DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to Applicants application filing received on October 9, 2024. Claim(s) 1-4 is/are currently pending in the instant application. The application claims priority to Japanese application 2023-184851 filed on October 27, 2023.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Examiner acknowledges the Applicants filing of IDS references on October 9, 2024. The references have been considered at this time. A copy of the annotated IDS sheet is included in this correspondence.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. There are no less than 10 other U.S. Patents with the non-descriptive title of “Racket”.
The following title is suggested: A Racket for Tennis or Other Sports or Activities.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because a) it contains reference numbers for the drawings which should be remoted, b) it is nearly identical to that of claim 1. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto U.S. Publication 2013/0029793 A1 (hereafter Yamamoto) in view of Yamamoto 8,651,985 B2 (hereafter Yamamoto).
Regarding claim 1, Yamamoto discloses a frame including a head (see at least Fig. 1, head 8); and
a string that is stretched on the head and that forms a ball-hitting face (see at least Fig. 1, head 8 [0032] The ball hitting face is made from strings stretched to form a ball hitting surface. There is no other common term for the strings on a tennis racket), wherein:
an in-plane stiffness index Gi that is a product of a top pressure stiffness value Git (kgf/cm) and a side pressure stiffness value Gis (kgf/cm) is greater than or equal to 5000 and less than or equal to 8000 (see at least Tables 1-3. Top pressure rigidity and Side pressure rigidity. Table 1 between 12772 -12390, Table 2 between 12688-12138, Table 3 between 11948-5452, );
and an out-of-plane stiffness index Go that is a product of a throat stiffness value Gos (kgf/cm) and a ball-hitting face stiffness value Goh (kgf/cm) is greater than or equal to 45000 and less than or equal to 60000 (see at least Tables 1-3. Throat rigidity and Ball-hitting face rigidity. Table 1 between 52298 -47996, Table 2 between 51305-47415, Table 3 between 57750-42496, ).
Yamamoto discloses the claimed invention except for the exact ranges for in-plane stiffness index Gi and out of plane stiffness index Go. It would have been obvious to one of skill in the art where the general condition of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, and finding an optimum range involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Yamamoto ‘793 discloses a racket but fails to include the frame thickness measurement.
Yamamoto ‘985 discloses, in the same field of invention, a tennis racket where a maximum value of a thickness of the frame is less than 26.0 mm (see at least Figs. 1-3, col. 10, lines 26-29; W1 18mm and W2 22mm) therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the racket disclosed in ‘793 with the racket thickness as taught by ‘985 for desired rebound performance as combination of prior art elements is known to yield predictable results (KSR A).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of ‘793 and ‘985 discloses wherein: the frame includes a pair of throats that are continuous with the head and a shaft that is continuous with the throats; the head has a constant thickness T1 from a top of the head to joints where the head is joined to the respective throats; the throats have a constant thickness T2; the shaft has a constant thickness T3; and the thickness T2 and the thickness T3 are each equal to the thickness T1 (see at least ‘985, Fig. 2, same thickness for head, throats, and shaft).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of ‘793 and ‘985 discloses wherein a ratio (Git / Gis) of the top pressure stiffness value Git to the side pressure stiffness value Gis is greater than or equal to 1.0. (see at least ‘793 Tables 1-3, every top pressure rigidity is greater than the side pressure rigidity therefore the Gis will be greater than 1.0)
Regarding claim 4, the combination of ‘793 and ‘985 discloses wherein: the frame includes a damper; and a vibration damping rate of the racket in an out-of-plane direction thereof is greater than or equal to 0.5% (see at least ‘793 Tables 1-3, Vibration out of plane primary is above 0.5 in some examples).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited prior art generally refers to rackets, and tennis rackets in particular.
U.S. Publication 2005/0266941 A1 - In a tennis racket having a racket frame composed of a fiber reinforced resin, the moment of inertia Ic of the tennis racket in a center direction thereof is set to not less than 13000 g.multidot.cm.sup.2 nor more than 17000 g.multidot.cm.sup.2, the moment of inertia Ig around a center of gravity thereof is set to not less than 80000 g.multidot.cm.sup.2 nor more than 200000 g.multidot.cm.sup.2, and the moments of inertia Ic and Ig are so set as to satisfy a relationship expressed by [30.times.(Ic)-(Ig)]/10000.gtoreq.31.
U.S. Patent 5,368,297 - A racket frame and protective packing device arrangement including an open racket frame which has a longitudinal recessed portion on an outside wall thereof, a plurality of string holes spaced on the recessed portion, and a plurality of elongated grooves connected between the string holes at an outer side; and a protective packing strip fitted into the longitudinal recessed portion which has a plurality of double open-end string tubes respectively inserted into the string holes for inserting a catgut string to set up a striking surface in the open racket frame, and a plurality of ribs longitudinally aligned and respectively fitted into the elongated grooves.
U.S. Patent 8,562,462 B2 - A racket frame 2 includes a body 4 and a first vibration-damping portion 6 fixed to the body 4. The body 4 includes a head 8, a shaft 12, a pair of throats 10 extending from the head 8 to the shaft 12, and a grip 14 connected to the shaft 12. The body 4 includes a second vibration-damping portion 18, and the material of the second vibration-damping portion 18 is different from the material of the first vibration-damping portion 6. The ratio (R2/R4) of a side pressure rigidity R2 to a throat rigidity R4 is 0.26 or greater, a moment of inertia around an axis at a position of 10 cm from a grip end is less than 300 kgcm.sup.2, and a vibration damping rate in an out-of-plane secondary mode is equal to or greater than 0.70 but equal to or less than 1.0.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DYLAN C WHITE whose telephone number is (571)272-1406. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:00 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Beth Boswell can be reached at (571)272-6737. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DYLAN C WHITE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3625 June 1, 2026
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