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
Newly submitted claims 21-35 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons:
Applicant elected Invention III without traverse which includes claims 18-21 and canceled Inventions I and II which included claims 1-11, and 12-17. Invention III is drawn to the determination of the time of day and the position of the stars relative to a planet which belonged in G04B 47/00 {Time-pieces combined with other articles which do not interfere with the running or the time-keeping of the time-piece} and would require a text search in the elements that are in specific to the Invention. Claims 21-35 appear to be classified in G09B 27/00 {Celestial Globes} as they are drawn to a celestial display that includes divots that are placed in a particular way around the circular board, as well as graphical markings that contains celestial information and would require at least a search in the same classification as Invention II as well as a text search specific to the claimed invention. Applicant elected Invention III without traverse; therefore, claims 21-35 are withdrawn as they appear to be categorized with Invention II.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
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 18-20 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 18 recites “the first star position indicator are offset from a rotation axis of the board” in lines 14-15 of the claim. It is unclear how the indicator is offset from the rotational axis of the board with respect to the system. Claims 19-20 depend from claim 18 and are therefore rejected to on the same grounds.
Claim 18 recites “a celestial display system, comprising: a celestial display, comprising: a board, comprising: a first side, comprising: a first plurality of position indicators arranged on the first side, the first plurality of position indicators comprising” in lines 1-6 of the claim. It is unclear which portion of the claim is reciting purpose or intended use because of the nested preambles/comprises found within the claim. See MPEP 2111.02. Claims 19-20 depend from claim 18 and are therefore rejected to on the same grounds.
Contingent Limitations
Claim 19 contains a conditional limitation:
Claim 19: “are configured to retain one or more of the plurality of object when the board is horizontally positioned.”
With respect to system (or apparatus) claims, the broadest reasonable interpretation of a system (or apparatus or product) claim having structure that performs a function, which only needs to occur if a condition precedent is met, only requires structure for performing the function should the condition occur. See MPEP 2111.04, II. Accordingly, a structure capable of performing limitation (1) as noted above, is sufficient to disclose this limitation. See MPEP 2114. A claim containing a "recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus" if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987).
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 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jen-Hu Wang (US5450674A; hereinafter Wang).
Regarding claim 18, Wang discloses a celestial display system, comprising: a celestial display, comprising: a board (“The fixed latitude observation chart (FIGS. 10 and 11) is made of transparent plastic board” (recited in at least: Wang, [column 4, lines 54-55])), comprising: a first side and a second side opposite to the first side (“A sliding indicator 50 is thus placed on the value of this phase angle and the other sliding indicator 50 slides along the longitudinal retrograde wire 48, following the other section of the wire 48 to the other side of the astrolabe if necessary, to the position of the ecliptic, which is the position of the planet or the moon in the celestial sphere to be determined. A sliding indicator 50 is thus placed on the value of this phase angle and the other sliding indicator 50 slides along the longitudinal retrograde wire 48, following the other section of the wire 48 to the other side of the astrolabe, if necessary, to the position of the ecliptic, which is the position of the planet or the moon in the celestial sphere to be determined (recited in at least: Wang [column 5, lines 27-34])). The Examiner considered the additional elements and the additional elements are nonfunctional descriptive material. The relationship between the substrate and the printed matter are similar to the examples found in the MPEP and the printed matter does not show a functional relationship between what is printed and the substrate. See MPEP 2111.05.
Claims 19 and 20 only contain additional non-functional descriptive material and as such the additional limitations recited in the claims do not distinguish over the prior art.
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.
Claims 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Jun Sang Sung (KR20110090355A; hereinafter Sung).
Regarding claim 18, Wang discloses a celestial display system, comprising: a celestial display, comprising: a board (“The fixed latitude observation chart (FIGS. 10 and 11) is made of transparent plastic board” (recited in at least: Wang, [column 4, lines 54-55])), comprising: a first side, comprising: a first plurality of position indicators arranged on the first side, the first plurality of position indicators comprising a first star position indicator; and
(“The coordinates of the celestial sphere follow the curvature of the sphere but can be planarized into the coordinates of the star atlas. In fact, the coordinates (longitude and latitude) of the earth are interrelated with the coordinates (right ascension and declination) of the celestial sphere. The terrestrial equator is extended to the celestial equator; the terrestrial North and South Poles are extended to the celestial north and south pole” (recited in at least: Wang [column 3, lines 41-50])): a first planet position indicator representing a planet that orbits a star represented by the first star position indicator, wherein the first planet position indicator and the first star position indicator are arranged along a bisector line of the first side of the board, wherein the first planet position indicator and the first star position indicator are offset from a rotation axis of the board on opposite sides of the rotation axis of the board, wherein: rotational positions of the board about the rotation axis are each associated with a respective time of day relative to the planet, and for each rotational position of the board, the first star position indicator and the first planet position indicator indicate a position of the star relative to an observer on the planet at the respective time of day (“The indications of the northern and southern faces of the planetary indicating ring (FIGS. 8 and 9) correspond to each other in a fixed relationship. Each face of a planetary indicating ring can be fitted externally on the star atlas (FIGS. 3 and 4) by means of folding lobes 42. The planetary indicating rings and the star atlas are thus concentric. Time graduation 26 is marked along the circumference of the planetary indicating rings. The position of the sun is indicated by a solar symbol 28 at the position of noon time on the time graduation. Above the time graduation, there are indications of dates in the lunar calendar, symbols representing different phases of the moon 30, synodic 32, Mars 36 and Saturn 40, and the aberrations 29 of conjunctions in terms of the planetary periods of rotation. The positions of the numerals also indicates the numbers of days after the planetary conjunctions required to obtain the indicated phase angles” (recited in at least: Wang [column 4, lines 37-53])).
