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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 5, “waterproof fitt” should be corrected to reflect, for example waterproof packing, provided in ¶0043 of the description.
Appropriate correction is required.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In ¶0037, right frame reference character “3a” should read “3b”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nanbu (JP2586330Y2).
Regarding claims 1-5, Nanbu discloses an electric fishing reel comprising a drive motor (19; Figures 1-3) that is provided in a frame (1, 27, 35) of a reel main body (5) and rotationally drives a spool (15) around which a fishing line (105) is wound, the electric fishing reel comprising: a motor case (21) that houses a motor component (19a) of the drive motor (19) and constitutes an external component and is formed separately from the frame (1, 27, 35), wherein the frame (1, 27, 35) fits and supports the motor case (21);
wherein the frame (1, 27, 35) and the motor case (21) are provided with a pair of fitting portions (FP; see Nanbu annotated Figures 1 and 3 below) that fits and supports the frame (1, 27, 35) and the motor case (21) on both ends in an axial direction;
wherein the fitting portion (FP) comprises a recess (RC) formed along a circumferential direction on both end sides of an outer peripheral surface (OPS) of the motor case (21), and a protrusion (P) formed at a corresponding position of the frame (1, 27, 35) and into which the recess (RC) of the motor case (21) is fitted;
wherein the fitting portion (FP) has a gap (G) between the protrusion (P) and the recess (RC), and is received along the circumferential direction (Figure 1) without being in contact with each other in the axial direction;
wherein a waterproof fitt (29, 37) is provided in the fitting portion (FP).
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391
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Nanbu, Annotated Figure 1
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385
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Nanbu, Annotated Figure 3
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Additional references listed on form PTO-892 are cited for their relevance to the disclosed invention and demonstration of the state of the art.
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/H.S./Examiner, Art Unit 3654
/SCOTT A BROWNE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3666