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 .
Response to Arguments
The previous objection to claim 4 is withdrawn in light of the amendments to the claim, filed 03/03/26.
The previous rejections of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been withdrawn in light of the amendments to the claims, filed 03/03/26. However, a new rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) has been presented in light of the amendments, as discussed in detail below.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejections of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered but are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Kuwano makes no mention of the hardness of the connection components and thus fails to disclose or teach a structure having a specific hardness for transmitting the direction and magnitude of force between users (Remarks, filed 03/03/26, p. 8). Applicant further argues that if the tubes of Kuwano were made stiff enough to “transmit the direction and magnitude of force”, it would impair the ease of handling as a communication tool (Remarks, filed 03/03/26, p. 8). Examiner respectfully disagrees and notes that Kuwano discloses a connection component of a hardness capable of transmitting direction and magnitude of force. That is, because the connection component of Kuwano has a hardness, it inherently possesses the capability for transmitting a direction and a magnitude of force. The limitation “formed in such a way as to have a hardness for transmitting a direction and a magnitude of force” does not require that the component actually perform the action of transmitting a direction and a magnitude of force, but rather, is a functional limitation that defines the capability of the component. Accordingly, the claims remain rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103.
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 1-8 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.
Claim 1 recites in part “an outer shell of each of the first connection component and the second connection component […] is formed in such a way as to have a hardness for transmitting a direction and a magnitude of force between the first user gripping the first gripping component and the second user gripping the second gripping component”. The term “hardness” is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The limitation “hardness for transmitting a direction and magnitude of force” is not defined by the claim, the Specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The term “hardness” for transmitting a direction and a magnitude of force relies on subjective language, rather than exact, measurable, or structural constraints. The Specification states that Non Patent Literature 1 ("Guide to Guide Running (Basics)", [online], Japan Blind Marathon Association, [searched on April 15, 2021], the Internet <URL: https://jbma.or.jp/challenge/guiderunnner/preparation/>) allows users to communicate with each other using a rope to convey direction and magnitude of force. The Specification also further describes two types of hardness of the connection component of the subject invention, wherein both a soft tube and a hard tube can provide direction and magnitude of force (Specification, [0029]).
Claims 2-8 are rejected by virtue of their dependencies on claim 1.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuwano, K., “Communication by Air”, NTT Intercommunication Center (ICC), 2 pages, Dec. 2, 2019 (hereinafter “Kuwano”).
Regarding claim 1, Kuwano discloses a guide rope used for communication between two users (p. 1, balls are connected by a tube(s), and wherein the invention is for “communication by air”),
wherein a first gripping component to be gripped by a first user among the two users, a second gripping component to be gripped by a second user among the two users, a first connection component, and a second connection component are annularly connected (pp. 1-2, wherein balls (gripping components), each to be held by a user, and tubes (connection components) may be annularly connected),
each of the first gripping component and the second gripping component is a hollow three-dimensional object having an outer shell provided with two connection portions (hereinafter referred to as a “first connection portion” and a “second connection portion”) (pp. 1-2, wherein the balls are hollow such that each can be squeezed to transmit air over a distance through the tube(s) connected at a first and/or second connection portion as pictured),
each of the first connection component and the second connection component is a tube provided with two ends (hereinafter referred to as a “first end” and a “second end”) (p. 1, wherein the tubes each have two ends for connection to the balls),
the first connection portion of the first gripping component is connected to the first end of the first connection component (p. 1, wherein a first connection portion of a first ball is connected to a first end of a first tube),
the second connection portion of the first gripping component is connected to the second end of the second connection component (p. 1, wherein a second connection portion of the first ball is connected to an end (i.e., second end) of a second tube),
the first connection portion of the second gripping component is connected to the first end of the second connection component (p. 1, wherein a connection portion (i.e., first connection portion) of a second ball is connected to an end (i.e., a first end) of the second tube connected to the first ball),
one sealed space is formed by a hollow inner portion of the first gripping component, a hollow inner portion of the first connection component, a hollow inner portion of the second gripping component, and a hollow inner portion of the second connection component (p. 1, wherein a hollow inner space is formed between at least a first and second ball and first and second tubes, such that through the medium of air, the varying pressure applied when squeezing one of the balls is transmitted through the sealed space),
the outer shell of each of the first gripping component and the second gripping component is formed in such a way as 1) to contract to push out air in the inner portion in response to a gripping motion of a user and 2) to expand in response to a rise in pressure caused by the pushed out air (p. 1, wherein a ball (gripping component) can be contracted by squeezing the ball such that varying pressure applied when squeezing the ball provides for the transmission of air from one ball to the other), and
an outer shell of each of the first connection component and the second connection component is formed in such a way as not to obstruct a flow of air by any of a change in pressure of air from the inner portion and a change in force applied from the outside, and is formed in such a way as to have a hardness for transmitting a direction and a magnitude of force between the first user gripping the first gripping component and the second user gripping the second gripping component (pp. 1-2, wherein the outer shell of the tubes do not obstruct air flow and have a hardness which provides the tubular shape).
