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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the fastening mechanism (claim 1) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 2, it appears that “a upper” should be “an upper.” On line 12, it appears that “the cutout have” should be “the one or more cutouts have”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davis (2005/0160651) in view of Grange (2010/0050491) and Schwartz et al. (2023/0084781).
Davis discloses a card display device, comprising: a panel (3A, Fig. 1) having an upper surface and an underside surface;
one or more cutouts (7, Fig. 1) on the panel;
a backing panel (2A, Fig. 1) having one or more recessed areas (7A, fig. 1) substantially sized and shaped to receive a baseball card the size of image 5 (Fig. 1), the recessed areas comprising substantially parallel vertical retaining surfaces (Fig. 1A) and substantially parallel horizontal retaining surfaces (7A, Fig. 1A), and a floor surface (6A, Fig. 1A), whereby recessed areas are configured to receive a card such that a rear surface of a card contacts the floor of the recessed area and horizontal retaining surfaces contact respective side surfaces of a card and horizontal retaining surfaces contact the top and bottom surfaces of a card;
whereby the cutouts have a perimeter that is incrementally smaller than a perimeter of recessed areas (Fig. 1A, paragraph 00263); and
a fastening mechanism to attach the panel to the backing panel such the one or more cutouts are substantially aligned with the one or more recessed areas (paragraph 0024).
However, Davis does not disclose an image reverse printed on the underside surface of the panel. Grange teaches printing an image on a front mat panel (20, Fig. 7) in order to allow an individual to personalize the picture display by associating it with a particular theme, in the case of Fig. 7, baseball. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to print an image in the front mat panel (3A, Fig. 1) disclosed by Davis, as taught by Grange, in order to enable an individual to personalize the picture display by associating it with a particular theme.
Further, it is not known whether the image disclosed by Grange is printed on the upper surface, or reverse printed on the underside surface. Schwartz teaches printing an image in reverse on an underside of a surface (paragraph 0013). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to print the image disclosed by Grange in reverse on the underside surface of the panel, as taught by Schwartz, in order that the image be protected by the panel itself.
Regarding claim 2, the panel disclosed by Schwartz is transparent (paragraph 0012).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davis (2005/0160651) in view of Grange (2010/0050491) and Schwartz et al. (2023/0084781), as applied to claim 1, above, and further in view of McCorkle (2007/0234621).
Davis discloses the invention substantially as claimed, as set forth above. However, it is not known what material the backing panel is made of (although it appears to be illustrated as foam). Because the selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use is within the level of ordinary skill of a worker in the art as a matter of design choice, and because McCorkle teaches that a foam material would be suitable for the fabrication of a backing panel (paragraph 0017), it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to fabricate the backing panel disclosed by Davis from a foam material. See MPEP § 2144.07.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The relevance of each reference is explained below, unless the relevance is deemed to be readily apparent.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY C HOGE whose telephone number is (571)272-6645. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday.
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, Jonathan Liu can be reached at (571) 272-8227. 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.
/GARY C HOGE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631
Prosecution Insights