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 .
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 34-35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Evatt et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2019/0111499) in view of Evatt et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018/0214959), hereinafter referred to as Evatt II.
Regarding Claim 34, Evatt teaches a pocket hole jig (Fig. 1, 10) comprising:
a housing (Fig. 1, 12) including a plurality of first lock structures (Fig. 5, 34);
an axle (Fig. 5, 24) coupled to the housing (Fig. 1, 12) ([0018]: The posts 24 of the gimbal 14 are received in the recesses 18 of the body 12);
a drill bit guide (Fig. 1, 14) coupled to the axle (Fig. 5, 24) ([0018]: The posts 24 of the gimbal 14), the drill bit guide (Fig. 1, 14) defining a guide axis (Fig. 2, 33); and
a spring-loaded bushing (Fig. 1, 16) coupled to the drill bit guide (Fig. 1, 14) ([0019]: the posts 28 may be biased into engagement with the recesses 34 (e.g., by a spring disposed between the drill guide 16 and the gimbal 14)), the spring-loaded bushing (Fig. 1, 16) including at least one second lock structure (Fig. 5, 28),
wherein the spring-loaded bushing (Fig. 1, 16) is translatable along the drill bit guide (Fig. 1, 14) between an engaged position where the at least one second lock structure (Fig. 5, 28) is engaged with one of the plurality of first lock structures (Fig. 5, 34) to maintain the guide axis at a fixed angle relative to a workpiece ([0019]: the drill guide 16 is received in the aperture 26 of the gimbal 14 so that the drill guide 16 pivots with the gimbal 14 relative to the body 12. Posts 28 of the drill guide 16 are received in slots 20 of the body 12. The slots 20 include recesses 34 for each of the indicia 22. The posts 28 are received in the recesses 34 to releasably retain the gimbal 14 and the drill guide 16 and the position indicated by the indicator 30.) and a disengaged position where the spring-loaded bushing (Fig. 1, 16) is translatable along the drill bit guide (Fig. 1, 14) and the drill bit guide (Fig. 1, 14) is rotatable about the axle ([0019]: The posts 28, recesses 34, and slots 20 are sized so that the posts 28 can move within the slots 20 by pivoting the gimbal 14 about posts 24 between both ends of the slots 20, but yet the recesses 34 hold the posts 28 of the drill guide 16, and therefore the drill guide 16 and the gimbal 14 in the desired position relative to the body 12.).
Evatt does not teach a pivoting nose fence coupled to the housing about a pivot axis and
reconfigurable between a stored position and a deployed position via rotation about the pivot axis.
Evatt II teaches a pivoting nose fence (Fig. 1, 50) coupled to the housing (Fig. 1, 20) about a pivot axis and reconfigurable between a stored position (Position of the nose fence shown in Fig. 1) and a deployed position (Position of the nose fence shown in Fig. 4) via rotation about the pivot axis ([0029]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a pivoting nose fence of Evatt II at a nose end of the housing (12) of Evatt in order to accurately position the pocket hole jig onto the workpiece.
Regarding Claim 35, Evatt/Evatt II teach the pocket hole jig of claim 34, further comprising an indicator (Evatt Fig. 5, 22) configured to indicate a correct setting for the pocket hole jig in view of a size of the workpiece (Evatt [0020]: The indicator 30 and indicia 22 … in a workpiece 41 having a thickness 42 that corresponds to the selected indicia 22.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-19 and 21-33 are allowed.
Claims 36-37 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the references of record teach the previously indicated allowable subject matter in claim 20 in combination with remaining limitations in claims 17 and 27.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Williams (U.S. Patent No. 2423164) teaches a housing (3), a drill bit guide (13), a bushing (16), however, the bushing is not spring loaded.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUN S YOO whose telephone number is (571)270-7141. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM.
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, Sunil Singh can be reached at (571) 272-3460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JUN S YOO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3725 10/14/2026