However, Wang doesn’t explicitly disclose a second side opposite the first side, the second side comprising: a second plurality of position indicators arranged on the second side of the board, the second plurality of position indicators comprising: a second planet position indicator representing a pole of the planet that orbits the star; and a plurality of ecliptic position indicators arranged around the second planet position indicator, wherein each of the plurality of ecliptic position indicators is associated with a respective ecliptic position of the star relative to the observer on the planet. Sung teaches a second side opposite the first side, the second side comprising: a second plurality of position indicators arranged on the second side of the board, the second plurality of position indicators comprising (“Although the plate is a flat shape, it is possible to inquire and learn while feeling the stereoscopic feeling and seeing and manipulating it directly. In addition, according to the present invention, since the circular motion plate of the moon and the planet of the present invention has a flat shape, it is easy to carry because it is small in volume and can be moved easily, In addition, according to the present invention, the moon and planetary circles of the present invention can be applied to the human being and the most familiar and interested moon and planets” (recited in at least: Sung paragraph [0034])): a second planet position indicator representing a pole of the planet that orbits the star; and a plurality of ecliptic position indicators arranged around the second planet position indicator, wherein each of the plurality of ecliptic position indicators is associated with a respective ecliptic position of the star relative to the observer on the planet (“1 is a plan view of a planet-shaped celestial background plate for simulating the appearance time, the celestial viewpoint, and the observation time according to the phase of a moon and a planet in the present invention. Fig. Figure 3 is a plan view of a transparent moon swing plate having a planetary orbital around the sun and an orbit and a moon shape around the earth, 5 is a planar transparent outer circumferential rotary plate provided with an earth and an outward shape that revolve around the sun” (recited in at least: Sung paragraph [0035])).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have added a second side opposite to the first side as taught by Sung into the celestial display of Wang for fully displaying a celestial system to match what is in the solar system and to show how the planets have their own orbits and viewpoints of the stars.
Regarding claim 19, Wang in view of Sung teach the claimed matter as recited above, and Sung further teaches a plurality of objects representing the planet and the star, wherein at least some of the first plurality of position indicators and at least some of the second plurality of position indicators are configured to retain one or more of the plurality of objects when the board is horizontally positioned (“Fig. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an inner circumferential moving plate which is rotatable around a central portion of a horizontal plane in FIG. 4 with an engagement portion sequentially in engagement with the engagement hole in FIG. 2, and FIG. 2 is fixedly attached to an edge around the lower half of FIG. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the ground surface of Fig. 1, which is rotatable about the center of the horizontal plane in Fig. 1, with a globe shape and an engaging portion sequentially engaging with the engaging hole in Fig. 2, and Fig. 2 is fixedly attached to the periphery of the lower half of Fig. Figure 10 is a plan view of the outer circumferential center of the plane of Figure 1 in Figure 1, And is a planetary circular movement plate in which Fig. 2 is fixedly attached to the periphery around the lower half” (recited in at least: Sung paragraph [0035])).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Sung as applied to claim 18-19 above, and further in view of Gangming Yan (WO2005111743A1; hereinafter Yan).
Regarding claim 20, Wang in view of Sung teach the claimed matter as recited above; however, they do not explicitly teach one or more rings configured for placement on the first or the second side of the board to retain of one or more of the plurality of objects at positions that omit a position indicator of the first plurality of position indicators or the second plurality of position indicators. Yan teaches one or more rings configured for placement on the first or the second side of the board to retain of one or more of the plurality of objects at positions that omit a position indicator of the first plurality of position indicators or the second plurality of position indicators (“The concentric structure consists of an Earth hour marker ring, a minute and second marker ring, a Mars hour marker ring, and a Mars minute and second marker ring on the outer circumference of the planetary orbit of the chronometer mechanism; the lunar phase and lunar calendar are located on the outer side of the dial; and all the hands' axes coincide at the center” (recited in at least: Yan paragraph [0013])).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have added the one or more rings for placement on a side of a board for a celestial display as taught by Yan into the celestial display of Wang for the added benefit of accurately portraying the ringed cycle of orbits in their respected position around the board.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SELWA A ALSOMAIRY whose telephone number is (703)756-5323. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30AM to 5PM EST.
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/SELWA A ALSOMAIRY/Examiner, Art Unit 3715
/Jay Trent Liddle/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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