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 .
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Umezawa (JP2014060955A).
Regarding claims 1-2 and 5, Umezawa discloses a fishing reel, comprising: a spool (5A; Figure 1) configured to cast a fishing line (S) in a first direction (right side; Figure 3 and 6); a spool shaft (5) supported by a reel body (1) so as to be rotatable and configured to rotate integrally with the spool (5A); a clutch mechanism (20) configured to switch between a transmitting state (Figure 3) in which winding power is transmitted to the spool and a dis-transmitting state (Figure 4) in which winding power is not transmitted to the spool (5A); a clutch operating unit (21) configured to operate the clutch mechanism (20), provided in a second direction (left side; Figure 3 and 6) that is opposite of the first direction with respect to the spool shaft (5); a shift mechanism (50) being in a first mode while the clutch mechanism (20) is in the transmitting state (Figure 3), and configured to shift to a second mode that is different from the first mode while the clutch mechanism (20) is in the dis-transmitting state (Figure 4); and a detection unit (94, 90; Figure 8) provided in the first direction with respect to the spool shaft (5) and configured to detect the mode of the shift mechanism (50; page 7, ¶7 – page 9, ¶4, the shift mechanism 50 is interlocked with the clutch mechanism 20);
wherein the shift mechanism (50) includes a line guide (60) configured to assume a winding position to guide the fishing line (S) to the spool (5A) while in the first mode, and configured to assume a releasing position to release the fishing line (S) from the spool (5A) while in the second mode, and the detection unit (94, 90) is configured to detect the position of the line guide (60; page 7, ¶7 – page 9, ¶4, line guide 60 is switched and rotated in conjunction with the clutch mechanism 20 via the detection device 94 and drive motor 81, wherein the position of the line guide 60 is indirectly detected by predetermined controls), as the detection of the mode of the shift mechanism (50);
wherein the detection unit (94, 90) is a magnetic sensor (94a, 94b; page 7, ¶7) configured to detect the first mode or the second mode of the shift mechanism (50) by magnetism.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 3 would be allowable over the prior art of record because the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest the entire combination of elements set forth including for disclosing wherein the detection unit configured to detect at least one of the first swing position or the second swing position of the guide part as the detection of the position of the line guide.
Umezawa teaches wherein the line guide (60) includes a worm shaft (51; Figure 10) having a spiral groove (51a) on an outer periphery, a cylindrical body (55) provided on the outer periphery of the worm shaft (51), the cylindrical body (55) having an elongated hole (55a) which opens along an axial direction of the worm shaft (51), and exposes a part of the spiral groove (51a), a slider (61; Figure 6) configured to engage the spiral groove (51a) via the hole (55a) and slide along the hole (55a) as the worm shaft (51) rotates, and a guide part (60A) configured to guide the fishing line (S), wherein the guide part (60A) includes a first guide portion (67; Figure 9) configured to slide together with the slider (61) and having a first width in the axial direction of the spool shaft (5), and a second guide portion (68) having a second width in the axial direction of the spool shaft (5), the second width being wider than the first width, wherein the guide part (60A) is positioned at a first swing position on a side in the first direction about the worm shaft (51) so as to guide the fishing line (S) to the second guide portion (68) when in the releasing position (Figure 7), and wherein the guide part (60A) is positioned at a second swing position on a side in the second direction about the worm shaft (51) so as to guide the fishing line (S) to the first guide portion (67) when in the winding position (Figure 6), but fails to teach wherein the detection unit configured to detect at least one of the first swing position or the second swing position of the guide part as the detection of the position of the line guide, since the detection device of Umezawa is not positioned or configured in such a way to detect a rotation of the guide part to help determine the first or second swing position of the guide part.
Claim 4 would be allowable because it is a dependent of claim 3.
Claim 6 would be allowable over the prior art of record because the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest the entire combination of elements set forth including for disclosing wherein the detection unit is configured to detect a rotational position of a cylindrical body configured to rotate around a worm shaft configured to reciprocate a line guide.
Umezawa teaches the above fishing reel and detection unit, but fails to teach wherein the detection unit is configured to detect a rotational position of a cylindrical body configured to rotate around a worm shaft configured to reciprocate a line guide. Yasuda (US11395480B2) teaches a similar fishing reel, is the closest prior art, and further teaches wherein the detection unit (15; Figure 9) is configured to detect an oscillating position of a cylindrical body (14) configured to reciprocate a line guide, but fails to teach wherein the detection unit is configured to detect a rotational position of a cylindrical body configured to rotate around a worm shaft configured to reciprocate a line guide.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/02/2026 with respect to claim 1 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the last four lines of page 5, in page 6, and in the first four lines of page 7, the applicant argued that the disclosure of Umezawa fails to teach a shift mechanism being in a first mode while the clutch mechanism is in the transmitting state, and configured to shift to a second mode that is different from the first mode while the clutch mechanism is in the dis-transmitting state and a detection unit provided in a first direction with respect to a spool shaft and configured to detect the mode of the shift mechanism since the detection device of Umezawa detects whether the clutch mechanism is ON/OFF and does not detect the mode of the shift mechanism.
The examiner construed that the disclosure of Umezawa teaches a shift mechanism 50 that includes a first mode when the clutch is in a releasing transmitting state (Figure 3) and shifts to a second mode when the clutch is in a winding dis-transmitting state (Figure 4) and the detection unit 94,90 includes a magnet sensor that transmits a detection signal to the control unit to detect between the two modes. Thus, contradicting to applicant’s assertions, such argument does not overcome the prior art.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/H.S./Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/TIMOTHY D COLLINS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3644
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