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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-5) in the reply filed on 6/26/26 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-3 are objected to because of the following informalities: In claim 2, line 5 it appears that “batter-fixing” should read –battery-fixing--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DuFaux (US2024/0245959A1) in view of Weder et al. (US 4,124,135) (hereafter Weder).
With respect to claim 1, DuFaux teaches a smart golf ball (title) comprising: a control unit (730) that is mounted on the mounts (ribs formed by 715) and creates movement information of the golf ball when the golf ball is hit (figures; and paragraphs 20, 46, 58, 79-84, 90, 92, and 98); wherein the control unit (400) includes: a battery (741) (paragraph 58); a charging coil (731) being charged in a wireless charging type (paragraphs 46 and 57-58); a connecting housing (figures 6-7) connecting the charging coil with the battery (paragraphs 46 and 57-58); a control board (750) including a first control board including a sensor unit (accelerometer/gyroscope/magnetometer sensor module) that collects movement information of the golf ball (paragraphs 20, 46, 58, 78-84, 90, 92, 98, and 106), and a second control board connected with the first control board and including a communication module (paragraphs 79 and 98) and a controller (microcontroller/microprocessor) that transmit movement information collected by the sensor unit (accelerometer/gyroscope/magnetometer sensor module) to the system for providing ball flight information (paragraphs 20, 31, 79-84, 90-92, and 98) (note that since DuFaux uses the same sensors as the instant application the apparatus of DuFaux is intrinsically capable of providing flight information); an antenna (718/732) connected with the control board and transmitting movement information of the golf ball transmitted from the control board to the system for providing ball flight information (paragraphs 20, 31, 79-84, 90-92, and 98); a protection cover (710) that includes a first protection cover (first hemisphere), a second protection cover (second hemisphere), and mounts (ribs formed by 715) configured at the first and second protection covers to correspond to each other (figures 3-5; and paragraphs 55-57); a shock-absorbing member (510/610) configured to cover an outer surface of the protection cover (figures 1-2; and paragraphs 44-54); and an outer shell (300) configured to cover the shock-absorbing member (520/530/540/620/630/640/650) (figures 1-2; and paragraphs 44-54).
With respect to claim 1, DuFaux teaches a mating arrangement for forming a hollow housing (figures 3-4), but does not teach that the first protection cover has a coupling flange and the second protection cover has a coupling frame inserted inside the coupling flange.
However, Weder teaches a mating arrangement for forming a hollow housing that has a coupling flange and a coupling frame inserted inside the coupling flange (figures 1-3; and column 2, lines 36-column 5, line 58).
At the time of filing the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the sealing configuration of Weder on the apparatus o DuFaux in order to effectively seal the electronic components in a simple and reliable manner.
With respect to claim 5, DuFaux teaches wherein the sensor unit is composed of a 3-axis gyro sensor, a 3-axis acceleration sensor, and a 3-axis magnetometer sensor (paragraph 20).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DuFaux and Weder as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Fitchett et al. (US 2012/0046131A1) (hereafter Fitchett).
With respect to claim 4, DuFaux and Weder do not teach wherein the shock-absorbing member is composite rubber in which neodymium polybutadiene (NdBR), zinc oxide (ZnO), a rubber cross-linking agent, organic peroxide, and a compound are mixed at a predetermined weight ratio.
However, Fitchett teaches wherein the shock-absorbing member is composite rubber in which neodymium polybutadiene (NdBR), zinc oxide (ZnO), a rubber cross-linking agent, organic peroxide, and a compound are mixed at a predetermined weight ratio (paragraph 72).
At the time of filing the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the material of Fitchett in the collective apparatus of DuFaux and Weder in order to form a shock-absorbing layer with the desired properties.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KILEY SHAWN STONER whose telephone number is (571)272-1183. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday.
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/KILEY S STONER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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