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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 2 recites “is slant downward”, which is incorrect grammar.
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 2 recites “the first and second cleaning brushes each comprises”, which is incorrect grammar.
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.
Claims 16-18 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 16, line 3 recites “the inner peripheral wall” and there is no antecedent basis for it.
Claims 17 and 18 are rejected for depending on claim 16.
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 8-10 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dorrich (US 5,555,586) in view of Cervini (US 5,131,112).
As to claim 8, Dorrich includes a portable golf ball cleaning device comprising:
a housing (10) open on a top and underside thereof to form a top opening and an underside opening and a cleaning member (28, 30) located at the inside thereof;
a golf ball reciprocating member (column 2, lines 60-67 and column 3, lines 1-4) having a handle (16), a top cap (14) coupled to the handle, and a golf ball seating stand (38, 40) coupled to the top cap in such a way as to receive a golf ball; and
a bottom cap member (12) detachably coupled to a lower portion of the housing (Fig. 2).
Dorrich does not include a bottom cap member being open on a top thereof and closed on an underside thereof to form an internal space portion therein.
Cervini includes a portable golf ball cleaning device having a bottom cap member (90, 92, 94, 96) being open on a top thereof and closed on an underside thereof to form an internal space portion therein (Fig. 9 and column 4, lines 10-21).
It would have been obvious to substitute the bottom cap member of Cervini, which includes one that is open on a top thereof and closed on an underside thereof to form an internal space portion therein, as taught by Cervini, in order to more securely attach the cap to the housing due to the height of element 96.
As to claim 9, wherein if the handle moves up and down in a state where the golf ball is seated onto the golf ball seating stand, the golf ball is cleaned by means of the cleaning member (column 2, lines 60-67 and column 3, lines 1-4), and if dirt attached to the surface of the golf ball moves down to the internal space portion, the bottom cap member is separated from the housing to remove the dirt from the internal space portion (When enough dirt is piled on 12, pushing 16 down pushes 12 out).
As to claim 10, Cervini provides an auxiliary cap member (90) located on the underside opening of the housing to form the internal space portion, together with the bottom cap member, the auxiliary cap member having a through hole (The hole within 90) formed on a central portion thereof in such a way as to pass the dirt therethrough (Fig. 9 of Cervini).
As to claim 14, wherein the cleaning member comprises a first cleaning brush (28) and a second cleaning brush (30) detachably attached to the housing (column 2, lines 46-49, column 3, lines 12-14 and 19-22) in such a way as to come into contact with the inner peripheral wall of the housing and be thus inserted into the housing (Fig. 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 are allowed.
Claims 11-13, 15 and 19 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 16-18 would be allowable if rewritten 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 and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW A. HORTON whose telephone number is (571)270-5039. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica S. Carter can be reached at (571) 272-4475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW A HORTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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