DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 3 “one of first and second internal contact surfaces of first and second external contact surfaces” should be “one of first and second internal contact surfaces OR first and second external contact surfaces.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 5 recites “at least one hood catch surface… adjacent to and concentric with at least one of the first and second hood mating apertures” in lines 2-3. This renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear how hood catch surface 68 can be considered concentric with hood mating apertures 62 (e.g. in Figure 2A). Surface 68 is in no way concentric with aperture 62. For examination purposes the phrase will be treated as “adjacent to and aligned with at least one of the first and second hood mating apertures.”
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the hood mating apertures" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Seyfert et al. (US 2007/0181619).
Regarding claim 1, Seyfert discloses a firearm retention mechanism 10/60/70/20, for securely retaining a firearm within the internal contact surfaces of a holster, comprising: an ejector port 120/132( lock of the firearm retention mechanism for engaging an ejector port of the firearm in an engagement position (Figure 11), to prevent rearward movement of the firearm out of the holster; a hood 60/66 of the firearm retention mechanism for contacting a rear face of the firearm against rearward movement and thereby securing the firearm into the holster in the engagement position; an internal actuator 70/80 of the firearm retention mechanism for performing a first operation of disposing the hood into a disengagement position from the rear face of the firearm (see Figure 11 and the downward arrow at lead line 69) and a second operation of releasing the ejector port lock from the ejector port (see Figure 11 and the rightward facing arrow below lead line 132), thereby permitting rearward movement of the firearm out of the holster (Figure 12).
Regarding claim 2, first and second ejector port lock bosses 124 are formed on opposing sides of the ejector port lock, for engaging respective first and second ejector port lock mating apertures (paragraph 46, first sentence) formed respectively on first and second internal contact surfaces of the holster, wherein the ejector port lock bosses and ejector port lock mating apertures define an axis of rotation for the ejector port lock, enabling the ejector port lock to rotationally lock into the ejector port of the firearm (see Figures 11 and 12 showing the rotation of lock 132).
Regarding claim 3, the hood 60/66 is a generally U-shaped component (Figure 1) having first and second opposing ends (adjacent lead lines 68 in Figure 1) which are respectively attached to the holster and firearm retention mechanism to enable rotational movement of the hood into contact with the rear face of the firearm (Figure 11).
Regarding claim 4, the hood further comprises first and second hood mating apertures 68 which respectively engage first and second hood bosses (paragraph 32, third sentence) formed on one of first and second internal contact surfaces of first and second external contact surfaces of the holster, wherein the hood mating apertures and the hood bosses define an axis of rotation for the hood (rotation of the hood shown between Figure 11 and 12).
Regarding claim 5, the hood 60 further comprises at least one hood catch surface along a bottom periphery of the hood (see bottom surface of hood wall 69 which engages lip 148), adjacent to and aligned with at least one of the first and second hood mating apertures 68 (see Figure 11), wherein the at least one catch surface is rotatable to a configuration to retain the hood into the engagement position (paragraph 46, third sentence).
Regarding claim 6, a spring (paragraph 35 first sentence) is disclosed for biasing the hood into the disengagement position in order to be tensioned in the engagement position.
Regarding claim 17, side covers 22/24 (to the degree that the side covers are presently claimed, the sides of the of the holster itself define “side covers”) are disclosed along with a plurality of side cover accessories (e.g. 84 and belt loop, paragraph 36).
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) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seyfert et al. in view of Luna (US 11,644,247).
Regarding claim 7, Seyfert discloses the invention substantially as claimed but does not disclose the spring being a torsional spring held within a torsion spring pocket around the hood mating apertures. However, Luna teaches a similar firearm retention mechanism with a hood 190 and ejector port lock 160 wherein the hood is biased to the disengagement position by a torsion spring 198 which is held within a torsion spring pocket surrounding hood mating apertures (see in Figure 13 directly below spring 198 and Figure 16 above lead line 130). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to replace the coil spring of Seyfert with a torsional spring as taught by Luna in order to provide an alternative biasing device that is easier to replace/fix/service (i.e. by being accessible from an external side of the holster).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seyfert et al. in view of Yeates (US 10,458,748).
Regarding claim 16, Seyfert discloses the invention substantially as claimed but does not disclose an optic shroud as claimed. However, Yeates teaches a similar firearm retention mechanism and holster wherein the holster itself is formed with an optic shroud portion 64/68 (see Figure 4) for protecting firearm optic 53. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to provide the holster of Seyfert with a similar optic shroud portion to accommodate firearms having a mounted optic accessory.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-15 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. In particular, the prior art does not disclose the claimed retention mechanism having an internal actuator that performs a first and second operation (disposing the hood into a disengagement portion and releasing the ejector portion lock), wherein the internal actuator comprises a front tab that engages with a hinge axis slide body configured to interact with a front tab lock on the ejector port lock to retain the ejector port lock in the engagement position.
Conclusion
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/COREY N SKURDAL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734