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.
Drawings
The drawings filed October 5, 2023 are accepted.
Abstract
The Abstract filed October 5, 2023 is accepted.
Specification
The specification filed October 5, 2023 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tsai (US 12,455,153 B2).
With respect to claim 1, Tsai discloses a measuring tape device (See Figure 1) comprising a housing (12) having an aperture (for extending the measuring tape); a reel assembly (conventional to tape measures as shown in Figure 1); a blade (10) having a first end configured to extend from the housing through the aperture and a second end configured to be wound on the reel assembly (See Figure 1); and an end hook (11) disposed at the first end of the blade (Figure 1), the end hook (11) having a front face (Figure 3) that faces away from the aperture and a rear face (Figure 2) that faces toward the aperture, wherein a high friction surface (20, 21) comprising laser etching is disposed over at least a portion of the end hook (Column 2, lines 46 – 53).
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Referring to claim 2, Tsai sets forth a device wherein the high friction surface (21) is disposed at substantially all of a surface of the rear face (See Figure 2).
In regards to claim 7, Tsai teaches a device wherein a surface area of the high friction surface (21) is greater than 1/2 a surface area of the rear face (See Figure 2 and Column 3, lines 23 – 28 .
Regarding claim 8, Tsai shows a device wherein the high friction surface (21) comprises a dimple pattern comprising craters and raised portions (See Figure 2).
With regards to claim 10, Tsai discloses a device wherein the high friction surface (21) comprises a linear pattern comprising grooves (Column 4, lines 4 – 14).
Referring to claim 12, Tsai sets forth an end hook (11) for a measuring tape device (12), the end hook (11) comprising a front face (Figure 3) that faces away from an aperture through which a blade (10) of the measuring tape device is extendible; a rear face (Figure 2) that faces toward the aperture; and a high friction surface (21) comprising laser etching disposed over at least a portion of the end hook (Column 2, lines 46 – 53).
In regards to claim 13, Tsai teaches an end hook wherein the high friction surface (21) is disposed of substantially all of a surface of the rear face (See Figures 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 16, Tsai shows an end hook wherein the high friction surface (21) comprises a dimple pattern comprising craters and raised portions (See Figure 2).
With respect to claim 17, Tsai discloses an end hook wherein the craters of the dimple pattern are consecutive melt pools formed by ablating material of the surface of the rear face with a laser, and wherein the melt pools are surrounded by the raised portions on all sides.
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 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsai (US 12,455,153 B2) in view of Bridges et al (US 11,313,659).
Tsai discloses a device as recited above.
Tsai does not disclose the coating as recited in claim 20.
In regards to claim 20, Tsai discloses the method of making a measuring tape device (12), the method comprising the steps of providing the end hook (11) for the measuring tape device (Figure 1); laser etching a high friction surface (21) into at least a portion of a surface of a rear face of the end hook (See Figure 2) and attaching the end hook to a blade of the measuring tape device.
Bridges et al. discloses a device comprising an end hook (170) with a high friction material (210) applied to the end hook and further teaches applying a coating over the high friction material (See Column 6, lines 20 – 22) for durability. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Tsai by providing a coating over the high friction material, as taught by Bridges et al., in order to increase durability of the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 – 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 18 and 19 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.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 3 - 6 are allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a device wherein the end hook further comprises an upright extension that is planar with the rear face and extends perpendicular to the blade on an opposite side of the blade from the rear face; wherein the high friction surface is disposed on the upright extension of the end hook; wherein a width of the end hook is greater than a width of the blade such that portions of the end hook extend outside the width of the blade to provide an expanded surface area for engagement of at least the rear face with an anchor point; and wherein the high friction surface is disposed on the portions of the end hook that extend outside the width of the blade in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Claims 9, 11 and 14 - 15 are allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a device wherein the craters of the dimple pattern are consecutive melt pools formed by ablating material of the surface of the rear face with a laser, and wherein the melt pools are surrounded by the raised portions on all sides; wherein the grooves of the linear pattern are consecutive melt pools formed by ablating material of the surface of the rear face with a laser, and wherein the melt pools are not surrounded by the raised portions in between consecutive melt pools; wherein the end hook further comprises an upright extension that is planar with the rear face and extends perpendicular to the blade on an opposite side of the blade from the rear face; and wherein the high friction surface is disposed on the upright extension of the end hook in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Claims 18 and 19 are allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a device wherein a width of the end hook is greater than a width of the blade such that portions of the end hook extend outside the width of the blade to provide an expanded surface area for engagement of at least the rear face with an anchor point and wherein the high friction surface is disposed on the portions of the end hook that extend outside the width of the blade in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references are considered relevant but fail to teach the combination as claimed:
Komura (US 5,402,583) teaches a tape measure having an end hook and a friction plate is a metal plate having an unevenly etched surface which is attached to the inside surface of the end hook by the use of an adhesive, double-coated tape but does not disclose laser etching the high friction surface.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL whose telephone number is (571)272-2244. The examiner can normally be reached Mon -Thu, 8:00am - 6:00pm.
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, Laura E Martin can be reached at 571-272-2160. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2855
April 9, 2026
/YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855