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 .
The examiner objects to claim 20 as “a” gap should be changed to “a second” gap since a “first gap” is defined in claim 17.
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) 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dobson (5295693) in view of Messina (4248422) and Board et al (20230417100). 5,295,693) in view of Messina (US 4,248,422). Regarding claim 17, Dobson discloses a game construction comprising a frame (10) that is configured to hold an upright maze (4). Note Figures 1 and 3 and column 3, lines 22-25. The upright maze comprises an entrance (18) at the bottom and an exit (22) at the top with a pathway (4) which connects the entrance and exit. The maze is shown as a single sheet of material with space between the edges of the pathway cut out. Dobson also provides a ball (23) with a diameter equal to or less than the width of the maze's pathway. Note Figure 1. A control member (6) is provided to move the ball through the maze. Regarding the limitation for the maze to be removeable, note Figures 1 and 3 and column 3, lines 57-60 stating that the transparent front panel (26) is secured to the support structure (10) by screws (28). Further, Dobson does not teach that the maze is permanently secured to the frame nor does Dobson teach a gap between the removeable upright maze and the open-backed frame.. However, Dobson does not particularly teach a removable maze for the game. Messina reveals that it is known in the art of maze games to provide the game with various layout boards in order to vary the difficulty of the game. Note column 3, lines 7-10 and claim 5 of Messina. Given that Dobson does not teach permanent attachment of the maze to the frame and Messina's teaching that it is known to provide various maze boards, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to make the upright maze of Dobson removable in order to permit the user to replace the board with another maze to change the difficulty of the game. Board teaches an upright member 114 that is placed in a open-backed frame 102 with a gap where sealing member 106 is placed in to hold the upright member. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to further provide Dobson in view of Messina with a gap between an frame that is securing an upright member as taught by Board et al to provide holding means 106 in the gap to aid with supporting the upright member. Regarding the limitation directed towards the width having a gap width equal to or greater than the diameter of the ball, the examiner first notes that there is no specific dimension provided for the diameter of the ball and that the gap width size has no bearing in patentability. See Gardner v Tec Syst, Inc, 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984) where it was held that where the only different between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently that the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device.
Regarding claim 18, note Figure 3 of Dobson showing a first ball return device (32).
Regarding claim 19, note Figure 3 of Dobson showing the ball exiting the top end of the maze, falling off the maze and dropping into the first ball return device (32).
Regarding claim 20, note Figure 3 and column 3, lines 55-60 of Dobson defining a transparent front panel (26). Figure 3 shows the gap between the clear cover (26) and the maze (4) which is greater than the diameter of the ball (23).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-16 are allowed. Although claims 1 and 17 are fairly similar in scope claim 1 does structurally recite the upright maze being adjacent to the backstop while claim 17
recites the frame configured to hold an upright maze. Claim 1 also recites an additional return ball means as well. These claims were indicated as being allowable previously during prosecution and the examiner maintains the position of these claims being allowable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUGENE LEE KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4463. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 6am-4pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/EUGENE L KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3711