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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5,353,666 A to (Rogers).
Regarding claim 1, (Rogers) provides an oil filter wrench, the oil filter wrench comprising a cover (driver adapter 35) for engagement with an external torque tool (via a drive flange 57)(Col. 3, lines 45-51), wherein the cover comprises an annular wall (a generally cylindrical external sidewall 51); and a double-sided reversable collar (wrench body 33) for engagement with oil filter in different size (Col. 3, lines 55-62), wherein one of the sides of the collar 33 is selected for connecting one of the oil filters (an oil filter 13) to the annular wall.
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Thus, (Rogers) provides an oil filter-used apparatus according to the claim except for providing only one “collar.”
However, the “collar” (wrench body 33) has “a stepped exterior surface 37, a stepped interior surface 39 and an initially open interior 41 which defines a larger aperture (43 in FIG. 3) at one extent 45 thereof for accommodating a first range of sizes of oil filters and a relatively smaller aperture 47 at an opposite extent 49 thereof, the smaller aperture being sized to accommodate a second, different range of sizes of oil filters. Thus, each end of the wrench body can be formed to accommodate different sizes and/or shapes of oil filter canisters.” (Col. 3, lines 30-40) Thus, the “collar” (wrench body 33) is “multiple collars for engagement with oil filter in different size.”
Assuming arguendo, alternatively, as (Rogers) provides an oil filter-used apparatus having, inter alia, a “collar” for engaging oil filters of differing sizes, an a “cover” for engagement with an external tool, 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 provide another, or several additional “collars”, each of which having the same or a different range of oil filter engagement sizes, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960)
Regarding claim 2, in modified (Rogers), the annular wall is inserted in the selected collar in operation (“In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2, the driver adapter is selectively sized to be matingly engaged within the larger aperture (43 in FIG. 3) of the wrench body 33”; Col. 3, lines 54-57).
Regarding claim 3, in modified (Rogers), the annular wall (sidewall 51) comprises at least one boss (external ribs 66), wherein each of the collars comprises at least one recess (mating grooves (68 in Fig. 3) for receiving the at least one boss (Col. 4, lines 21-23).
Regarding claim 4, in modified (Rogers), each of the collars comprises at least one boss (e.g., ribs 65 on the wrench body second step portion 59; Col. 4, lines 17-19), wherein the annular wall comprises at least one recess (mating grooves 67 provided in the driver adapter internal sidewalls 53; Col. 4, lines 19-21) for receiving the at least one bosses.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: that each of the collars comprises at least one boss, wherein the annular wall comprises at least one L-shaped groove for receiving the at least one boss has neither been disclosed nor suggested by the prior art of record considered as a whole, alone, or in combination.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Numerous oil filter-used devices are described in the prior art.
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/
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