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 certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on Oct. 2, 2023 and May 15, 2024 have been considered by the examiner.
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 7 and 9 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.
The examples recited in claims 7 and 9 (“for instance”, “for example”) lead to confusion over the intended scope of the claims. It is not clear whether the claimed examples are limitations, rendering the claims indefinite. See MPEP 2173.05(d).
Claims 13 and 14 recite the use of the battery holder, but they merely recite a use without any active, positive steps delimiting how this use is actually practiced. The claims are held to be indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed recitation of a use, without setting forth any steps involved in the process, results in an improper definition of a process, i.e., results in a claim which is not a proper process claim under 35 U.S.C. 101. See for example Ex parte Dunki, 153 USPQ 678 (Bd.App. 1967) and Clinical Products, Ltd. v. Brenner, 255 F. Supp. 131, 149 USPQ 475 (D.D.C. 1966).
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 12 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hattori (US 5633096, hereafter Hattori).
Regarding claim 1, Hattori teaches a battery holder (“1”) for supporting a rechargeable battery (“14”) for a power tool (“power-driver tool”, Abstract), the battery holder comprising a rear body and a front body (See the annotated figure below), wherein the rear body comprises a support arch (indicated in the annotated figure below) and wherein the front body comprises a battery slide (See “21”, “21a”, “21b” and “22”) configured to support a battery.
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Regarding claim 2, Hattori teaches the battery holder of claim 1, wherein the battery holder is connected through a cable to the power tool (See, at least, the second paragraph of column 6).
Regarding claim 12, Hattori teaches the battery holder of claim 1, wherein the battery slide is electrically connected to an electric cable protruding from the front body (See, at least, the top paragraph of column 4).
Regarding claims 15-16, Hattori teaches a vacuum cleaner or a battery-operated power tool comprising a battery holder of claim 1 and a rechargeable battery inserted into said battery holder for providing power to the vacuum cleaner or to the battery-operated power tool, wherein the battery holder is engaged with a tube of the vacuum cleaner or a tube of the battery-operated power tool (See, at least, the fourth paragraph of column 5), wherein the battery holder is connected via cable to a plug configured to engage with a battery housing on the power tool (See, at least, the second paragraph of column 6).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-11 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHONGQING WEI whose telephone number is (571)272-4809. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:30 - 6:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Barbara Gilliam can be reached at (571)272-1330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZHONGQING WEI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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