Kuwano discloses three balls and three tubes annularly connected (p. 1), or two balls and one tube linearly connected (p. 2). However, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to either eliminate the third ball (gripping component) and the third tube (connection component) such that two gripping components and two connection components may instead be annularly connected as a matter of design choice, wherein the components are capable of such a connection, or to incorporate a second tube between the first and second gripping components held by two users such that the two balls and tubes may be annularly, as opposed to linearly, connected. Furthermore, correspondingly, it would have been obvious for the second connection portion of the second gripping component to be connected to the second end of the first connection component such that if two balls and two tubes are used, the balls and tubes are annularly connected. No advantage, particular purpose, or solution to a problem is disclosed in the Specification for limiting the number of gripping components and/or connection components, each, to two, and/or for annularly connecting the components (see Specification, [0009], Advantageous Effects of Invention – “The guide rope of the present invention allows users to communicate with each other using the tactile sense, which is not limited to the direction and magnitude of force.”). Moreover, the incorporation of additional gripping components and/or connection components, and/or linearly connecting components as opposed to annularly connecting the components, does not inhibit the functioning of the system, and the system would still have performed equally as well for communicating using air as the claimed invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious as a matter of design choice to modify Kuwano to obtain the invention as specified in the claim, wherein the components of Kuwano are capable of such a configuration.
Regarding claim 2, Kuwano further discloses wherein the first gripping component and the second gripping component respectively are configured to be grippable by a user from a direction (pp. 1-2, wherein the balls constituting each of the first gripping component and the second gripping component is a substantially spherical object, each intended to be held in the hand of a human and are squeezable).
Regarding claim 3, Kuwano further discloses wherein in each of the first gripping component and the second gripping component, the first connection portion and the second connection portion are provided in such a way as to individually include contact points between a straight line passing through a center of gravity of the three-dimensional object and the outer shell of the three-dimensional object (pp. 1-2, as depicted).
Regarding claim 5, Kuwano further discloses wherein the tubes are of a length to create a distance between balls so as to communicate by air between at least two spaced apart users (p. 2, wherein the users are spaced apart on opposite sides of a table). While Kuwano may not further explicitly disclose or teach wherein each of the first connection component and the second connection component is 30 cm in length, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). It is noted that the Specification, [0019] and [0030], does not disclose any criticality for the first and second connection components to be limited to 30 cm in length (see Specification, [0019]; [0030], “The length of the connection component 120-j is optional as long as two users can individually grip the gripping components 110-i without being in contact with each other, and may be, for example, approximately 30 cm.”).
Claims 4 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuwano in view of Masuda (JPH09239065A).
Regarding claim 4, Kuwano discloses wherein each three-dimensional object (ball) is capable of being squeezed by a hand of the user (pp. 1-2). Kuwano may not further explicitly disclose or teach wherein the outer shell of each three-dimensional object is formed by using a rubber sheet of 1 mm in thickness. However, Masuda teaches elastic material balls connected to each other which are formed by rubber and are expandable and contractable via grasping of the ball(s) by a user’s hand/fingers ([0004]; [0007]; [0011]). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the gripping components from an elastic material, such as rubber, capable of being easily deformed, as taught by Masuda, in the invention of Kuwano so that the users may easily squeeze the balls to transmit the air for communication.
While Kuwano and Masuda may not further explicitly teach the outer shell of each of the balls being formed by a rubber sheet of 1 mm in thickness, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize balls comprising an outer shell formed by a rubber sheet of 1 mm in thickness since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). It is noted that the Specification, [0013], does not disclose any criticality for the claimed limitation.
Regarding claim 7, Kuwano further discloses wherein the tubes are of a length to create a distance between balls so as to communicate by air between at least two spaced apart users (p. 2, wherein the users are spaced apart on opposite sides of a table). While Kuwano may not further explicitly disclose or teach wherein each of the first connection component and the second connection component is 30 cm in length, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). It is noted that the Specification, [0019] and [0030], does not disclose any criticality for the first and second connection components to be limited to 30 cm in length (see Specification, [0019]; [0030], “The length of the connection component 120-j is optional as long as two users can individually grip the gripping components 110-i without being in contact with each other, and may be, for example, approximately 30 cm.”).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuwano in view of “PVC soft – PVC – P”, Designer Data, 2 pages, Aug. 8, 2020 (hereinafter “Designer”).
Regarding claim 6, Kuwano may not further explicitly disclose wherein each of the first connection component and the second connection component is 6 mm in outer diameter and 4 mm in inner diameter, and is formed by using soft PVC. However, Designer teaches wherein soft PVC is bendable (rubbery material) and may be used as tubing (pp. 1-2). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize tubes formed from flexible (soft) PVC in order to annularly connect the components as shown in Kuwano. While Kuwano and Designer may not explicitly further teach wherein the first and second connection components (tubes), which are hollow and used to transmit air from one ball to another for communication purposes in Kuwano, are 6 mm in outer diameter and 4 mm in inner diameter, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). It is noted that the Specification, [0019] and [0029], does not disclose any criticality for the claimed limitations being limited to 6 mm in outer diameter and 4 mm in inner diameter.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuwano in view of Masuda, as applied to claim 7, and in further view of Designer.
Regarding claim 8, Kuwano may not further explicitly disclose wherein each of the first connection component and the second connection component is 6 mm in outer diameter and 4 mm in inner diameter, and is formed by using soft PVC. However, Designer teaches wherein soft PVC is bendable (rubbery material) and may be used as tubing (pp. 1-2). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize tubes formed from flexible (soft) PVC in order to annularly connect the components as shown in Kuwano. While Kuwano and Designer may not explicitly further teach wherein the first and second connection components (tubes), which are hollow and used to transmit air from one ball to another for communication purposes in Kuwano, are 6 mm in outer diameter and 4 mm in inner diameter, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). It is noted that the Specification, [0019] and [0029], does not disclose any criticality for the claimed limitations being limited to 6 mm in outer diameter and 4 mm in inner diameter.
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 ALYSSA N BRANDLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-4280. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:30am-5:00pm.
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/ALYSSA N BRANDLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 3715
/DMITRY SUHOL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3715