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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-9 and 16-22 in the reply filed on 12/18/2025 is acknowledged.
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) 1-5, 9, 16-18 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feldstein (US 2016/0377373) in view of Bernkrant et al. (US 2019/0137215).
Regarding claim 1, Feldstein discloses a holster for a weapon comprising: a body configured to receive a type of weapon selected from the group consisting of a firearm and a TASER (Fig. 1; [0014]; and [0029]); and an alert system comprising a speaker, and a draw detector ([0029]). See Fig. 1. Feldstein does not disclose a microcontroller or a power supply.
Bernkrant, which is drawn to a holster, discloses a draw detector configured to detect when a weapon is drawn from the holster and to trigger a logic circuit in the microcontroller in response thereto ([0048]; [0070]); wherein the logic circuit is programmed to send an audio signal to the speaker corresponding to the type of weapon. See [0070]-[0072]. Thus, it 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 to use a microcontroller and power supply, as disclosed by Bernkrant, on the holster of Feldstein in order to process more signals and respond to different conditions.
Regarding claim 2, the draw detector comprises a mechanical switch (3) configured to move from a first position to a second position upon the weapon being drawn from the holster, the first position corresponding to the logic circuit being inactive and the second position corresponding to the logic circuit being triggered. See [0021].
Regarding claim 3, the draw detector is configured to detect when the weapon is drawn from the holster based on a change in a magnetic field. See Abstract.
Regarding claim 4, Bernkrant discloses a holster-cam ([0073]) electronically connected to the logic circuit, and wherein the logic circuit is programmed to activate the holster-cam. Thus, it 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 to use a camera, as disclosed by Bernkrant, on the holster of Feldstein in order to record video when the weapon is drawn.
Regarding claim 5, the type of weapon is a firearm and the audio signal is a firearm audio signal. See [0029].
Regarding claim 9, Bernkrant disclose an alert system further comprising a transceiver ([0015]; [0063]), and wherein the microcontroller is configured to send a wireless signal via the transceiver to a remote device in response to the draw detector detecting the weapon has been drawn. Thus, it 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 to use a transceiver, as disclosed by Bernkrant, on the holster of Feldstein in order to communicate information to a remote device.
Regarding claim 16, Feldstein, in view of Bernkrant, discloses an alert system for use with a holster comprising: a microcontroller; a power supply; a speaker; and a draw detector; wherein the draw detector is configured to transition from a first state to a second state upon detecting that a weapon is drawn from the holster, the first state corresponding to a logic circuit in the microcontroller being inactive, and the second state corresponding to the logic circuit being triggered; wherein the logic circuit is programmed to send an audio signal to the speaker. See above.
Regarding claims 17, 18 and 22, Feldstein in view of Bernkrant sufficiently discloses the claimed invention. See above.
Claim(s) 6-8 and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feldstein and Bernkrant as applied above in further view of Patches et al. (US 2018/0100713).
Regarding claim 6, Feldstein discloses various alerts. However, Patches specifically discloses an alert system further comprising a shot detector, and the microcontroller is configured to send a shot detection audio signal to the speaker in response to the shot detector detecting a shot fired from the weapon. See [0041]. Thus, it 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 to use a shot detector, as disclosed by Patches, on the holster of Feldstein in order to remotely detect that a firearm has been fired.
Regarding claim 7, Feldstein discloses a number of phrases can be used. See [0011] and [0041]. While Feldstein modified by Patches does not specifically teach the claimed language it is well known in the art that routine experimentation and various engineering design choices could have been used to have arrived at the claimed audio signal. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have arrived at the firearm audio signal as claimed for Feldstein in view of Patches alert system, in order to have allowed for a clear alert message for indicating that shots have been fired.
Regarding claim 8, the alert system further comprises a transceiver (5), and wherein the microcontroller is configured to send a wireless signal via the transceiver to a remote device in response to the shot detector detecting a shot fired from the weapon. See, [0029].
Regarding claim 19, as modified above, a shot detector; wherein the shot detector is capable of being configured to trigger a second logic circuit in the microcontroller upon detecting a shot fired; and wherein the second logic circuit is programmed to send a shot detection audio signal to the speaker. See Patches, [0041] and [0050].
Regarding claims 20 and 21, Feldstein, as modified above, sufficiently discloses the claimed invention. See above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEREK J BATTISTI whose telephone number is (571)270-5709. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm M-F.
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/DEREK J BATTISTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734