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 § 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) 1-5 and 7-11 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pearson (US Patent 6,012,203) in view of Petty (US Patent 6,125,793) and Johnson et al (US Patent 5,097,679).
Pearson teaches an interchangeable snap-on adornments for fashion accessories which are structurally similar to an collar.
Regarding claims 1 and 20, the Applicant’s attention is directed to Figure 20. The device of Pearson teaches a belt or collar-like strap (unnumbered) which is structurally similar to the Applicant’s claimed collar. A charm 10 is placed thru the belt and an anti rotation plate 30 is coupled to the charm. However, Pearson does not teach a threaded stem nor a multi layered belt or collar like device. Johnson et al teach a threaded stem for securing a charm onto an object. Regarding claims 1 and 20, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at time the application was filed to modify the apparatus of Pearson with a threaded stem connection Johnson et al and the multi layer collar or belt Petty, in order to provide an alternative and more secure way of attaching the charm to the belt and to provide the belt with an expandable and more resilient strength.
Regarding claims 2 and 3, the reference to Pearson teaches at least one bent corner made from a durable material to function properly and surrounds the stem of the charm.
Regarding claims 4 and 5, the anti rotation plate 30 surrounds the threaded stem in a concentric manner.
Regarding claim 6, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to modify the combination Pearson as modified by Petty and Johnson et al to use an adhesive layer to attach the charm to the ARP.
As for claims 7 and 8, in the combination of Pearson as modified by Petty and Johnson et al, the reference to Johnson et al teaches a screw like element 18.
As for claims 9 and 10, the reference to Johnson et al teach a threaded stem (unnumbered) is configured to receive the screw 18.
As for claim 11, the reference to Petty as shown in figure 5, the middle layer 46 is located between the top layer 26 and the base layer 34.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD T. PRICE JR whose telephone number is (571)272-6892. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7AM-3:30PM.
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, Peter M. Poon can be reached at 571-272-6891. 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.
/RICHARD T PRICE JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3643
Prosecution Insights