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 Amendment
The amendment filed December 2nd, 2025 has been entered. Claims 1-7 remain pending in the application. Claims 1-4 are currently amended. Claims 5-7 are newly added. Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome the objections to the claims and the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed September 16th, 2025.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, Ln. 22-24, in the limitation “a first magnetic plate and a second magnetic plate that each have a ring shape and are disposed (i) on both sides of the magnet 71 in the axial direction and (ii) outside of the cylindrical member in the radial direction with a gap therebetween” it is unclear which components the gap is “therebetween,” but it appears that this gap is in between the magnetic plates and the cylindrical member. For clarity, Examiner suggests “(ii) outside of the cylindrical member in the radial direction with a gap therebetween” should read --(ii) outside of the cylindrical member in the radial direction with a gap between the cylindrical member and the first and second magnetic plates--
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuda (Espacenet English translation of JP 2021158930A and Figures of corresponding Foreign Patent Literature provided with Information Disclosure Statement) in view of Obara ‘076 (JP 5249076 B2) and Ohara ‘930 (US 2015/0122930).
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Figure 1. Annotated Figure 2 from Matsuda
Regarding Claim 1, Matsuda, Figures 1-3 and annotated Figure 1 above, teaches a fishing reel comprising:
a rotor 3;
drive shaft cylinder 8 that is rotated by a handle operation and rotates the rotor 3 (See Matsuda, Para. 0024, Ln. 1-5);
a reverse rotation prevention device 40 that is accommodated in a body front portion 1C of a reel body 1A and prevents reverse rotation (See Matsuda, Para. 0032, Ln. 1-3) of the drive shaft cylinder 8 (See Matsuda, Para. 0024, Ln. 1-5); and
a magnetic fluid seal mechanism 70 disposed in front of the reverse rotation prevention device 40 in an axial direction,
wherein the reverse rotation prevention device 40 comprises:
an inner ring 41 disposed outside the drive shaft cylinder 8 in a radial direction;
an outer ring 42 disposed outside the inner ring 41 in the radial direction; and
a plurality of rollers 43 disposed between the inner ring 41 and the outer ring 42 in the radial direction, and
the magnetic fluid seal mechanism 70 comprises:
a cylindrical member 41a that is a magnetic body and is disposed outside the drive shaft cylinder 8 in the radial direction and in front of the inner ring 41 in the axial direction, and a portion 31 of the rotor 3 is positioned between the drive shaft cylinder 8 and the cylindrical member 41a in the radial direction;
a ring-shaped (See Matsuda, Para. 0030, Ln. 3) magnet 71 disposed on an outer circumferential side of the cylindrical member 41a;
a first magnetic plate 72 and a second magnetic plate 73 that each have a ring shape and are disposed (i) on both sides of the magnet 71 in the axial direction (See Matsuda, Para. 0030, Ln. 3-6), and (ii) outside of the cylindrical member 41a in the radial direction with a gap 70a therebetween; and
a magnetic fluid (magnetic fluid; See Matsuda, Para. 0030, Ln. 6-7) that is disposed in the gap 70a and is held by a magnetic force (force generated by surrounding magnetic components 71, 72, 73, and 41a; See Matsuda, Para. 0030, Ln. 1-8),
Matsuda teaches all the elements of the fishing reel except for a cylindrical intermediate member.
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Figure 2. Annotated Figure 8 from Obara '076
However, Obara ‘076, Figures 7-8 and annotated Figure 2 above, teaches a cylindrical intermediate member 175 that is disposed between the inner ring 177 and the cylindrical member 173’ in the axial direction.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Matsuda with a cylindrical intermediate member, as taught by Obara ‘076, for the purpose of ensuring consistent contact and axial force transfer between components (i.e., a drag mechanism adjustment operating part can be located near the outside of the reel while still being able to modulate the braking force generated by a component which is not in direct contact with the adjustment operating part) (See Obara ‘076, Para. 0047, Ln. 3-8).
Although Obara ‘076 is silent on the magnetic properties of the cylindrical intermediate member, Ohara ‘930 teaches that “the parts radially or axially adjacent to the bearing should preferably be made of a nonmagnetic material” (See Ohara ‘930, Para. 0061, Ln. 8-11). Thus, implying the use of a cylindrical intermediate member that is a non-magnetic body.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Matsuda, Obara ‘076, and Ohara ‘930 to provide a fishing reel with a non-magnetic cylindrical intermediate member for the purpose of securing sealing quality of the magnetic fluid seal (i.e. preventing the magnetic field of the magnetic fluid from being modified by the cylindrical intermediate member which is in close proximity to the magnetic fluid) (See Ohara ‘930, Para. 0061, Ln. 1-14).
Regarding Claim 2, Matsuda in view of Obara ‘076 and Ohara ‘930 are advanced above.
