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 .
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 5-6 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 5 discloses the limitation of the supporting parts supporting “the side, back to the button, of the physical clicker” which is unclear since it is unknown what parts of the physical clicker are actually being supported since two sides of the sounding part are disclosed but it is unclear what “the side” references and it is also unclear how a back of the button is intended to factor into the supporting and as such the scope of the claim is unascertainable.
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(s) 1-3 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over King (2008/0072842), Gunter (GB2575507A) and Bush (4785433). King discloses a hand-held pet trainer having a shell (11) and a sounding assembly which includes a button (15) and a physical clicker in the form of a metal strip (paragraphs 32-33). The button extends out of the shell through a hole (12) in an upper surface of the shell above the physical clicker positioned in the shell to form a sounding hole with the physical clicker having a top end connected to the button for actuation by a triggering part (39) on a bottom of the button being pressed down onto the physical clicker and a bottom end connected to the shell by means of supporting parts (41-42) that support side ends of the physical clicker (Figs. 1 & 3, paragraphs 38-39). King discloses the basic inventive concept, with the exception of the pet trainer further including a display screen, a timing button, a circuit board and a counting switch. Gunter discloses a hand-held pet trainer with a shell (10) that has positioned therein an alert sounding assembly that includes a clicker and further includes a circuit board (6), a counting switch configured to count triggering of the sounding assembly and a timer which are all electrically connected to each other and with a battery (Fig. 2, page 4 lines 26-31, page 5 lines 18-24, page 6 lines 21-33, page 7 lines 1-2, page 8 line 33 – page 9 line 26, page 12 lines 4-10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art from the teaching of Gunter to include a circuit board, counting switch, battery and timer to the pet trainer of King for the predictable result of providing enhanced functionality and utility to the device by enabling a wider variety of training options since training can be adapted over time. Bush discloses a pet trainer (abstract) that can be held in the hand that further includes a shell with a display screen (1) and a timing button (8) for a timer (10) located on the shell that electrically connects with a controller (Fig. 1A & 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art from the teaching of Bush to include a timing button and a display screen to the pet trainer of King and Gunter for the predictable result of providing enhanced functionality and utility by enabling a user more options to control functions and be able to review the results.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over King, Gunter and Bush as applied above and further in view of Qiu (2022/0369597). King, Gunter and Bush disclose the basic inventive concept with the exception of the triggering part having an end sleeved with a silica gel sleeve. Qiu discloses a device wherein silica gel is sleeved over components for protection (paragraph 20). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a silica gel sleeve in the pet trainer of King, Gunter and Bush for the predictable result of protecting components.
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over King, Gunter and Bush as applied above for claim 2 and further in view of Molenaar (3902272). King, Gunter and Bush disclose the basic inventive concept with the exception of the physical clicker having a concave middle portion sounding part. Molenaar discloses a physical clicker with a concave sounding part (24) located at an intermediate position thereon (Figs. 2 & 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the physical clicker of King, Gunter and Bush to include a concave sounding part for the predictable result of configuring and shaping the physical clicker in a manner to enhance sound production (column 2 lines 38-53).
Claim(s) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over King, Gunter and Bush as applied for claim 1 above and further in view of Stephens (10058089). King, Gunter and Bush disclose the basic inventive concept with the exception of having a soft belt attached to a lower side of the shell to form a belt ring and the shell having first and second angled shells with ends of the soft belt connected to each shell. Stephens discloses a hand held sound generator having an L-shaped shell to define first and second angled shell portions and a soft belt attached at first and second locations to a lower surface of the shell capable of receiving fingers of a user (Figs. 1-3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to shape the shell of King, Gunter and Bush so as to have angled shell portions and to include a soft belt on the lower side of the shell as taught by Stephens for the predictable result of shaping and configuring the device to be more easily and securely retained in the hand of a user providing enhanced functionality. In regard to the belt having an end connected to each of the angled shell portions, the examiner notes that such a modification would have involved a mere rearrangement of parts and a rearrangement of parts has been held to be obvious absent a new or unexpected result being produced. See In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over King, Gunter and Bush as applied for claim 9 above and further in view of Binder (2012/0244969). King, Gunter and Bush disclose the basic inventive concept, with the exception of including a charging interface on the shell that is electrically connected with the circuit board. Binder discloses an electronic device with a battery and a circuit board within a shell that further includes a charging interface (58) electrically connected with the circuit board (47) for recharging the battery (Figs. 5a-b, paragraph 102). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the trainer of King, Gunter and Bush to be rechargeable using a charging interface for the predictable result of providing enhanced utility by enabling the battery to be recharged without replacement.
Conclusion
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/A.M.H/Examiner, Art Unit 3711 /EUGENE L KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3711