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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 6/3/2026, have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of McClung in view of Kelmanski.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 5/20/2026 was/were considered by the examiner.
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 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McClung US 8556756 in view of Kelmanski US 4179121.
Regarding claim 1, McClung discloses a racket comprising:
a handle (42);
a body (44) connected to the handle (Fig. 4) and including a rail (45, 49) provided on the peripheral portion (Fig. 4B), the rail including:
a pair of flange portions (Fig. 4B, top of channel overlapping the weight), and
a wall portion including a pair of side walls (side walls of channel 45), a wall bottom portion (bottom of channel 45), and an opening (49),
project from one of the pair of side walls in a direction to face each other (Fig. 4B),
are spaced apart from each other (Fig. 4B), and
are continuously provided across opposite ends of the rail (Fig. 4B); and
a weight part (48) movable along the rail (Fig. 4A) on the peripheral portion of the body, the weight part including an upper portion (top of weight),
the weight part movable continuously along the peripheral portion of the body (Fig. 4A), the weight is fixable to the body while having moved along the rail (col. 7 ln. 18-20), and the weight part is configured to be fixed to the rail
However, it does not teach every limitation of the claim.
Kelmanski teaches a racket comprising a rail wherein a pair of flange portions (3) are each disposed between the wall bottom portion and the opening (Fig. 3), and a weight (5,6) comprises a screw portion (7) such that when tightened the weight by be fixed along the pair of flange portions (col. 2 ln. 35-38). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the means for fixing the weight as taught by McClung by utilizing the means as taught by Kelmanski in order to achieve the predictable results of fixing the weigh along the rail at the periphery of the racket.
Regarding claim 4, McClung further discloses that the body includes a capped end portion (ends of 47), and the capped end portion seals opposite ends of the rail along the peripheral portion of the body (Fig. 4).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 BRIAN O PETERS whose telephone number is (571)272-2662. The examiner can normally be reached Tue-Sat, 12:00pm-10pm EST.
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/BRIAN O PETERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711
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