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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 “protrusion” (Claim 9, Ln. 1-2) and the “recess” (Claim 9, Ln. 2) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: “10a” corresponding to a fishing line guide portion (Para. 0042, Ln. 2-3).
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.
Claim Objections
Claims 11 and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 11, Ln. 19-20, “the fishing line locking portion” lacks sufficient antecedent basis. Examiner suggests “the fishing line locking portion” should read --a fishing line locking portion--
Claim 11, Ln. 20, “the fishing line locking portion” lacks sufficient antecedent basis. Lack of antecedent basis would be corrected by the suggestion for Claim 11, Ln. 19-20 above.
Claim 12, Ln. 2, 3-4, 5, “the fishing line locking portion” lacks sufficient antecedent basis. Lack of antecedent basis would be corrected by the suggestion for Claim 11, Ln. 19-20 above.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 10,
Claim 10, Ln. 2-3, “a clamping portion extending from the base portion toward both sides in a circumferential direction” is vague and indefinite. The clamping portion is extending toward both sides of what?
Regarding Claim 12,
Claim 12, Ln. 6-7, “a clamping portion extending from the base portion toward both sides in a circumferential direction” is vague and indefinite. The clamping portion is extending toward both sides of what?
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 1-4 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsutsumi (US 2018/0084769A1) in view of Platel (FR 2763478A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Tsutsumi, Figures 21a-27b, teaches a line stopper device 8 comprising:
a support member 10 that closes a through-hole 9 of a fishing spinning reel 100 in which the through-hole 9 penetrating in a radial direction is provided on a front side of a skirt portion 7 of a spool 3 (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0140, Ln. 1-3); and
a line stopper member 20 supported by the support member 10 (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0144, Ln. 1-2),
wherein the line stopper member 20 comprises a fishing line locking portion 21 supported by the support member 10 on an outer side of the support member 10 in the radial direction, and a support shaft portion 22 extending inward in the radial direction from the fishing line locking portion 21 and penetrating through the support member 10 (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0151, Ln. 1-5), and
a width of the support member 10 is formed to be larger than a width of the fishing line locking portion 21 (See Tsutsumi, Fig. 24), and
Tsutsumi teaches all the elements of the line stopper device except for the fishing line locking portion being offset.
However, Platel, Figures 1-13, teaches the fishing line locking portion 12 is offset to one side with respect to the support member 25 when viewed in a width direction (See Platel, Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Tsutsumi with an offset fishing line locking portion, as taught by Platel, for the purpose of increasing ease of use and automation of device functionality (i.e. modifying the position of the fishing line locking portion allows for automatic releasing of the line during unwinding without manual user intervention) (See Platel, Para. 0005, Ln. 19 - Para. 0006, Ln. 13).
Regarding Claim 2, Tsutsumi in view of Platel are advanced above.
Platel further teaches wherein the fishing line locking portion 12 is offset in a right direction with respect to the support member 25 when viewed in the radial direction of the skirt portion 6 (See Platel, Fig. 1-2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Tsutsumi with an offset fishing line locking portion, as taught by Platel, for the purpose of increasing ease of use and automation of device functionality (i.e. modifying the position of the fishing line locking portion allows for automatic releasing of the line during unwinding without manual user intervention) (See Platel, Para. 0005, Ln. 19 - Para. 0006, Ln. 13).
Regarding Claim 3, Tsutsumi in view of Platel are advanced above.
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Figure 1. Annotated Figure 1 from Platel
Platel, annotated Figure 1 above, teaches wherein when viewed in the width direction, a gap that a fishing line enters is not provided between a side portion 12’ of the fishing line locking portion 12 in a direction of the one side and a side portion 25’ of the support member 25 in the direction of the one side.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Tsutsumi with a side portion of the fishing line locking portion which blocks the fishing line from becoming disposed between a side portion of the fishing line locking portion and a side portion of the support member, as taught by Platel, for the purpose of increasing ease of use and automation of device functionality (i.e. modifying the position of the fishing line locking portion and blocking the side portion allows for automatic releasing of the line during unwinding without manual user intervention) (See Platel, Para. 0005, Ln. 19 - Para. 0006, Ln. 13).
