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 .
Summary
This communication is a First Office Action Non-Final Rejection on the merits.
Claim(s) 5-8 is/are currently pending and considered below.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 5-7 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5, “a lower longitudinal wire guide lever (LW guide lever)” should read
-- a lower longitudinal wire guide lever (lower LW guide lever) --
Claim 5, “an upper longitudinal wire guide lever (LW guide lever)” should read
-- an upper longitudinal wire guide lever (upper LW guide lever) --
Claim 5, “between the two” should read
-- between the lower LW guide lever and the upper LW guide lever--
Claim 5, “a lateral longitudinal wire guide (LW guide)” should read
-- a lateral longitudinal wire guide (lateral LW guide) --
Claim 6, “on which they can be” should read
-- one which the plurality of fittings can be --
Claim 7, “the lower LW guide levers as well as upper LW guide levers” should read
-- the lower LW guide lever as well as the upper LW guide lever --
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 6 is/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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 6, introduction of “in a Z direction essentially perpendicular to the Y and X directions” renders the claim indefinite because one having ordinary skill in the art cannot ascertain the scope of the claim bounded by the relative term “essentially perpendicular”; furthermore, Specification does not provide reasonable range that would be considered “essentially perpendicular”. See MPEP 2173.05(b). For the purposes of examination, “essentially perpendicular to” is interpreted as “perpendicular to”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 5 and 7-8 is/are objected to due to informalities analyzed above, but would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the objections.
Claim(s) 6 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The claims in this application have been allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or make obvious the claimed invention including the following features:
“a plurality of fittings consisting of a lower longitudinal wire guide lever (LW guide lever), an upper longitudinal wire guide lever (LW guide lever), a compression spring acting between the two”.
The closest prior art of record, Anagnostopoulos to US 2018/0056364 A1, discloses a longitudinal wire guide (Figs. 10A-D) for feeding a set of parallel steel wires in a predetermined X direction, having a plurality of fittings (72) consisting of a lateral longitudinal wire guide (71), wherein the fittings are arranged so as to be continuously displaceable relative to one another in a Y direction perpendicular to the X direction (Figs. 4A and 10A, para 218 and 252), and wherein the plurality of fittings is arranged on a carriage which can be driven in the X direction (para 257).
However, Anagnostopoulos and other prior art of record (see PTO-892 mailed herewith) fail to disclose of fairly suggest the plurality of fittings consisting of a lower longitudinal wire guide lever (LW guide lever), an upper longitudinal wire guide lever (LW guide lever), a compression spring acting between the two.
The combination of the claimed limitations are novel and found to be allowable over the prior art. The cited references taken singly or in combination do not anticipate or make obvious the Applicant's claimed invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (See PTO-892 Notice of References Cited).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Himchan Song whose telephone number is (571)272-4142. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Kinsaul can be reached at (571) 270-1926. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HIMCHAN SONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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