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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on October 16, 2025 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The replacement drawings filed July 23, 2024 are accepted.
Abstract
The Abstract filed May 20, 2024 is accepted.
Specification
The specification filed May 20, 2024 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 3, 7, 11, 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Czerwinski et al. (US 4,067,513).
With respect to claim 1, Czerwinski et al. discloses a retractable rule assembly comprising a housing (10, 12), the housing having a displaceable panel (10), the displaceable panel (10) configured to be selectively moved between a closed position and an open position; a coil spring assembly (40) disposed in the housing, the coil spring assembly (40) including a coil spring (48) and a first coupler (68); a replaceable blade cartridge (14) configured to be selectively mounted in and removed from the housing when the displaceable panel is in the open position, the replaceable blade cartridge (14) comprising an elongated blade (50), a reel (46), and a second coupler (36), the blade (50) being wound on the reel (Figure 2) and constructed and arranged to extend outwardly through an opening in the housing, the second coupler (36) being constructed and arranged to engage with the first coupler (68) when the replaceable blade cartridge is mounted in the housing, such that the first coupler and the second coupler become rotatably coupled (Column 3, lines 40 – 48); wherein, when the first coupler (68) and the second coupler (36) are rotatably coupled, the coil spring assembly is biased to rotate the replaceable blade cartridge in a direction that winds the blade onto the reel when the blade is extending outwardly of the housing (Column 3, lines 49 – 64).
Referring to claim 3, Czerwinski et al. sets forth a retractable rule assembly wherein the displaceable panel (10) comprises a removable door panel.
In regards to claim 7, Czerwinski et al. teaches a retractable rule assembly further comprising a lock (18) constructed and arranged to engage with the coil spring assembly to prevent rotation for the blade cartridge to be removed from the housing (Column 3 and 4, lines 65 – 68 and 1 – 16, respectively).
With regards to claim 11, Czerwinski et al. shows a retractable rule assembly further comprising a slidelock (16) that is configured to disengage from holding the blade when the door is in the open position (See Figure 1).
Referring to claim 13, Czerwinski et al. discloses a retractable rule assembly wherein the housing (10, 12) comprises a blade opening (24) through which the blade (50) extends from the housing, and wherein the displaceable panel (12) comprises a portion of the structure defining the blade opening (24), such that a side portion of the blade opening is removed to form a slot when the displaceable panel (12) is moved to the open position, the slot providing a region through which a portion of the blade can be removed from the housing and through which a new blade can be received (See Figure 1).
In regards to claim 14, Czerwinski et al. sets forth a replaceable blade cartridge assembly for a retractable rule assembly (Figure 1), comprising an elongated blade (50), a reel (46), and a second coupler (68), the blade (50) being wound on the reel, the reel having an outer wall (52) containing the blade (Figure 1); the second coupler (68) forming part of the reel and constructed and arranged to engage with a first coupler (36) of a coil spring assembly when the blade cartridge is mounted in a housing of the retractable rule assembly, such that the first coupler on the housing of the retractable rule assembly and the second coupler on the replaceable blade cartridge assembly become rotatably coupled and such that an axis of rotation of the reel and an axis of rotation of the coil spring assembly are aligned (Column 3, lines 49 – 64).
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 2, 4 – 6 and 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Czerwinski et al. (US 4,067,513).
Czerwinski et al. discloses a retractable rule assembly as recited in paragraph 5 above.
Czerwinski et al. does not disclose a retractable rule assembly comprising a hinged door panel as recited in claim 2. Czerwinski et al. does not disclose the splines as recited in claims 4, 5, 6 and 15.
Regarding claim 2, Czerwinski et al. discloses a retractable rule assembly wherein the displaceable panel comprises a removable door panel (10). The use of the particular type of displaceable panel claimed by applicant, i.e., hinged door, absent any criticality, is considered to be nothing more than a choice of engineering skill, choice or design because 1) neither non-obvious nor unexpected results, i.e., results which are different in kind and not in degree from the results of the prior art, will be obtained as long as the door panel can be removably connected to the housing, as already suggested by Czerwinski et al., 2) the removable door panel claimed by Applicant and the removable door panel used by Czerwinski et al. are well known alternate types of removable door panels which will perform the same function, if one is replaced with the other, of selectively allow to open and close the housing, and 3) the use of the particular type of removable door panels by Applicant is considered to be nothing more than the use of one of numerous and well known alternate types of removable door panels that a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been able to provide using routine experimentation in order to selectively allow to open and close the housing as already suggested by Czerwinski et al.
