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 Objections
Claims 1-4 are objected to because of the following informalities: Regarding claim 1, where a claim sets forth a plurality of elements or steps, each element or step of the claim should be separated by a line indentation. See MPEP 608.01(i). Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, lines 1, 4, and 5 recite “a support rod,” “one support rod,” and “two support rods,” respectively, leading to confusion as to how many support rods are required. It is suggest to change “a support rod” in line 2 to two support rods, “one support rod” in line 4 to each support rod, and “two support rods” in line 5 to the two support rods to remedy this rejection.
Regarding claim 2, line 4, “a connector (10) provided in the connection holes (9)” is indefinite. The claim recites multiple connection holes in line 3. It is unclear if the connector is provided in all of the multiple connection holes or provided in a selected subset of the multiple connection holes.
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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang (CN 213285585 U using machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Wang discloses a multifunctional football training rack (Figure 1), comprising: a ball net stand [14], a horizontal arc-shaped guide rod [11] (specifically see upper arc connecting rod in Figures 1-2), a limit rod [12], a support rod [13], an angle adjustment rod [11] (specifically see lower and middle arc connecting rods in Figures 1-2), and a ball net [7]; left and right sides of the ball net stand [14] are respectively connected to an upper end of one support rod [13], the horizontal arc-shaped guide rod [11] (specifically see upper arc connecting rod in Figures 1-2) and the limit rod [12] are both connected between two support rods [13] (as viewed from the front of the device; also wherein the longitudinal connecting rods [12] are connected to the arc connecting rods [11] which are connected between the two vertical rods [13]), the horizontal arc-shaped guide rod [11] (specifically see upper arc connecting rod in Figures 1-2) is located between the ball net stand [14] and the limit rod [12] (as viewed from above), a lower side of the support rod [13] is connected to the ball net stand [14] through the angle adjustment rod [11] (specifically see lower and middle arc connecting rods in Figures 1-2) (wherein a lower side of the vertical rods [13] is integrally connected to the elongated vertical rods [14] through the arc connecting rods [11], the longitudinal connecting rods [12] and the arc-shaped rods [16]), the ball net [7] is set on the ball net stand [14] (page 3 and Figures 1-2).
Regarding claim 2, Wang discloses the multifunctional football training rack according to claim 1, wherein the angle adjustment rod [11] (specifically see lower and middle arc connecting rods in Figures 1-2) comprises a first rod [11] (specifically see lower arc connecting rod in Figures 1-2) and a second rod [11] (specifically see middle arc connecting rod in Figures 1-2), both of which are provided with multiple connection holes (see “holes” in annotated Figure 2 below), and the first rod [11] (specifically see lower arc connecting rod in Figures 1-2) and the second rod [11] (specifically see middle arc connecting rod in Figures 1-2) are connected by a connector (see “connector” in annotated Figure 2 below) provided in the connection holes (see “holes” in annotated Figure 2 below) (page 3, Figures 1-2, and annotated Figure 2 below).
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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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Daffer, Jr. (US 4,083,561).
Regarding claim 3, Wang does not disclose a U-shaped ground nail provided on the ball net stand and/or the limit rod. Daffer, Jr., however, teaches a similar football (soccer) training rack comprising a ball net stand [15, 17] and limit rod [25], wherein a U-shaped ground nail [35] is provided on the limit rod [25] (col. 1 line 62 – col. 2 line14, col. 3 lines 9-11, and Figures 1-3). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a U-shaped ground nail on Wang’s limit rod because Daffer, Jr. teaches that this configuration anchors the goal to the ground at a desired playing position (col. 2 lines 5-11 and col. 3 lines 9-11).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See Wan (CN 207076080 U), Wan (CN 217119286 U), Yu (CN 210874022 U), Zhu et al. (CN 207477917 U) which disclose similar football (soccer) training racks having arc-shaped ball return means.
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/AUDREY B. WALTER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711