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 Objections
Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities: Applicant is respectfully reminded to use consistent terminology regarding the individual components of the claimed invention. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Applicant discloses “two peripheral sealing sections”, it is unclear if this includes the sealing section of claim 1 or they are two new sealing sections, for the purposes of examination it is interpreted to include the sealing section of claim 1, as well as another sealing section.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the drawings are not clearly showing all components. Although the components are labeled, it hard to distinguish between smaller components. 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.
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, 9-11, 13-17, 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li CN 215565161 U (Applicant provided IDS reference, hereinafter referred to as Li).
Claim 1. Li discloses a portable hoop lock (fig8) comprising a lock body (41) and a lock hoop (3), wherein the lock hoop can be selectively introduced into the lock body or at least partly detached from the lock body and wherein the lock body comprises an electromechanical locking mechanism (6) that is configured to selectively lock the lock hoop introduced into the lock body against a detachment from the lock body or to release the lock hoop for the detachment from the lock body,
wherein the electromechanical locking mechanism has an electric motor (61), at least one latch element (63) drivable by the electric motor and an energy source (10) for supplying the electric motor with electrical energy, wherein the energy source is arranged in a housing (1+4) that has a replacement opening (bottom of housing 4, fig2) through which the energy source can be introduced into the housing and removed from the housing, and
wherein the hoop lock has a cover (2) that can be plugged onto the housing along a plug-on direction (along length of housing 1+4, fig2) to close the replacement opening, wherein the housing or the cover has at least one elastically deformable sealing section (21 can be considered part of either the housing or the cover, fig8) that forms an elevated portion (above 2, therefore considered elevated, relatively, fig8) at a side wall (of the cover, clips of cover being the two walls that close into housing – see annotated figure) of the housing or the cover, wherein the elevated portion extends peripherally around the sidewall (see fig8), wherein the elastically deformable sealing section can be at least one of compressed between the cover and the housing or elastically deformed along the plug-on direction by plugging on the cover onto the housing for sealing the replacement opening. (fig8).
Claim 2. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, wherein the cover has a closing plate (planar plate of cover 2) that is oriented perpendicular (extends side to side relative to the longitudinal direction of the plug-on direction, fig1-8) to the plug-on direction and that, when the cover is plugged onto the housing, extends along a plane of extent of the replacement opening (fig8), and wherein the cover has a plug-on collar (chamfered edge of 2, where 2 is labeled in fig8) that adjoins the closing plate and that extends peripherally around the closing plate in the plug-on direction, wherein the plug-on collar is configured to cooperate with the at least one elastically deformable sealing section of the housing (fig8), or wherein the plug-on collar has the at least elastically deformable one sealing section.
Claim 3. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 2, wherein the housing has the at least one sealing section (21 can be considered part of housing) and wherein the plug-on collar is configured to cooperate with the at least one elastically deformable sealing section in order to seal the replacement opening. (fig8)
Claim 4. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, wherein the at least one elastically deformable sealing section extends from the side wall (when assembled, sealing section 21 extends from sidewalls of 4 of housing into the inner space of the housing fig1) of the housing into an inner space of the housing (when assembled, see fig 1, sealing section is in the inner space of housing 1+4 and when installed is considered to extend from the side wall of the housing.)
Claim 7. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, wherein the housing surrounds the electric motor in a sealing manner. (fig1)
Claim 9. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, wherein the housing forms a flexible inner sleeve (4 is considered the inner sleeve; NOTE: All material has a degree of flexibility to it) of the hoop lock and wherein the hoop lock has a rigid outer housing (1 is considered the outer housing because the entire housing is two pieces are separate) which surrounds the housing and at which the housing is supported.
Claim 10. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 9, wherein the outer housing has a housing opening (bottom opening of 1) that surrounds the replacement opening and that is bounded by a peripheral marginal section (bottom section of walls of 1), wherein the housing extends (bottom plate of housing 1 extends beyond the outer housing 1) against the plug-on direction beyond the outer housing and engages over (from the bottom perspective, fig1) the marginal section.
Claim 11. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 9, wherein the housing has, at an outer side, an elevated support portion (see annotated figure) that engages into a support recess (interior of 1) of the outer housing.