In regards to the splines in claims 4 – 6 and 15, Czerwinski et al. discloses a retractable rule assembly wherein the first coupler (36) of the coil spring assembly comprises bosses, and the second coupler (68) of the blade cartridge comprises tabs that interlock with the bosses in order to securely lock the components together. The use of the particular type of couplers claimed by applicant, i.e., inner splines of the coil spring and outer splines on the cartridge, absent any criticality, is considered to be nothing more than a choice of engineering skill, choice or design because 1) neither non-obvious nor unexpected results, i.e., results which are different in kind and not in degree from the results of the prior art, will be obtained as long as the replacement cartridge is securely coupled to the housing, as already suggested by Czerwinski et al., 2) the splines claimed by Applicant and the boss/tabs used by Czerwinski et al. are well known alternate types of couplers which will perform the same function, if one is replaced with the other, of securely coupling the replacement cartridge to the housing, and 3) the use of the particular type of couplers by Applicant is considered to be nothing more than the use of one of numerous and well known alternate types of couplers that a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been able to provide using routine experimentation in order to securely couple the replacement cartridge to the housing as already suggested by Czerwinski et al.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 – 10, 12 and 16 - 18 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.
Claims 19 – 20 are allowed.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 8 - 10 are allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a retractable rule assembly wherein the lock is movable between a locked position and a released position, wherein the lock is operatively connected with the displaceable panel such that it moves from the released position to the locked position upon displacement of the displaceable panel from the closed position to the open position; further comprises a ratchet for the spring cartridge assembly, wherein the ratchet is configured to slip to one side so as to allow a spring of the lock to tension independently of the blade; wherein the spring of the lock is configured to deflect out of a lock receiving portion of the coil spring housing by a ramp formed on an edge of the lock receiving portion, and wherein the rotation of the spring cartridge assembly against the ratchet is configured to change a preload or a torque on the spring of the lock when the door is in the open position in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Claim 12 is allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a retractable rule assembly further comprising an interlock disposed on the door, wherein the interlock is configured to enable the door to move to the open position only when the blade is fully retracted in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Claims 16 – 18 are allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a retractable rule assembly further comprises a blade cartridge assembly package that comprises a backing and a cover, wherein the cover includes a cavity formed therein, wherein the cavity and the backing are configured to form a space for enclosing the blade cartridge assembly, wherein the cover includes a clear plastic portion that forms the cavity, wherein the blade cartridge assembly is disposed between the clear plastic portion and the backing; wherein the cover further comprises a backing engaging portion, wherein the backing further comprises a cover engaging portion, and wherein the cover engaging portion and the backing engaging portion are configured to releasably secure the backing to the cover; and wherein the backing is configured to be removable from the cover to facilitate access to the blade cartridge assembly disposed between the cover and the backing in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Claims 19 – 20 are allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a method for removing and replacing a blade cartridge of a retractable rule assembly, the method comprising the steps of removing the replaceable blade cartridge from the housing when the displaceable panel is in the open position, the removing the replaceable blade cartridge from the housing includes disengaging the second coupler of the replaceable blade cartridge from the first coupler of the coil spring assembly disposed in the housing; and positioning a new replaceable blade cartridge in the housing when the displaceable panel is in the open position, the positioning the new replaceable blade cartridge in the housing includes engaging the new second coupler of the new replaceable blade cartridge with the first coupler of the coil spring assembly disposed in the housing, such that the first coupler and the new second coupler become rotatably coupled, wherein, when the first coupler and the new second coupler are rotatably coupled, the coil spring assembly is biased to rotate the new replaceable blade cartridge in a direction that winds the new blade onto the new reel when the new blade is extending outwardly of the housing in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references are considered relevant but fail to teach the combination as claimed:
Oikonomopoulos et al. (US Pub No. 2026/0049803 A1) discloses a user-removable and replaceable tape and reel cartridge assembly, loaded into a tape measure housing in a slide-in fashion, the spring reel is charged (tensioned) and is maintained in this state during the loading of the assembly so that the user does not need to adjust spring state during the replacement process; a bracket loops around the reel and is torsionally coupled to central hub of the reel and prevents the tape from unwinding from the spool during the replacement operation.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL whose telephone number is (571)272-2244. The examiner can normally be reached Mon -Thu, 8:00am - 6:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Laura E Martin can be reached at 571-272-2160. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2855
June 13, 2026
/YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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