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 Species 4, Figures 5A and 5B, claims 1-20 in the reply filed on 6/19/26 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore,
Claim 1: the phrases: “a substrate having a first surface and a second surface”; “first portion positioned on the first surface of the substrate”.
Claim 2: the phrase “the first portion of the non-penetrating pushbutton assembly is coupled to the first surface of the substrate”.
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
What are the element numbers of “substrate”, “first surface” and a “second surface”, “first portion”, “second portion”, the first portion of the non-penetrating pushbutton assembly”.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The reference character “502” has been used to designate both “upper portion” and “upper assembly”. Appropriate correction is required.
This is an exemplary of the errors. Applicant should carefully review the entire specification/drawings to fix this issue.
Use consistent phraseology to describe a component, part or element in the specification/drawings.
Please ensure that the remainder of elements referenced in the specification are accurately accounted for in the Drawings.
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 1-6 and 9-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beckwith et al. (US 2005/0145472) in view of Trudeau et al. (US 2010/0108476).
Regarding claim 1, Beckwith discloses a device comprising:
a substrate (3) having a first surface and a second surface (see the drawing below); including:
a first portion (see the drawing below) positioned on the first surface (see the drawing below) of the substrate (3),
the first portion (see the drawing below) including:
a button frame (5, 7, 14) coupled to the first surface of the substrate (see the drawing below);
a button face (12) positioned in the button frame (5, 7, 14) and configured to be pressed such that the button face (12) moves within the button frame (5, 7, 14) toward the first surface of the substrate (see the drawing below); and
at least one magnet (30) coupled to the button face (12); and
a second portion positioned at the second surface of the substrate (see the drawing below),
the second portion (see the drawing below) including:
at least one electromagnet (40) positioned such that it is aligned with the at least one magnet (30), and
a control board (46) electrically coupled to the at least one electromagnet (40) and configured to: drive the at least one electromagnet (40) to create a magnetic field of the at least one electromagnet (40);
identify a fluctuation in power required to drive the at least one electromagnet (40) caused by a magnetic field of the at least one magnet (30) interacting with the magnetic field of the at least one electromagnet (40) when the button face (12) is pressed by a player, and send a signal to the button face has been pressed (see the abstract and para. [0021]).
Since the coil (40) can be pulsed with either an AC or a DC current, so the fluctuation in power is the AC (see para. [0021]).
It inherent when these fluctuations usually happen (like when an AC turns on).
Regarding claim 1, Beckwith teaches the claimed subject as disclosed above, however, fails to explicitly disclose the “send a signal to the EGM that the button face has been pressed”.
Although Beckwith does not explicitly disclose the signal to send to the EGM, however 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 teaching of sending a signal to the traffic light since it is applicable to EGM, for the purpose of allowing the system or the device to know when the user or a player has pressed the button.
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Annotated FIG. 2 of Beckwith
Regarding claim 1, Beckwith teaches the claimed subject as disclosed above, however, fails to explicitly disclose the non-penetrating pushbutton assembly,
Trudeau discloses the device comprising:
non-penetrating pushbutton assembly is (12, 28, 30).
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 non-penetrating pushbutton as taught by Trudeau with Beckwith’s device for the purpose of preventing dust and contamination.
Regarding claim 2, Trudeau discloses:
the first portion of the non-penetrating pushbutton assembly (12) is coupled to the first surface of the substrate (25) with a boss 24b.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to change the boss 24b as taught by Trudeau with the adhesive for the purpose of distributing stress evenly, eliminating the need to drill holes, and saving manufacturing time or weight.
Regarding claim 3, Beckwith discloses:
the at least one magnet (30) comprises at least one.
Regarding claim 4, Beckwith discloses:
the first portion: does not include an overlay with a cutout for the first portion; and does not include a cable connecting the first portion to the second portion or the EGM.
Regarding claim 5, Beckwith discloses:
the control board (46) is configured to change a force required to press the button face (12) by controlling the at least one electromagnet (40) (see para. [0023]).
Regarding claim 6, Beckwith discloses:
the control board (46) is configured to disable the non-penetrating pushbutton assembly by controlling the at least one electromagnet (40), (see para. [0023] – [0024])
Regarding claim 9, Onoyama discloses:
the button frame comprises a transparent material (see claim 1).
Regarding claim 10, Beckwith discloses:
a substrate (3); and a pushbutton assembly, including:
a button frame (5, 7, 14) coupled to substrate (see the drawing above);
a button face (12) positioned in the button frame (5, 7, 14) and configured to be pressed such that the button face (12) moves within the button frame (5);
at least one magnet (30) coupled to the button face (12);
at least one electromagnet (40), and a control board (46) electrically coupled to the at least one electromagnet (40) and configured to: drive the at least one electromagnet (40) to create a magnetic field of the at least one electromagnet (40);
identify a fluctuation in power required to drive the at least one electromagnet (40) caused by a magnetic field of the at least one magnet (30) interacting with the magnetic field of the at least one electromagnet (40) when the button face (12) is pressed by a player, and send a signal to the button face has been pressed (see the abstract and para. [0021]).
Since the coil (40) can be pulsed with either an AC or a DC current, so the fluctuation in power is the AC (see para. [0021]).
