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 papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/29/2026 is acknowledged by the examiner.
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 “first charging component” and “second charging component” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 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.
Claims 1-5 and 9-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lopotko et al. (US 2020/0280199), hereinafter Lopotko.
As to claim 1, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, a charging device [see figures 1 and 2], comprising:
a support post [ support post (4)] configured to receive a wearable ring device [wearing device in this case smart watch/ring (12); see ¶0021-0022] is charged on top of the support post], the support post comprising a retaining component [retaining component (6) which comprises charging coil (41); see ¶0021-0022] configured to retain the wearable ring device onto the support post;
a charging post [charging arm (10) is considered as charging post; see ¶0022 ] comprising an outer housing, a power receiving component [element 18] configured to receive power from one or more external power sources, and a first charging component configured to transfer the power from the power receiving component to the wearable ring device to recharge a rechargeable battery of the wearable ring device [see ¶0021-0022], wherein the charging device is configured to: transition between a first charging orientation [see figure 1] and a second charging orientation [see figure 2] , wherein the first charging orientation comprises an orientation in which the retaining component is on a same side of the support post as the power receiving component and the second charging orientation comprises an orientation in which the retaining component is on a different side of the support post from the power receiving component [as shown in figures 1 and 2, the charging orientation is rotatable and has different positions; see ¶0024-0025].
As to claim 2, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, wherein the charging device further comprises: a hinge [joint (22)] component connecting the support post and the charging post, wherein, to transition between the first charging orientation and the second charging orientation, the hinge component is configured to: rotate the charging post with respect to the support post [noted that the joint connections rotates the charging retention area in different orientations; see ¶0023].
As to claim 3, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, a second charging component [charging coil] configured to transfer the power from the power receiving component to the wearable ring device to recharge the rechargeable battery of the wearable ring device, wherein the first charging component [the electrical plug] and the second charging component [the charging coil] are located on a first position on a circumferential surface of the charging post and a second position on the circumferential surface of the charging post, respectively [magnetic and inductive changing components are disclosed; see ¶0093 and ¶0044]
As to claim 4, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, wherein the first charging component is positioned on an outer circumferential surface of the charging device when the charging device is in the first charging orientation, and wherein the second charging component is positioned on the outer circumferential surface of the charging device when the charging device is in the second charging orientation [see ¶0044 and ¶0093].
As to claim 5, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, wherein the support post comprises: a removable support post configured to interface with the charging post in either of the first charging orientation or the second charging orientation [see ¶0023].
As to claim 9, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, wherein a diameter of the retaining component is greater than a diameter of the support post [see figures 1 and 2].
As to claim 10, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, wherein a size of one or more components of the charging device is based at least in part on a size of the wearable ring device.
As to claim 11, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, wherein the support post comprises: one or more indentations on an outer circumferential surface of the support post, the one or more indentations configured to interface with one or more protrusions on an inner circumferential surface of the wearable ring device.
As to claim 12, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, one or more magnetic components configured to attract one or more magnetic components of the wearable ring device [see ¶0093].
As to claim 13, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, wherein the one or more external power sources comprise one or more of a cell phone, a laptop, a rechargeable portable battery, or a power outlet [see ¶0014].
As to claim 14, Lopotko discloses in figures 1-13, wherein the power receiving component comprises a Universal Serial Bus Type-C connector [see ¶0010].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 -8 are 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.
For Claim 6: primarily, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest in the claimed combination: wherein the removable support post comprises: an outer circumferential surface and a receiving hole extending a width of the support post and overlapping a portion of the outer circumferential surface to create a gap in the outer circumferential surface [see ¶0104].
For Claim 8: primarily, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest in the claimed combination: wherein the support post further comprises: one or more indentations configured to interface with one or more clip components of the charging post in either of the first charging orientation or the second charging orientation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lane et al. (US 2023/0147889) discloses wireless charger and a method for providing the same.
Green (US 2017/0242406) discloses travel case stand for smart watch.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL BERHANU whose telephone number is (571)272-8430. The examiner can normally be reached M_F.
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.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian A. Huffman can be reached at Julian.Huffman@uspto.gov. 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.
/SAMUEL BERHANU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
Prosecution Insights