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 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 7 and 8 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 7 recites the limitations "the second opening" and “the cover plate” which are recited in claim 6, but claim 7 does not depend from claim 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The term “similar” in claim 8 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “similar” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear what which dimensions must be “similar” and the degree needed to qualify as “similar” in the context of applying the prior art.
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 1, 2 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Einhorn, US 2022/0202147 in view of Hiranuma, US 2006/0280038.
Regarding claim 1, Einhorn discloses a device for securing a watch strap on a watch case (1) comprising an end link (10) of a wristband for a watch for securing the watch strap on the watch case (1), said watch case (1) comprising at least one pin (3), wherein said watchcase (1) comprises a longitudinal slot (2) delimited by two main support surfaces (21, 22) parallel to a main plane (PP) and said end link (10) comprises at least one lateral face (56), which itself comprises for its fixture to said case (1) at least one guiding groove (4) arranged to cooperate in a complementary manner with said pin (3), and said end link (10) comprises at least one lock (5), wherein said lock (5) comprises a slide catch (51) arranged to cooperate with said slot (2) in a locking position, towards which said slide catch (51) is moved by elastic return means (50) belonging to said lock (5), and comprising unlocking means arranged to be operated directly by a user to move said slide catch (51) away from said slot (2) of said case (1), said guiding groove is a curved guiding groove so that the slide catch (51) is firmly maintained against one of the two main surface (21, 22) of the longitudinal slot (2) in locking position.
Einhorn fails to explicitly disclose wherein the end link comprises locking means (8) arranged to cooperate with the end link (10) and a bar (9) to lock said bar on the end link (10) when the end link is attached on the watch case.
Hiranuma discloses a wristband connection including locking means (13) an end link (11) and a bar (12) to lock said bar on the end link (also see [0053]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Einhorn to include the locking means and bar taught by Hiranuma for the purpose of fastening the end link in a secure fashion.
Regarding claim 2, Einhorn and Hiranuma disclose the end link (Hiranuma 11) comprises a through bore (11a) in which the bar (12) goes through, the locking means (13) partially resting in the through bore (see also [0053], “a slotted (not shown in the drawing) coupling pipe 13 to a tip part of a coupling pin 12 having been passed though the through-hole 11a from a convex part 3e having partitioned a width direction one end of the concave part 3d”).
Regarding claim 9, Einhorn and Hiranuma disclose the slide catch (Einhorn 51) comprises a head cooperating with said slot (2), said head comprising a slope (54) arranged to cooperate with one of the two main support surface (21, 22).
Regarding claim 10, Einhorn and Hiranuma disclose a wristband (9) comprising at least one end link (10) of the device according to claim 1 (Einhorn claim 11).
Regarding claim 11, Einhorn and Hiranuma disclose a watch (Einhorn 100) comprising a watch case (1), which is configured to receive at least one device for securing a watch strap on the watch case (1) according to claim 1.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Einhorn and Hiranuma as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Maruyama, JP 2023084075.
Regarding claim 3, Einhorn and Hiranuma do not explicitly disclose the locking means (8) comprises a locking pin (8) arranged to cooperate with a groove (90) formed on the bar (9).
Maruyama discloses a similar arrangement including a locking means (30) comprising a locking pin (30) arranged to cooperate with a groove (11) formed on the bar (10, see fig 5).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Einhorn to include the locking means and bar taught by Maruyama for the purpose of restricting movement of the pin and securing the connection to the watch.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form, overcoming the formalities noted above, and including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 4, the prior art fails to disclose or reasonably suggest the claimed invention wherein the end link comprises a hole leading into the through bore, the hole being arranged to receive the locking pin.
Regarding claim 5, the prior art fails to disclose or reasonably suggest the claimed invention wherein the locking pin can move along its axis, the movement of the locking pin being limited by a step of the bore cooperating with a shoulder of the locking pin, and which forms an end stop the locking pin.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON COLLINS whose telephone number is (571)270-3994. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM.
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/JASON M COLLINS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2831
/renee s luebke/ Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2831
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