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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I to claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 3/11/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 1, 4, and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pat. 11045723 to Lee et al (Lee) in view of US Pub. 20160361641 to Koizumi et al (Koizumi) and US Pat. 10272325 to Nevarez.
Claim 1. Lee discloses a video switching gamepad, comprising
a housing (1), wherein a sliding chute (2) that penetrates through an upper end and a lower end is arranged on a front surface of the housing (1) (Fig. 18A, element 1880, the casing is composed of a front surface part that connects to the upper and lower ends of the casing);
a tail end of the sliding chute (2) is provided with a stop body (6) (Fig. 18A, element 1880, an end piece with a slot to stop a gaming device upon insertion into the casing);
the stop body (6) directly faces a slide-in end of the sliding chute (2) (Fig. 18A, element 1880, the end piece slot is oriented to face the front surface part);
the housing (1) is further provided with two groups of control parts (4), and the two groups of control parts (4) are arranged separately on a tabletop connected to two sides of the sliding chute (2) (Fig. 18A, elements 1802, 1804); and
clamping structures are oppositely arranged on the two sides of the sliding chute (2) (Fig. 18B, element 1882, col. 26 line 60 to col. 27 line 40 “coupling member”).
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However, Lee fails to explicitly disclose:
the stop body (6) is provided with a charging interface (5) which is configured to be connected to a console;
the video switching gamepad further comprises a supporting mechanism (8) arranged on a back surface of the housing (1); and
the video switching gamepad further comprises a video switching module which is arranged in the housing (1) and is able to project, when a user plays a game, a picture displayed on a screen of the console to another screen for displaying, output USB data and freely switch the picture back to the screen of the console.
Koizumi teaches the stop body (6) is provided with a charging interface (5) which is configured to be connected to a console (Figs. 9-10, ¶¶208, 288 “cradle 5 has a function of charging the information processing device 1 placed therein and a function as a hub device (specifically, a USB hub)”); and
the video switching gamepad further comprises a video switching module which is arranged in the housing (1) and is able to project, when a user plays a game, a picture displayed on a screen of the console to another screen for displaying, output USB data (Fig. 3, element 27, ¶¶137, 212 “USB connector”) and freely switch the picture back to the screen of the console (Figs. 18, 19a-e, 24, ¶¶131, 340, 432). The device of Lee would have motivation to use the teachings of Koizumi in order to add flexibility to device users such as providing multiple ways to both recharge the batteries of video gaming components and view video game images.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to reconfigure the device of Lee with the teachings of Koizumi in order to provide additional charging capabilities and gameplay viewing options of using the portable device display and/or an external display such as a television in doing so would provide for a diverse gaming system to provide a better gaming experience for users.
Nevarez teaches a supporting mechanism (8) arranged on a back surface of the housing (1) (Figs. 3-4, elements 46). The device of Lee would have motivation to use the teachings of Nevarez in order to provide additional support for holding a portable gaming device in place upon insertion in the casing.
It would have been further obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to reconfigure the device of Lee with the teachings of Nevarez in order to limit movement of the portable game device and ensure the portable game device does not fall out of the casing during gameplay in doing so would assist in providing an enjoyable gaming experience for users.
Claim 4. Lee in view of Nevarez teaches wherein a reinforcing rib (7) is arranged at a position of the sliding chute (2) connected to the stop body (6) (see Nevarez Figs. 3-4, elements 46, compose of parts that help reinforce the portable gaming device).
Claim 5. Lee discloses wherein the clamping structures comprise side holes arranged on opposite sides of the sliding chute (2) and two clamping blocks (14) respectively fixed at the two side holes (Figs. 18B, 19A, element 1882, col. 27 line 19 to col. 30 line 25).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 and 6 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAMON J PIERCE whose telephone number is (571)270-1997. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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/DAMON J PIERCE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715