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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, and 11-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2007/0289426 A1 to (Chaconas).
Regarding claim 1, noting Figs. 1-6, (Chaconas) discloses a wrench tool (bolt remover 10) including: a main body 12; a receiving hole (axial bore 22) formed from a first outer side 16 of the main body 12 in a first direction; and a plurality of teeth (ribs 28) each projecting from the main body 12 in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, projecting inward in the receiving hole 22, and extending in a longitudinal direction (along axis 14), the longitudinal direction and the second direction being contained in a same plane.
Regarding claim 2, in (Chaconas), the main body 12 extends annularly around the first direction.
Regarding claim 3, in (Chaconas), the main body 12 has a polygonal outer surface (outer wall 20) around the first direction (Figs. 1-5).
Regarding claim 5, in (Chaconas), each of the plurality of teeth 28 is tapered in the first direction (Figs. 1-3).
Regarding claim 11, in (Chaconas), the plurality of teeth 28 are equidistantly arranged around the first direction (Figs. 4 and 5).
Regarding claim 12, in (Chaconas), the receiving hole 22 is disposed through the main body 12, and each of the plurality of teeth 28 extends in the first direction from the first outer side 16 of the main body to a second outer side 18 of the main body opposite to the first outer side 16 of the main body (Figs. 1-3).
Regarding claim 13, in (Chaconas), each of the plurality of teeth 28 extends linearly in the longitudinal direction (Figs. 1-3 and 6).
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Regarding claim 14, in (Chaconas), the main body and the plurality of teeth are integrally formed of one piece (Figs. 1-6).
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Claim(s) 1-4, and 11-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 11,267,107 B2 to (Shih).
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Regarding claim 1, (Shih) discloses a wrench tool including: a main body 10; a receiving hole formed from a first outer side of the main body in a first direction; and a plurality of teeth (engaging portions 141) each projecting from the main body 10 in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, projecting inward in the receiving hole, and extending in a longitudinal direction, the longitudinal direction and the second direction being contained in a same plane (Figs. 1-3).
Regarding claim 2, in (Shih) the main body extends annularly around the first direction (Figs. 1-3).
Regarding claim 3, in (Shih) the main body has a polygonal outer surface around the first direction (Col. 4, lines 14-18: “Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the present invention provides a ratchet socket which comprises a main body (10), and an outer periphery of the main body (10) has ratchet teeth (11) formed in an endless circular pattern to form the main body (10) with a polygonal cross section.”).
Regarding claim 4, in (Shih) the receiving hole is polygonal (Col. 4, lines 30-35; “The main body (10) comprises a hexagonal inner periphery to form six internal angles (13) and six inner edges (14), and the internal angles (13) and the inner edges (14) are alternately arranged at positions corresponding
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to the ratchet teeth (11) at the outer periphery of the main
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body (10).”).
Regarding claim 11, in (Shih) the plurality of teeth are equidistantly arranged around the first direction.
Regarding claim 12, in (Shih) the receiving hole is disposed through the main body, and each of the plurality of teeth extends in the first direction from the first outer side of the main body to a second outer side of the main body opposite to the first outer side of the main body (Figs. 1 and 2).
Regarding claim 13, in (Shih) the plurality of teeth extends linearly in the longitudinal direction.
Regarding claim 14, in (Shih) the main body and the plurality of teeth are integrally formed of one piece.
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.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2007/0289426 A1 to (Chaconas), as applied to claim 1 above, as being obvious as suggested by US 2022/0184780 A1 to (KRUPEY).
(Chaconas), as applied to claim 1 above, provides a wrench tool (bolt remover 10) according to claim 15, and states in paragraph [0046] that: “It should be understood that the bolt remover should be made from a material that is harder than the fastener material, e.g. 6140 or 4140 alloy steels for the bolt remover and 1035 alloy steel for the fastener.” Thus, although (Chaconas) fails to explicitly state or suggest that said material may be stainless steel, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to fabricate the wrench tool (bolt remover 10) of (Chaconas) from stainless steel, since it has been held to be within the general skill in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. See, e.g., In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960) (selection of a known plastic to make a container of a type made of plastics prior to the invention was held to be obvious)
(KRUPEY) provides a backup tool having, inter alia, a socket 504 that is placed on a nut (or bolt). In paragraph [0074], (KRUPEY) teaches “The backup tools may be made of 4140 steel (very hard) or 316 stainless steel to accommodate the food and drug administration”, thus demonstrating that choosing 4140 steel or 316 stainless steel for the fabrication of the tool for the intended purpose(s) would have been obvious to a skilled artisan.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to have modified (Chaconas), as applied to claim 1 above, by fabrication the wrench tool (bolt remover 10) of stainless steel as an alternative to 4140 alloy steels, as a matter of obvious design choice, as demonstrated by (KRUPEY).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 and 16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if claims 6, 8, and 16 are rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: regarding claim 6, that each of the plurality of teeth includes two flat side surfaces extending from the main body and an arcuate ridge surface connected to and between the two flat side surfaces; regarding claim 8, that each of the plurality of teeth is tapered in the second direction; and, regarding claim 16, that each of the plurality of teeth has a width smaller than or equal to 0.25 times of a diametric dimension of the receiving hole, together in combination with the rest of the limitations in the independent and any intervening claim, have neither been disclosed nor suggested by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as describing numerous wrench tools having features related to the present application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Thomas whose telephone number is (571) 272-4497. The examiner’s e-mail address is: dave.thomas@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 11:30-7:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached on (313) 446-6546. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/David B. Thomas/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/DBT/