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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/30/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Amendment filed 10/30/2025 has been entered and fully considered. Claims 1, 2 and 4-20 are pending. Claim 3 is cancelled. Claims 1, 5, 6 and 8 are amended.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 308, 306, 310, 304, 318, 320, 324, 316, 320, 314, 312, 300, 408, 406, 410, 404, 418, 420, 424, 416, 420, 414, 400. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/30/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the cited art does not teach or suggest a barbed tip extending transversely from an end of the shaft, the end of the shaft being fixed to the wall.
Examiner notes that this feature was not previously presented and therefore not previously considered. The amendments will be considered hereinafter.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 2 and 4-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 recites “the barbed tip extending transversely from an end of the shaft, the end of the shaft being fixed to the wall”. This feature does not find support in the description of the invention, as originally filed. As seen in figure 5 (annotated below), the barbed tip is connected to an end of the shaft not fixed to the wall, while the opposing end of the shaft is fixed to the wall.
[AltContent: textbox (Barbed tip extending transversely from opposing end of the shaft)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (The end of the shaft fixed to the wall)]
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Claim 10 is structured so that the fixed end of the shaft and the barbed tip are on the same side of the shaft.
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Barbed tip extending transversely from an end of the shaft)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (The end of the shaft fixed to the wall)]
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Specifically, the “an end” of the shaft on which the barbed tip extends, is “then end” of the shaft fixed to the wall.
Claims 2 and 4-20 are rejected for depending from claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX B EFTA whose telephone number is (313)446-6548. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-5PM EST M-F.
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/ALEX B EFTA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1745