Obara ‘076 further teaches wherein the cylindrical intermediate member 175 is disposed between the reverse rotation prevention device 110 and the magnetic fluid seal mechanism 200 in the axial direction (See Obara ‘076, Fig. 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Matsuda with a cylindrical intermediate member disposed between the reverse rotation prevention device and the magnetic fluid seal mechanism, as taught by Obara ‘076, for the purpose of ensuring consistent contact and axial force transfer between components (i.e., a drag mechanism adjustment operating part can be located near the outside of the reel while still being able to modulate the braking force generated by a component which is not in direct contact with the adjustment operating part) (See Obara ‘076, Para. 0047, Ln. 3-8).
Regarding Claim 3, Matsuda in view of Obara ‘076 and Ohara ‘930 are advanced above.
Ohara ‘930 further teaches wherein the cylindrical intermediate member is formed of metal (“the parts radially or axially adjacent to the bearing … should preferably be made of … aluminum, austenite-based stainless steel, copper alloy”; See Ohara ‘930, Para. 0061, Ln. 8-12).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Matsuda, Obara ‘076, and Ohara ‘930 to provide a fishing reel with a cylindrical intermediate member formed of metal, as taught by Ohara ‘930, for the purpose of securing sealing quality of the magnetic fluid seal (i.e. preventing the magnetic field of the magnetic fluid from being modified by the cylindrical intermediate member which is in close proximity to the magnetic fluid) (See Ohara ‘930, Para. 0061, Ln. 1-14).
Regarding Claim 4, Matsuda in view of Obara ‘076 and Ohara ‘930 are advanced above.
Ohara ‘930 further teaches wherein the cylindrical intermediate member is formed of resin (“the parts radially or axially adjacent to the bearing … should preferably be made of … resin”; See Ohara ‘930, Para. 0061, Ln. 8-12).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Matsuda, Obara ‘076, and Ohara ‘930 to provide a fishing reel with a cylindrical intermediate member formed of resin, as taught by Ohara ‘930, for the purpose of securing sealing quality of the magnetic fluid seal (i.e. preventing the magnetic field of the magnetic fluid from being modified by the cylindrical intermediate member which is in close proximity to the magnetic fluid) (See Ohara ‘930, Para. 0061, Ln. 1-14).
Regarding Claim 5, Matsuda in view of Obara ‘076 and Ohara ‘930 are advanced above.
Matsuda further teaches wherein the portion 31 of the rotor 3 contacts an outer circumferential surface 8c of the drive shaft cylinder 8 and an inner circumferential surface 41b of the cylindrical member 41a (See Matsuda, Fig. 3).
Regarding Claim 6, Matsuda in view of Obara ‘076 and Ohara ‘930 are advanced above.
Obara ‘076 further teaches wherein the cylindrical intermediate member 175 contacts an axially rearward facing surface 173a of the cylindrical member 173’ (See Figure 2 above).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Matsuda with a cylindrical intermediate member which contacts an axially rearward facing surface of the cylindrical member, as taught by Obara ‘076, for the purpose of ensuring consistent contact and axial force transfer between components (i.e., a drag mechanism adjustment operating part can be located near the outside of the reel while still being able to modulate the braking force generated by a component which is not in direct contact with the adjustment operating part) (See Obara ‘076, Para. 0047, Ln. 3-8).
Regarding Claim 7, Matsuda in view of Obara ‘076 and Ohara ‘930 are advanced above.
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Figure 3. Annotated Figure 1 from Matsuda
Matsuda further teaches wherein the rotor 3 further includes (i) a rotor extension portion 32a that extends radially outward from the portion 31 of the rotor 3 that is positioned between the drive shaft cylinder 8 and the cylindrical member 41a, and (ii) and a rotor cylinder portion 32b that extends rearward in the axial direction from an outer circumference of the rotor extension portion 32a, the rotor cylinder portion 32b having a cylindrical shape (See Figure 3 above; See Matsuda, Para. 0040, Ln. 2-5).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, see Pg. 5-7, filed December 2nd, 2025, have been fully considered.
Regarding the objections to the Claims, Applicant has submitted acceptable amendments. Therefore, the objections have been withdrawn. However, a new objection is raised based on unclear sentence structure.
Regarding the rejection of Claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 103, Applicant has amended the claim. The amendments are sufficient to overcome the previously set forth rejection. Therefore, this rejection has been withdrawn. However, a new ground of rejection has been set forth under 35 U.S.C. 103 based on the amended claim.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the embodiment in Matsuda originally applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Matsuda in view of Obara ‘076 and Ohara ‘930 are utilized in the current rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 103 (See Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 above).
Regarding the rejections of Claims 2-4, the claims are dependents of rejected claim 1 and Applicant has provided no additional arguments. Therefore, these claims are also rejected based on the new ground of rejection presented above.
Regarding newly added Claim 5-7, the claims are dependents of rejected claim 1 and Applicant has provided no additional arguments. Additionally, rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been made for additional limitations outlined in claims 5-7.
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.
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/T.D.J./Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/ANNA M MOMPER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3619