It is inherent that these fluctuations usually happen (like when an AC turns on).
Regarding claim 10, Beckwith teaches the claimed subject as disclosed above, however, fails to explicitly disclose the non-penetrating pushbutton assembly,
Trudeau discloses the device comprising:
non-penetrating pushbutton assembly is (28, 30).
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 non-penetrating pushbutton as taught by Geng with Beckwith’s device for the purpose of preventing dust and contamination.
Regarding claim 11, Trudeau discloses:
the button frame is coupled to the substrate (25) with a boss 24b.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to change the boss 24b as taught by Trudeau with the adhesive for the purpose of distributing stress evenly, eliminating the need to drill holes, and saving manufacturing time or weight.
Regarding claim 12, Beckwith teaches the claimed subject as disclosed above, however, fails to explicitly disclose the at least one magnet comprises multiple magnets positioned in lobes around a perimeter of the button face.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make more multiple magnets positioned in lobes around a perimeter of the button face (12) for the purpose of preventing the button from twisting, spinning, or attaching upside. Since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Regarding claim 13, Beckwith discloses:
wherein the button frame (5, 7, 14) obscures view of the at least one magnet (30).
Regarding claim 14, Beckwith teaches the claimed subject as disclosed above, however, fails to explicitly disclose the at least one magnet comprises a rare-earth magnet or a neodymium magnet.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to change the magnet as taught by Beckwith with the Rare-earth magnets and neodymium magnets purpose of having high-performance applications and saving space, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Regarding claim 15, Beckwith discloses:
the control board (46) is configured to change a direction of the magnetic field of the at least one electromagnet (40) (see para. [0026]).
Claims 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beckwith et al. (US 2005/0145472) and Trudeau et al. (US 2010/0108476) in view of Beyhs et al. (US 10,698,489).
Regarding claim 7, Beckwith teaches the claimed subject as disclosed above, however, fails to explicitly disclose the control board is configured to provide haptic feedback via the button face.
Beyhs discloses a device comprising the control board is configured to provide haptic feedback via the button face (140) (see para. [0015] and [0023]).
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 haptic feedback as taught by Beyhs with Beckwith’s device for the purpose of providing the communicate information to a user.
Claims 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beckwith et al. (US 2005/0145472) and Trudeau et al. (US 2010/0108476) in view of Onoyama et al. (US 2016/0335844).
Regarding claim 8, Beckwith and Trudeau teach the claimed subject as disclosed above, however, fails to explicitly disclose the substrate is a display that is visible through the button face.
Onoyama discloses a device comprising a transparent substrate (34, see para. [0076]).
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 transparent substrate as taught by Onovama with Beckwith’s device for the purpose of allowing an underlying display (such as an LCD, OLED, or segmented display) to shine through.
Claims 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beckwith et al. (US 2005/0145472).
Regarding claim 16, Beckwith discloses a device comprising:
a button frame (5);
a button face (12) positioned in the button frame (5) and configured to be pressed such that the button face moves within the button frame (5);
at least one magnet (30);
at least one electromagnet (40), and
a control board (46) electrically coupled to the at least one electromagnet (40) and configured to:
drive the at least one electromagnet (40) to create a magnetic field of the at least one electromagnet (40);
identify a fluctuation in power (see para. [0021]) required to drive the at least one electromagnet (40) caused by a magnetic field of the at least one magnet (30) interacting with the magnetic field of the at least one electromagnet (40) when the button face (12) is pressed by a player, and send a signal to the button face has been pressed (see the abstract and para. [0021]).
Since the coil (40) can be pulsed with either an AC or a DC current, so the fluctuation in power is the AC (see para. [0021]).
It is inherent that these fluctuations usually happen (like when an AC turns on).
Regarding claim 16, Beckwith teaches the claimed subject as disclosed above, however, fails to explicitly disclose the “send a signal to the EGM that the button face has been pressed”.
Although Beckwith does not explicitly disclose the signal to send to the EGM, however 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 teaching of sending a signal to the traffic light is applicable to EGM, for the purpose of allowing the system or the device to know when the user or a player has pressed the button.
Regarding claim 17, Beckwith teaches the claimed subject as disclosed above, however, fails to explicitly disclose the at least one electromagnet comprises multiple electromagnets.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the multiple electromagnets for the purpose of facilitating to generate precise, rotating, or powerful magnetic fields that single magnets cannot achieve.
Regarding claim 18, Beckwith teaches the claimed subject as disclosed above, however, fails to explicitly disclose the at least one magnet comprises an additional electromagnet.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add more electromagnet for the purpose of hold and release ferromagnetic objects safely without needing continuous electrical power.
Since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Regarding claim 19, Beckwith discloses:
The cable (50) coupled to the control board (46, 60).
Regarding claim 20, Beckwith discloses:
the control board (46) is configured to move the button face by controlling the at least one electromagnet (40).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Lisa Homza whose telephone number is (571) 272-3592.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Shawki Ismail can be reached on (571) 272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Lisa Nhung Homza/
Patent Examiner - Art Unit 2837
August 26, 2026
/SHAWKI S ISMAIL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2837
Prosecution Insights