DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2 December 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 2 December 2025 has been entered. Claim(s) 2 and 7-9 remain pending in this application. Claim(s) 1, 3-6 and 10-31 have been cancelled.
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) 2 and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cook (Non-Patent Literature – Robot Room – DIY Model Rocket Launch Controller – Copy provided), hereinafter Cook, in view of Hackaday (Non-Patent Literature – WOOF Model Rocket Launchpad Computer V4), hereinafter Hackaday, Castro (U.S. Patent No. 4,930,393), hereinafter Castro, Austin Aerospace (Non-Patent Literature – The Arduino Launch Control System (LCS)), hereinafter Austin Aerospace, Tyler (U.S. Patent No. 4,674,047), hereinafter Tyler and Wu (U.S. Patent No. 11,709,037), hereinafter Wu.
Regarding Independent Claim 2, Cook discloses a system for providing signals and controlling ignition output for a launch controller (Page 3, Figure – the figure shows the controller for launch systems) comprising:
an electronic controller (Page 3, Figure) comprising:
a power source (Page 3, Lines 11-13 – the system uses a 12 volt battery as a power source) providing power to a printed circuit board and circuitry (Page 8 and Page 8, Figure – the power source provides power to the printed circuit board shown and connected circuitry);
the printed circuit board having an ignition output (Page 8, Figure and Lines 4-6 – the circuit board has connected to igniter jacks, i.e. igniter leads, in order to provide an ignition output to the igniter), a programming interface (Page 3, Figure – the interface provided by the controller shown in the figure is a programming interface), a wireless module (Page 12, Lines 19-38 – the board has a module that allows remote/wireless control and therefore is a wireless module) the printed circuit board providing electrical connection between the ignition output, programming interface, and wireless module (Pages 8-12 – the circuit board provide various electrical connection between the ignition output and various inputs provided through the interface, as well as, provided outputs to various components, i.e. lights and buzzers, as well as the wireless module);
the electronic controller further including
an arm/disarm switch (Page 3, Figure – the controller has an arm/disarm switch),
an LED (Page 10, Lines 5-7 – the controller has LEDs),
a power switch (Page 3, Figure – the controller has a power switch),
a buzzer (Page 12, Lines 13-18 – the controller has a buzzer),
ignition leads (Page 8, Figure and Lines 4-6 – the circuit board has connected to igniter jacks, i.e. igniter leads, in order to provide an ignition output to the igniter),
a continuity detection circuit (Page 9, Lines 10-15 – the controller has a circuit for continuity testing), and
a minimum voltage circuit (Page 9, Lines 7-9 – the controller has a circuit that amplifies the minimum voltage of the circuit).
Cook does not disclose the electronic controller further including an RBG LED, a reset button, a multi-purpose button, an over-current protection circuit; a personal electronic device capable of establishing a wireless connection between the personal electronic device and the electronic controller for sending signals to and receiving signals from the electronic controller; the personal electronic device having a touch screen and user interface for providing input to send signals to and receive signals from the electronic controller; the electronic controller being wirelessly connected to the personal electronic device via a Bluetooth® connection or WiFi or other wireless connection; the electronic controller capable of connecting to the personal electronic device and maintaining a connection while the electronic controller in the following states: idle state; countdown state; short circuit state; and ignition state.
However, Hackaday teaches the use of RGB LEDs in launch controllers (Description – the controller uses RGB LEDs).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Cook by replacing the LED with an RGB LED, as taught by Hackaday, in order to give a super bright visual warning (Hackaday – Description).
Cook in view of Hackaday do not disclose the electronic controller further including a reset button, a multi-purpose button, an over-current protection circuit; a personal electronic device capable of establishing a wireless connection between the personal electronic device and the electronic controller for sending signals to and receiving signals from the electronic controller; the personal electronic device having a touch screen and user interface for providing input to send signals to and receive signals from the electronic controller; the electronic controller being wirelessly connected to the personal electronic device via a Bluetooth® connection or WiFi or other wireless connection; the electronic controller capable of connecting to the personal electronic device and maintaining a connection while the electronic controller in the following states: idle state; countdown state; short circuit state; and ignition state.
However, Castro teaches a launch control system (Title) with a reset button (Column 2, Lines 38-40 – the system has a button that resets the time until countdown).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Cook in view of Hackaday by making the electronic controller include a reset button, as taught by Castro, in order to allow a reset of the time until countdown (Castro – Column 2, Lines 38-40).
Cook in view of Hackaday and Castro do not disclose the electronic controller further including a multi-purpose button, an over-current protection circuit; a personal electronic device capable of establishing a wireless connection between the personal electronic device and the electronic controller for sending signals to and receiving signals from the electronic controller; the personal electronic device having a touch screen and user interface for providing input to send signals to and receive signals from the electronic controller; the electronic controller being wirelessly connected to the personal electronic device via a Bluetooth® connection or WiFi or other wireless connection; the electronic controller capable of connecting to the personal electronic device and maintaining a connection while the electronic controller in the following states: idle state; countdown state; short circuit state; and ignition state.
However, Austin Aerospace teaches a launch control system (Title) with a multi-purpose button (Page 31 – Section – Allow Users to Bypass Non-working Sensors – the system has a LCD screen select button which is used to select multiple things and thus is a multi-purpose button).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Cook in view of Hackaday and Castro by making the electronic controller include a multi-purpose button, as taught by Austin Aerospace, in order to allow the system to accept user inputs (Page 31 – Section – Allow Users to Bypass Non-working Sensors).
Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro and Austin Aerospace do not disclose the electronic controller further including an over-current protection circuit; a personal electronic device capable of establishing a wireless connection between the personal electronic device and the electronic controller for sending signals to and receiving signals from the electronic controller; the personal electronic device having a touch screen and user interface for providing input to send signals to and receive signals from the electronic controller; the electronic controller being wirelessly connected to the personal electronic device via a Bluetooth® connection or WiFi or other wireless connection; the electronic controller capable of connecting to the personal electronic device and maintaining a connection while the electronic controller in the following states: idle state; countdown state; short circuit state; and ignition state.
However, Tyler teaches a firing control system (Abstract) that includes an over-current protection circuit (Column 6, Lines 38-47 – the system has a circuit that regulates the voltage/current such that is prevents a current overloading).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro and Austin Aerospace such that the electronic controller further including an over-current protection circuit, as taught by Tyler, in order to prevent parts of the controller from accidental burn-out (Tyler – Column 6, Lines 38-47).
Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro, Austin Aerospace and Tyler do not disclose a personal electronic device capable of establishing a wireless connection between the personal electronic device and the electronic controller for sending signals to and receiving signals from the electronic controller; the personal electronic device having a touch screen and user interface for providing input to send signals to and receive signals from the electronic controller; the electronic controller being wirelessly connected to the personal electronic device via a Bluetooth® connection or WiFi or other wireless connection; the electronic controller capable of connecting to the personal electronic device and maintaining a connection while the electronic controller in the following states: idle state; countdown state; short circuit state; and ignition state.
However, Wu teaches a system for providing signals and controlling ignition output for a launch controller (Figures 1, 2, 3A and 3B) comprising: an electronic controller (Figures 2, 3A and 3B), and a personal electronic device (Figure 1, Element 6) capable of establishing a wireless connection between the personal electronic device and the electronic controller for sending signals to and receiving signals from the electronic controller (Column 6, Lines 27-50 – the personal electronic device sends and receives signals from the electronic controller via a wireless connection), the personal electronic device having a touch screen, 16, and user interface for providing input to send signals to and receive signals from the electronic controller (Column 5, Lines 25-41 – the touch screen provides a user interface to provide and receive signals from the electronic controller); the electronic controller being wirelessly connected to the personal electronic device via a Bluetooth® connection or other wireless connection (Column 7, Lines 15-19 – the personal device, 6, is connected to the electronic controller via a Bluetooth® or other wireless connection); the electronic controller capable of connecting to the personal electronic device and maintaining a connection while the electronic controller is in an idle state; a countdown state; short circuit state and an ignition state (The limitation is a functional limitation which is performed by the claimed structure and does not imply any additional structure. The prior art discloses the claimed structure and thus would perform the same as the claimed structure thus meeting the functional limitation of the claim - It is noted the limitation only requires the that electronic controller is capable of connecting and maintaining a connection. Further Column 11, Line 63 – Column 12, Line 47 and column 16, Lines 1-21 - describe the personal device being connected to the electronic controller during the ignition and countdown states of the devices and thus would be capable of performing the claimed limitations).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro, Austin Aerospace and Tyler by making the wireless module connect to a personal electronic device capable of establishing a wireless connection between the personal electronic device and the electronic controller for sending signals to and receiving signals from the electronic controller; the personal electronic device having a touch screen and user interface for providing input to send signals to and receive signals from the electronic controller; the electronic controller being wirelessly connected to the personal electronic device via a Bluetooth® connection or WiFi or other wireless connection; the electronic controller capable of connecting to the personal electronic device and maintaining a connection while the electronic controller in the following states: idle state; countdown state; short circuit state; and ignition state, as taught by Wu, in order to provide greater control of the system from a distance while allowing the user to not manually ignite the rocket thereby preventing injuries to the user (Wu – Column 1, Lines 35-45).
Regarding Claim 2, Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro, Austin Aerospace, Tyler and Wu disclose the invention as claimed and discussed above. Cook further discloses the electronic controller being powered by a rechargeable battery pack providing between 4V and 15V (Page 14, Lines 5-17 – the controller is powered by a 12V rechargeable battery).
Regarding Claim 8, Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro, Austin Aerospace, Tyler and Wu disclose the invention as claimed and discussed above. Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro, Austin Aerospace, Tyler and Wu, as discussed so far, do not explicitly disclose the electronic controller having a top side and a bottom side, the top side having the electrical components and circuitry, the bottom side having a battery holder mounted to it.
However, Wu further teaches the electronic controller having a top side, 210, and a bottom side, 212, the top side having the electrical components and circuitry (Figures 3A and 3B – the electrical components and circuitry are on the top side of the controller, 210), the bottom side having a battery holder mounted to it (Figures 3A and 3B – battery holder, 228, is located mounted on the bottom side of the controller, 212).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the invention of Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro, Austin Aerospace, Tyler and Wu such that the electronic controller has a top side and a bottom side, the top side has the electrical components and circuitry, the bottom side has a battery holder mounted to it, as taught by Wu, in order to an electronic controller with all the required components contained within while allowing access to the components for replacement/repair (Wu – Column 8, Lines 1-22).
Regarding Claim 9, Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro, Austin Aerospace, Tyler and Wu disclose the invention as claimed and discussed above. Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro, Austin Aerospace, Tyler and Wu, as discussed so far, do not explicitly disclose the electronic controller and battery holder being enclosed in a case, enclosure, or housing.
However, Wu further teaches the electronic controller and battery holder being enclosed in a housing, 202 and 232.
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the invention of Cook in view of Hackaday, Castro, Austin Aerospace, Tyler and Wu such that the electronic controller and battery holder being enclosed in a housing, as taught by Wu, for the same reasons as discussed above for Claim 8.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection set forth herein.
Conclusion
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/KYLE ROBERT THOMAS/Examiner, Art Unit 3741