Regarding Claim 4, Tsutsumi in view of Platel are advanced above.
Platel, annotated Figure 1 above, teaches wherein when viewed in an up-down direction of the fishing line locking portion 12, a gap that a fishing line enters is not provided between a rear portion 12’’ of the fishing line locking portion 12 and a rear portion 25’’ of the support member 25.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Tsutsumi with a side portion of the fishing line locking portion which blocks the fishing line from becoming disposed between a rear portion of the fishing line locking portion and a rear portion of the support member, as taught by Platel, for the purpose of increasing ease of use and automation of device functionality (i.e. modifying the position of the fishing line locking portion and blocking the rear portion allows for automatic releasing of the line during unwinding without manual user intervention) (See Platel, Para. 0005, Ln. 19 - Para. 0006, Ln. 13).
Regarding Claim 8, Tsutsumi in view of Platel are advanced above.
Although Tsutsumi does not explicitly teach wherein a length of the support member in a front-rear direction is 5 mm or less, Tsutsumi describes an advantage of the invention being a reduction in length of the fishing line catching portion, the line stopper, the support member, and the skirt portion in comparison to conventional components (Tsutsumi, Para. 0153, Ln. 6-13). This reduction in length leads to a reduction in overall size and weight of the spool (Tsutsumi, Para. 0129, Ln. 6-10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Tsutsumi with a length of the support member being 5 mm or less for the purpose of weight reduction. Additionally, arriving at the upper limit of 5 mm would be a part of routine optimization in an effort to reduce the size and weight of the spool.
Regarding Claim 9, Tsutsumi in view of Platel are advanced above.
Tsutsumi, Figures 11a-19, teaches wherein a fishing line is locked by a protrusion 21b provided on an inner surface of the fishing line locking portion 21 and a recess 11b provided on an outer surface of the support member 10 to correspond to the protrusion 21b (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0107, Ln. 1-11).
Regarding Claim 10, Tsutsumi in view of Platel are advanced above.
Tsutsumi further teaches wherein the fishing line locking portion 21 comprises a base portion 23 to which the support shaft portion 22 is connected, and a clamping portion 24, 25 extending from the base portion 23 toward both sides in a circumferential direction (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0152, Ln. 7-11), and a part of an inner surface of the clamping portion 24, 25 is supported by an outer surface 15 of the support member 10 (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0152, Ln. 13-17).
Regarding Claim 11, Tsutsumi, Figures 21a-27b, teaches a line stopper device 8 for a fishing spinning reel 100 in which a through-hole 9 penetrating in a radial direction is provided on a front side of a skirt portion 7 of a spool 3 and which comprises a support member 10 closing the through-hole 9 and supporting a line stopper member 20 (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0140, Ln. 1-3),
wherein an insertion port 19 which is cut out toward a rear and through which the support member 10 is insertable into the through-hole 9 from a front of a rear flange 6 of the spool 3 is formed on a front surface 6a of the rear flange 6 (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0142, Ln. 4-6),
a guide restriction portion 40 allowing a sliding movement of the support member 10 and restricting a movement in the radial direction is formed at a facing portion between a peripheral edge portion of the through-hole 9 and the support member 10 (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0138, Ln. 9-11, Para. 0158 - Para. 0164),
the through-hole 9 is formed by cutting out a front portion of the skirt portion 7 in a substantially C-shape when viewed in the radial direction (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0141, Ln. 1-3), and a width on an insertion port 19 side of the through-hole in a circumferential direction is formed to be wider than a width on a rear edge portion side of the through-hole 9 in the circumferential direction (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0140, Ln. 5-8),
an outer shape of the support member 10 is formed to correspond to the through-hole 9 when viewed in the radial direction (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0144, Ln. 3-6),
an outer surface 15 of the support member 10 is a recessed surface (“supporting member 10 may have a concave surface 15 recessed downward;” See Tsutsumi, Para. 0147, Ln. 2-3) recessed inward in the radial direction,
the recessed surface (“a concave surface 15 recessed downward;” See Tsutsumi, Para. 0147, Ln. 2-3) is continuous to a front end of the support member 10 (See Tsutsumi, Fig. 22, Para. 0147, Ln. 6-8), and
a width of the support member 10 is formed to be larger than a width of the fishing line locking portion 21 (See Tsutsumi, Fig. 24).
