitudinal axis of the bollard with the cam, the force releasably retaining the cam at a selected one of the particular angular positions. Bolkovac teaches wherein an indexing arrangement (Figs. 1-4) is spring biased (15), and wherein a spring (15) of the spring-biased indexing arrangement exerts a force on a bollard (9) along a longitudinal axis (adjacent the end of the lead line from callout 8 in Fig. 2) of the bollard (9) the force releasably retaining the bollard (9) at a selected one of the particular angular positions (Bolkovac pg. 1, lines 58-71: “On the projecting end of the stud is slidably mounted a knob or head 9 which also rotates with the stud, it being connected thereto by a feather key 10. This knob faces the gear 7, and its end which is next to the gear has a circular flange 11 provided with a series of holes 12 facing the gear, the latter having fixed to its face a pin 13 adapted to enter any one of the holes and thus couple the knob and the gear together. The knob 9 is counterbored at 14 to receive a coiled spring 15 which tends to advance the knob toward the gear 7 and hold the pin 13 seated in the selected hole 12”). It 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 to provide the indexed bollard of Bingham, as modified above, with a spring which exerts a force on the cam along a longitudinal axis of the bollard with the cam in order to releasably retain the cam at a selected one of the particular angular positions as taught by Bolkovacin order to assist in holding the pin seated in the selected socket, see e.g., pg. 1, lines 70-71 of Bolkovac.
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With respect to claim 2: Bingham in view of Merritt and further in view of Bolkovac discloses the rope wrench according to Claim 1 wherein the gate (see marked up Fig. 5 above) includes a hand-operated latch (see marked up Fig. 5 above) by which to secure the gate in a closed position for use and with which to open the gate when the rope wrench is being attached or detached from an anchored rope (Bingham [0033]: “Optionally, the tether connector may include a quick release mechanism . . . so that the apparatus can be installed anywhere along the line of climbing rope (as opposed to just at an end)”).
With respect to claim 5: Bingham in view of Merritt and further in view of Bolkovac disclose the rope wrench according to Claim 1 wherein the indexing arrangement comprises a locking pin (see marked up Fig. 5 of Merritt below) selectively engageable in one of a series of sockets (see marked up Fig. 5 of Merritt below) by pulling the bollard (119b) away from the base plate (104) against the bias of the spring (see the spring 15 taught by Bolkovac), axially rotating the bollard (119b) to a required angular position and releasing it so that the spring (15) urges the locking pin (see marked up Fig. 5 of Merritt below) into a selected one of the sockets, whereby to temporarily lock the bollard in the new position.
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Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9 July 2026 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ben Pezzlo whose telephone number is (571)272-9656. The examiner can normally be reached M to Th 7 to 5.
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/BAP/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/GREGORY J STRIMBU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3634
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