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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgement is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1149 filed 02/29/2024. This IDS has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1-3, 10, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park (KR 20240006274; see attached machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a balance (100) (¶ [0005]) comprising a central portion (110) (¶ [0034]), a lever (120) pivotably coupled to the central portion (110) about a fulcrum (H11) centered along a length of the lever (120), the lever (120) having opposing distal ends (182) thereof (¶ [0035]) and a display (140) positioned on a front surface of the central portion (110) (¶ [0037]), wherein the display (140) is configured to change between a greater-than sign (figure 4), an equals sign (figure 3), and a less-than sign (figure 2) in correlation with different orientations of the lever (120) such that the display (140) is operable to show a symbolic relationship between respective loads positioned at the respective opposing distal ends (182) of the lever (120) (¶¶ [0037]-[0039]).
Regarding claim 2, Park discloses the display (140) is a mechanical display that includes two linear members (141, 142) rotatably linked by an internal mechanism (243) to rotate in opposite directions in response to movement of the lever (120) about the fulcrum (H11) (see figure 11, ¶¶ [0041], [0057]).
Regarding claim 3, Park discloses the internal mechanism (243) includes a gear train (243a, 243b) (¶ [0059]).
Regarding claim 10, Park discloses in figure 1 removable containers (130) with upstanding walls at the respective opposing distal ends (182) of the lever (120) (see figure 1, linkage members connecting containers 130 with lever 120).
Regarding claim 13, Park discloses a balance (100) (¶ [0005]) comprising a mechanical display (140) including first (141) and second (142) members movably positioned on a front (110) of the balance (100) (¶ [0037]), and a gear train (243) configured to drive the first (141) and second (142) members of the mechanical display (140) in response to movement of a pivotable lever (120) (¶ [0059]), wherein the first (141) and second (142) members are fixed to respective gears (243a, 243b) of the gear train (243) that are linked to rotate in equal, opposite amounts to change the mechanical display (140) between a greater than sign (figure 4), an equals sign (figure 3), and a less-than sign (figure 2) (¶¶ [0039], [0057]).
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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Park (KR 20220033386; hereinafter “Park 2022”, see attached machine translation).
Regarding claim 11, Park discloses all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Park is silent to a face of a character.
In the same field of endeavor, Park 2022 teaches in at least figure 2 an education balance wherein the central portion includes a base (110) and a pedestal (200) extending upwardly from the base (110), and the pedestal (200) is shaped to form a face of a character (¶ [0033]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to embody Park’s pedestal as a shape which forms a face of a character as taught by Park 2022 for the purpose of suiting the age of the learner in order to stimulate the learner's interest (¶ [0042]).
Claims 12 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Roesch (USPN 12,573,316).
Regarding claim 12, Park discloses a learning balance activity set comprising: the balance of claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above) and a plurality of same-weight objects (151, 152) (¶¶[0043]-[0044]).
Park is silent to a plurality of math activity cards.
In the same field of endeavor, Roesch teaches a learning balance activity set (col. 2, lines 6-26) including a plurality of math activity cards (see figure 1A, 1B, and 10A-10C, col. 3, lines 4-58).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to include math activity cards as taught by Roesch in Park’s educational balance kit for the purpose of allowing learners to explore mathematical and algebraic relationships (col. 2, lines 17-26).
Regarding claim 20, Park discloses a learning balance activity set comprising: the balance of claim 13 (see rejection of claim 13 above) and a plurality of same-weight objects (151, 152) (¶¶[0043]-[0044]).
Park is silent to a plurality of math activity cards.
In the same field of endeavor, Roesch teaches a learning balance activity set (col. 2, lines 6-26) including a plurality of math activity cards (see figure 1A, 1B, and 10A-10C, col. 3, lines 4-58).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to include math activity cards as taught by Roesch in Park’s educational balance kit for the purpose of allowing learners to explore mathematical and algebraic relationships (col. 2, lines 17-26).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 and 14-19 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:
Regarding claim 4, none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses or renders obvious a balance wherein the gear train includes a third gear driven by the second gear, and a fourth gear driven by the third gear in combination with the remaining claim limitations.
Claims 5-8 would be allowable based on their dependence on claim 4.
Regarding claim 14, none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses or renders obvious a balance as claimed wherein the gear train includes a third gear driven by the second gear, and a fourth gear driven by the third gear in combination with the remaining claim limitations.
Claims 15-18 would be allowable based on their dependence on claim 14.
Examiner notes Park’s gear train is a simple two gear system that does not rely on three or more gears to translate the lever system into an animation. The instant specification describes the purpose and function of more a complicated gear configuration in ¶ [0023] of the instant PGPub.
Regarding claim 9, none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses or renders obvious a balance as claimed wherein a mechanical connection between the lever and the internal mechanism is an intermittent connection having a connected central range of motion and disconnected distal ranges of motion in combination with the remaining claim limitations.
Regarding claim 19, none of the prior art either alone or in combination discloses or renders obvious a balance as claimed wherein a mechanical connection between the lever and the gear train is an intermittent connection having a connected central range of motion and disconnected distal ranges of motion in combination with the remaining claim limitations.
This mechanical connection is explained in the instant specification in ¶ [0024] of the instant specification and serves the purpose of limiting the range of motion of the fulcrum.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
USPN 3,000,114 discloses a balance with two linear indicators, one of which moves with the beam to change the angle between the indicators, resulting in inequality signs being shown in off-balance conditions and equal sign being shown in an equality condition.
USPN 6,200,140 discloses a balance with two separate beans each connected to a rotation pinion which allows the beams to display as inequality indicators when the beams are off-balance or an equal sign when the beams are in balance.
The remaining documents cited represent the general state of the art of educational balances.
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/NATALIE HULS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855