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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/9/26 has been entered.
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) 10, 16-17, 21, 29-31 and 36-37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kong (CN113797561A), Doane Jr. (4781647) and Spector (4521205). Kong discloses a toy device for propelling a looped string to create a floating effect (Fig. 1) having a handle shaped body portion (Fig. 2) supporting a housing portion attached thereto (Fig. 3), a pair of wheels (124, 125) operatively attached to the body with at least one of the wheels including a motor (127) to form a driven wheel (Fig. 3), a looped string (200) formed with a photoluminescent material such as a fluorescent material (abstract) that is configured to be propelled along a travel path through the housing during operation and a light source (130) in the form of LEDs operatively supported by the body that are configured to project illumination along the path through the housing as the looped string passes through the housing to charge the fluorescent material of the looped string (Fig. 3, specific implementation examples section pages 3-6). A string guide (1242, 1252) is configured to form a slot or channel therebetween that receives the looped string to maintain an orientation of the looped string relative to the string guide as the looped string is propelled (Fig. 4). The housing includes an intake aperture (140) configured to receive the looped string into the housing thorough the aperture and the light source is configured to project illumination along the travel path that is proximate or nearby the intake aperture (Fig. 3). A first switch (173) is configured to control the operation of the pair of wheels (third to last paragraph of specific implementation examples section). Kong discloses the basic inventive concept with the exception of the material for the looped string being a phosphorescent material and the device including a light guide for guiding and focusing light emitted from the light source. Doane Jr. discloses configuring a toy device with a photoluminescent fiber material to create a glowing property formed by having phosphorescent particles included within the fiber (abstract, column 1 lines 12-64). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute the fluorescent material of Kong for the phosphorescent material of Doane Jr. for the predictable result of using known photoluminescent materials to create interesting effects when the material is exposed to light since using known materials suitable for the intended use has been held to be an obvious modification. See In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960). Spector discloses a toy having a housing with a light source (23) and light guides (20, 21) in the form of fiber optic cables bent to direct and focus light from the light source to desired remote locations (Fig. 2, column 3 lines 30-46). Although Spector does not disclose a propelled string toy, it does teach directing light in a toy device and as such it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art from the teaching of Spector to modify the light source of Kong to include fiber optic light guide elements for the predictable result of providing enhanced versatility and functionality by enabling the light source to be positioned closer to components required to operate the light source while also allowing illumination to be directed to a plurality of remote areas of the toy from a single light source.
Claim(s) 11-14 and 22-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kong, Doane Jr. and Spector as applied above and further in view of Yue (CN216092242U). Kong, Doane Jr. and Spector disclose the basic inventive concept with the exception of the looped string having a pattern created by a combination of phosphorescent and non-phosphorescent sections that can include an alternating pattern with smaller phosphorescent sections or a half and half configuration. Yue discloses a device for propelling a looped string (Fig. 5), wherein the looped string (9) is discontinuously provided along a length thereof with a fluorescent or luminescent substance to create a pattern with illuminated and non-illuminated sections which generates an interesting animation effect (specific implementation examples section paragraph 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill art from the teaching of Yue to create a pattern along the looped string by creating a plurality of non-illuminated and illuminated sections for the predictable result of creating a more interesting light effect when the device is operated. In regard to the particular configurations of the pattern such as a half and half pattern or an alternating pattern wherein the illuminated sections are smaller than the non-illuminated sections, the examiner notes that such modifications are merely ornamental and matters relating to ornamentation only which have no mechanical function cannot be relied upon to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. See In re Seid, 161 F.2d 229, 73 USPQ 431 (CCPA 1947).
Claim(s) 26-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kong, Doane Jr. and Spector as applied above for claim 21 and further in view of Weingard (2006/0170157). Kong, Doane Jr. and Spector disclose the basic inventive concept with the exception of having a first switch that drives the wheels and a second switch that activates the light source, wherein the second switch only activates the lights when the first switch is activated. Weingard discloses a toy device having a motor driven effect and illumination effects (Fig. 8) wherein an on/off switch (32) turns the device on and operates the motor driven effect while a second switch (34) activates the illumination effects but requires the on/off button to be activated first (Fig. 8, paragraphs 46-48). It would have been obvious to have multiple control switches for different functions to provide increased functionality and utility by enabling greater control over operation of the device to create different effects.
Claim(s) 33-35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kong, Doane Jr. and Spector as applied above for claim 10 and further in view of Kim (5791965). Kong, Doane Jr. and Spector disclose the basic inventive concept with the exception of including a shroud. Kim discloses a toy having a light source (24) and fiber optic light guides (26) connected through a shroud (29) that covers or masks the light source such that light from the light source is directed to the light guides without being directed outside the toy device first (Fig. 2). Although Kim does not disclose a propelled string toy, it does teach directing light in a toy device and as such it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Kong, Doane Jr. and Spector to use a shroud between the light source and light guides for the predictable result of directing light from a light source to a light guide in a more efficient manner to increase the illumination effects.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 10-14, 16-17, 21-31 and 33-37 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See 2015/0184844, 2013/0217300, 2006/0164856, 6955581 and 2004/0134114.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALYSSA HYLINSKI whose telephone number is (571)272-2684. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:30 - 6:00.
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/A.M.H/Examiner, Art Unit 3711 /EUGENE L KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3711
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