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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 7,174,815 B1 to (Hsieh).
Regarding claim 1, (Hsieh) discloses a hand tool, comprising: a handle 15 comprising: a stepping structure (“A stopper section 36 is disposed on one side of the base section 341 as a step protruding from the base section 341.”; Col. 2, lines 52-53) located on one end of the handle 15; a driving head 12 pivotally connected to the end of the handle 15, and comprising: a positioning portion (a base section 341) located on one end of the driving head 12 facing towards the handle 15; and a stopping member (shift button 40) disposed on the end of the handle 15, and comprising: a stopping structure (teeth 42), wherein when the stopping member 40 is pushed by the stepping structure (stopper section 36) towards the driving head 12, the stopping structure 36 is positioned on the positioning portion 341 so as to position the driving head 12 and the handle 15 with a preset angle.
Regarding claim 2, in (Hsieh) according to claim 1, the stepping structure 36 is integrally formed with the handle 15.
Regarding claim 3, in (Hsieh) according to claim 1, the driving head 12 further comprises: a pivoting portion 20 for pivotally connecting with the end of the handle 15; wherein the positioning portion comprises a plurality of first teeth structures 22, which is disposed around an outer surface of the pivoting portion 20; the stopping structure 36 comprises at least one second teeth structure 42 for engaging with at least one of the first teeth structures 22.
Regarding claim 4, in (Hsieh) according to claim 3, each of the first teeth structures 22 extends from one end of the positioning portion 20 to the other end of the positioning portion along a direction parallel to an axial direction of the pivoting portion (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 7, in (Hsieh) according to claim 1, the hand tool further comprising: an assisting structure (a resilient unit 50), wherein the handle 15 has a[n] concave hole 343 located on the end of the handle 15 and being adjacent to the stepping structure 36, and the assisting structure 50 is protrudably disposed in the concave hole 343.
Regarding claim 8, in (Hsieh) according to claim 7, the assisting structure 50 comprises: an elastic member (spring 52), wherein one end of the elastic member is positioned in the concave hole 343; and an abutting member (steel ball 54) connected to the other end of the elastic member 52.
Regarding claim 9, in (Hsieh) according to claim 7, the stopping member 40 further comprises: two operating portions (not labeled but evident in Figs. 1-3, 6, 9, and 11) connected to two ends of the stopping structure 42 and located on two sides of the handle 15, respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 6, and 10-12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: regarding claim 5, that a length of the at least one second teeth structure is greater than one third of a length of each of the first teeth structures and is smaller than a half of the length of each of the first teeth structures; regarding claim 6, that a teeth thickness of each of the first teeth structures of the positioning portion is x, a thickness of the stepping structure is TH, and the following condition is satisfied: 0.5x ≤ TH ≤ 0.95x; regarding claim 10, that each of two sides of each of the operating portions comprises a raised structure; regarding claim 11, that … the stopping member is not physically contacted with the assisting structure; and, regarding claim 12, that the stepping structure comprises a tilting surface located on an edge of the stepping structure facing towards the assisting structure, has not been disclosed nor suggested by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure as describing a number of hand tools having a pivoting head and an angular adjustment mechanism.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Thomas whose telephone number is (571) 272-4497. The examiner’s e-mail address is: dave.thomas@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 11:30-7:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached on (. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/David B. Thomas/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/DBT/
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