Tsutsumi teaches all the elements of the line stopper device except for the fishing line locking portion being offset.
However, Platel, Figures 1-13, teaches the fishing line locking portion 12 is offset to one side with respect to the support member 25 when viewed in a width direction (See Platel, Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Tsutsumi with an offset fishing line locking portion, as taught by Platel, for the purpose of increasing ease of use and automation of device functionality (i.e. modifying the position of the fishing line locking portion allows for automatic releasing of the line during unwinding without manual user intervention) (See Platel, Para. 0005, Ln. 19 - Para. 0006, Ln. 13).
Regarding Claim 12, Tsutsumi in view of Platel are advanced above.
Tsutsumi further teaches wherein the line stopper member 20 comprises the fishing line locking portion 21 disposed on the recessed surface 15, and a support shaft portion 22 extending inward in the radial direction from the fishing line locking portion 21 and penetrating through the support member 10 (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0151, Ln. 1-5), and
the fishing line locking portion 21 comprises a base portion 23 to which the support shaft portion 22 is connected, and a clamping portion 24, 25 extending from the base portion 23 toward both sides in the circumferential direction (See Tsutsumi, Para. 0152, Ln. 7-11).
Claims 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsutsumi (US 2018/0084769A1) in view of Platel (FR 2763478A1), as applied to claims 1-4 and 8-12 above, and further in view of Saito (CN 110012877 A).
Regarding Claim 5, Tsutsumi in view of Platel are advanced above.
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Figure 2. Annotated Figure 23 from Tsutsumi
Tsutsumi, annotated Figure 2 above, teaches wherein the fishing line locking portion 21 is supported by the support member 10 so as to cover a first portion 10’ of the support member 10 on the outer side of the support member 10 in the radial direction, and to expose a second portion 10’’ of the support member 10.
Tsutsumi in view of Platel teach all the elements of the line stopper device except for the width of the first portion being more than or equal to three times a width of a second portion.
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Figure 3. Annotated Figure 6A from Saito
However, Saito, Figures 1-6A and annotated Figure 3 above, teaches a width W’ of the first portion 80’ has a length more than or equal to three times a width W’’ of a second portion 80’’ of the support member 80 not covered with the fishing line locking portion 72.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Tsutsumi in view of Platel with a width of the first portion being more than or equal to three times a width of a second portion, as taught by Saito, for the purpose of increasing reliability of the locking action on the fishing line (See Saito, Para. 0010, Ln. 1-9).
Regarding Claim 6, Tsutsumi in view of Platel are advanced above.
Tsutsumi further teaches wherein the second portion 10’’ is a fishing line guide portion that guides a fishing line to the fishing line locking portion 21 (See Figure 2; Tsutsumi, Para. 0152, Ln. 13-17).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsutsumi (US 2018/0084769A1) in view of Platel (FR 2763478 A1), as applied to claims 1-4 and 8-12 above, and further in view of Furomoto (JP 2001269094 A).
Regarding Claim 7, Tsutsumi in view of Platel are advanced above.
Tsutsumi in view of Platel teach all the elements of the line stopper device except for the length of the support member and the fishing line locking portion being equal in the front-rear direction.
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Figure 4. Annotated Figure 4 from Furomoto
However, Furomoto, Figures 1-5 and annotated Figure 4 above, teaches wherein a length L2 of the support member 72 in a front-rear direction is the same as a length L1 of the fishing line locking portion 71 in the front-rear direction.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Tsutsumi in view of Platel with a support member and a fishing line locking portion having equal lengths, as taught by Furomoto, for the purpose of increasing the reliability of the locking action on the fishing line (i.e. the locking portion can lock the fishing line from the rear side more securely) (See Furomoto, Para. 0009, Ln. 5-7).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIFFANY DOMONIQUE JEFFERSON whose telephone number is (571)272-0403. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am-7:30pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Momper can be reached at (571)270-5788. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/T.D.J./Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/ANNA M MOMPER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3654