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 .
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.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 10, the limitation “the other plurality of scribe holes” lacks antecedent basis in the claims. Claim 1, from which claim 10 depends, recites a single “plurality of scribe holes”. For purposes of examination, the limitation is interpreted as requiring all scribe holes in the first column to be identical to all scribe holes in the second column
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stover (US Patent 1836407) “Stover” and Skillicorn (USPGPUB 20230219362) “Skillicorn”
Regarding claims 1-3, Stover discloses a rafter square (Fig. 1) comprising: a body (16) comprising: a first outer edge (lower edge of base 10); a second outer edge (36); an angled edge (39) that extends between and connects the first outer edge and the second outer edge; a plurality of scribe holes (37, 38) that extend through the body and are configured to receive and engage a first marking instrument having a first tip size and a second marking instrument having a second tip size, and wherein the first tip size is different than the second tip size ([0043]; “mechanical pencils, permanent markers”).
Stover does not disclose a body section and at least one scribe notch; wherein each of the at least one scribe notches has a first height and the body section has a second height, and wherein the second height is greater than the first height. Skillicorn teaches in figure 3, a body section (see excerpt of figure 3A below) and at least one scribe notch (12q); wherein each of the at least one scribe notches (12q) has a first height and the body section has a second height, and wherein the second height is at least 1.5 times greater than the first height (see excerpt of figure 3A below), and wherein each of the at least one scribe notches (12q) include a notch edge (inner edge of 12q).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Stover’s scribe holes to include Skillicorn’s body section with narrower scribe notch, ensuring more precise placement of a marking instrument and improving measurement marking accuracy.
Regarding claims 4-10, Stover discloses the rafter square of claim 1, wherein a major axis of each of the plurality of scribe holes is perpendicular to the second outer edge, the second outer edge having a marking scale (‘1’,’2’,’3’,’4’,’5’) extending along the second outer edge (36), and a first edge axis extending along the first outer edge; and a second edge axis extending along the second outer edge (see labelled excerpt of Stover; Fig. 1 below) and wherein at least a portion of the plurality of scribe holes (37) are arranged in a first column (column of 37), and wherein the plurality of scribe holes (37) in the first column are aligned and positioned along the second edge axis and wherein at least a portion of the plurality of scribe holes (38) are arranged in a second column (column of 38), and wherein the plurality of scribe holes (38) in the second column are aligned and positioned along the second edge axis, wherein the first column (column of 37) is a first distance from the second outer edge (36) and the second column (column of 38) is a second distance from the second outer edge (36), and wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance; and wherein each of the plurality of scribe holes (37 and 38) is the same as each of the other plurality of scribe holes (37 and 38).
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Regarding claims 11-12, Stover discloses a rafter square (Fig. 1) comprising: a body (16) comprising: a first outer edge (lower edge of base 10); a second outer edge (36); an angled edge (39) that extends between and connects the first outer edge and the second outer edge; a plurality of scribe holes (37, 38) that extend through the body.
Stover does not disclose a first scribe notch; a body section; and a second scribe notch on an opposite side of the body section from the first scribe notch, wherein a first edge of the first scribe notch provides a guide for marking in a first direction and wherein a second edge of the second scribe notch provides a guide for marking in a second direction.
Skillicorn teaches in figure 3, a first scribe notch; a body section; and a second scribe notch on an opposite side of the body section from the first scribe notch, wherein a first edge of the first scribe notch provides a guide for marking in a first direction and wherein a second edge of the second scribe notch provides a guide for marking in a second direction (see labelled excerpt of Skillicorn; Fig. 3A).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Stover’s scribe holes to include Skillicorn’s body section with a first and second scribe notch, ensuring more precise placement of a marking instrument and improving measurement marking accuracy.
Regarding claims 13-15, Stover discloses the rafter square of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of scribe holes (37, 38) is symmetrical about a major axis of each scribe hole (see labelled excerpt of Stover; Fig. 1 below), wherein the plurality of scribe holes (37, 38) are arranged in a first column and a second column, the first column and second column both extending along the second outer edge (see labelled excerpt of Stover; Fig. 1 below), wherein the scribe holes (38) in the second column are staggered relative to the scribe holes (37) in the first column such that the scribe holes in the second column are positioned between adjacent scribe holes in the first column (see labelled excerpt of Stover; Fig. 1 below).
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Claims 16-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stover and Dolgorukov (US 2379791) “Dolgorukov”
Regarding claim 16-17 and 20, Stover discloses a rafter square (Fig. 1) comprising: a body (16) comprising: a first outer edge (lower edge of base 10); a second outer edge (36); an angled edge (39) that extends between and connects the first outer edge and the second outer edge; a marking scale (‘1’,’2’,’3’,’4’,’5’) extending along the second outer edge (36), the marking scale comprising a plurality of measurement indicia (lines corresponding to ‘1’,’2’,’3’,’4’,’5’); a plurality of scribe holes (37, 38) that extend through the body (16); the plurality of scribe holes arranged in a first column (column of 37) and a second column (column of 38), the first column and second column each extending along the second outer edge (36) of the rafter square.
Stover does not disclose a body section; and a scribe notch connected to the body section, the scribe notch comprising: a first linear portion; a curved portion, the curved portion facing inward toward the body section; and a second linear portion extending in a parallel orientation to the first linear portion.
Dolgorukov teaches, in figure 2, a body section (14); and a scribe notch (12) connected to the body section (14), the scribe notch (12) comprising: a first linear portion (12a); a curved portion (16), the curved portion facing inward toward the body section (14); and a second linear portion (12b) extending in a parallel orientation to the first linear portion (12a); wherein each scribe notch includes a notch edge (12) sized to receive and engage a first marking instrument (Fig. 3) having a first tip size and a second marking instrument (Fig. 3) having a second tip size.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Stover’s scribe holes to include Dolgorukov’s body section with a scribe notch, ensuring more precise placement of a multitude of different sized marking instruments and improving measurement marking accuracy and simplicity.
Claims 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stover and Dolgorukov, further in view of Skillicorn.
Regarding claim 18, Stover and Dolgorukov disclose the rafter square of claim 16, further comprises a polygonal opening (Stover; 5) extending through the body (16) of the rafter square, the polygonal opening including an internal edge.
Stover and Dolgorukov do not disclose a degree marking.
Skillicorn teaches a degree marking (18).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have Skillicorn’s degree markings angled relative to Stover’s angled edge, allowing the user to more quickly find and mark angles without needing a separate tool.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNA JOSEPHINE SAUNDERS whose telephone number is (571)272-6528. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-5:00 EST.
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/ANNA JOSEPHINE SAUNDERS/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/PETER J MACCHIAROLO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855