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 .
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) 1-7, & 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Strongin et al 4,070,790 in view of Wesley 2006/0141900.
Strongin shows a doll head, with an exterior scalp surface, which includes a pattern with box shapes 24, 30 separated by un-patterned scalp 16, 18; and a connector 12 fixed in the box shapes, to attach hair. The hair may be of different styles such as 48 or 50 (figure 1), but it is not clear if the hair may be braided. A braided hair piece would increase the play value. For example, Wesley shows that a doll may have braided hair. This braided hair would be an obvious addition to the doll of Strongin.
With regard to claim 3, the un-patterned scalp may include hair 60, but excluding this hair would be considered an obvious variation to display different hair styles.
With regard to claim 4, the box shapes are visible as "markings".
Claims 8, 9, 11, & 12 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN A RICCI whose telephone number is (571)272-4429. The examiner can normally be reached Mon to Fri.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Weiss can be reached at 571-270-1775. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov.
Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JOHN A RICCI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711