Claim 13. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, wherein a rigid holder (because 1 and 4 are separate pieces of what is considered the housing, and because the rigid holder is in the housing, the base of 4 that holds the energy source (10) is considered the rigid holder – see annotated figure, fig4) for holding the energy source is arranged in the housing.
Claim 14. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 13, wherein the housing has a housing support edge (side interior edges of 1 of housing) extending into an inner space of the housing and wherein the rigid holder has an outwardly extending holder support edge (exterior side edges of 4 of housing/rigid holder, annotated figure), wherein the holder is supported with the holder support edge along the plug-on direction at the housing support edge.
Claim 15. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, wherein the cover has at least one support section (chamfered edge of 2) that extends into the housing when the cover is plugged on and that is configured to secure the energy source against a movement opposite the plug-on direction.
Claim 16. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, wherein the elastically deformable sealing section is configured as a peripheral sealing lip. (fig8)
Claim 17. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, wherein two peripheral sealing sections arranged offset (another seal is sleeve 35, therefore 35 and 21 are considered two peripheral sealing sections) from one another along the plug-on direction are provided at the housing or the cover. (fig1-8)
Claim 19. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, wherein the cover can be released from the housing without tools in the fully assembled state of the hoop lock. (sidewalls of cover enable the user to pull cover off without tools, fig1-8)
Claim 20. Li discloses the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, wherein at least one of: no separate fastening device (the fastening device of the cover is part of the sidewalls and therefore not separate, in order to fasten the cover to the housing) is provided for fastening the cover to the housing or no additional sealing device is arranged axially between the housing and the cover with respect to the plug-on direction. (fig1-8)
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) 5-6,8,12,18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li CN 215565161 U (Applicant IDS reference, hereinafter referred to as Li), as applied to claim 1 above, alone.
Claim 5. Li teaches the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, but does not teach the material of the housing. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the material of the housing of Li to be wherein the entire housing is at least one of elastically deformable or made of silicone, in order to provide a more durable housing for the lock interior components since it has been held that the selection of known material for its intended use is a design consideration that is of routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144.
Claim 6. Li teaches the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, with a sealing section (21) and a housing (1+4) however does not teach wherein the at least one sealing section is integrally formed in one piece with the housing. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the sealing section and housing of Li and modify it to be integrally formed in one piece in order to simplify the assembly process since it has been held that making separable parts integral is a design consideration of routine skill in the art since the device would function equivalent. MPEP 2144.
Claim 8. Li teaches the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, with a latching bead and peripheral latch groove, however Li’s latching bead (the edges of the clip on cover 2) is on the cover and the latching groove is on the housing (4 of housing, see annotated figure), wherein the latching bead engages into the latch groove when the cover is plugged on. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to rearrange the portable hoop lock wherein the housing has a peripheral latching bead and wherein a peripheral latch groove is formed at the cover, since it has been held that the rearrangement of parts, which does not alter the functionality of the device, is a design consideration that is of routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144.
Claim 12. Li teaches the portable hoop lock according to claim 9, with an outer housing (1) and lock hoop (3) but does not teach its material. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the material of Li to be wherein at least one of the outer housing or the lock hoop is made of an electrically non-conductive material, in order to provide a more safe housing for the lock interior components since it has been held that the selection of known material for its intended use is a design consideration that is of routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144
Claim 18. Li teaches the portable hoop lock according to claim 1, with a housing and cover but doe snot teach wherein at least one of the sealing section, the housing or the cover are formed from an acid-resistant material. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the material of the housing or the cover of Li to be formed from an acid- resistant material in order to provide a more durable housing or cover for the lock interior components since it has been held that the selection of known material for its intended use is a design consideration that is of routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144.
Annotated Figures
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Art is related to hoop locks.
Related but not relied upon prior art includes: US 6047575, US 6046558, US 11352817.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARIA F. AHMAD whose telephone number is (571)270-1334. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5:30 pm.
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, Christine M. Mills can be reached at (571) 272-8322. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/F.F.A./
Examiner
Art Unit 3675
/CHRISTINE M MILLS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3675