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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on December 9, 2025 has been entered.
Priority
Examiner acknowledges applicant’s cancellation of priority claim, as presented in applicant’s amendments to the specification filed on 06/25/2025. See paragraphs 2 and 3 of the first non-final office action mailed-out to applicant on 03/25/2025, which present the basis for applicant’s cancellation of priority claim.
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is in response to applicant's amendments filed on 12/09/2025. Examiner has acknowledged and reviewed applicant's amendment of claims 1, 6 – 8, 10, 11, and the cancellation of claim 5. Examiner has reviewed amended claims 1, 6 – 8, 10, 11 and those claims do not constitute new matter issues.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, filed on 12/09/2025, with respect to the examiner’s rejections of claims s 1 - 11, presented in the previous office action mailed to applicant on 09 July 2025, have been considered, but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection, presented below.
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.
Claims 1 – 4, 6 - 11 are rejected under 35 U. S. C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by (CN 219509965 U); applicant(s) requested that their name(s) not be published.
Regarding claim 1, (CN 219509965 U) discloses a telescopic rod (page 6,
paragraph 2, line 1) comprising:
an elastic damping structure comprising at least two sections of a tube(pipe body), wherein the at least two sections are sleeved in sequence from inside to outside (page 6, paragraph 2, lines 1 and 2);
wherein the elastic damping structure is arranged between two adjacent sections of the tube; wherein the two adjacent sections of the tube comprise an inner tube (pipe) and an outer tube (pipe) (page 6, paragraph 2, lines 4 and 5);
wherein the elastic damping structure comprises a damping member (piece) and an elastic member (piece) (page 6, paragraph 3, lines 1 and 2);
wherein the damping member (piece) is arranged between an end of the inner tube (pipe) and an inner wall of the outer tube (pipe) (page 6, paragraph 3, lines 2 and 3);
wherein the damping member comprises two damping sleeves, wherein a portion of two damping sleeves is disposed between the outer wall of the inner tube and the inner wall of the outer tube, a mounting base plate connected to each of the two damping sleeves and extending toward the end surface of the inner tube (page 6, paragraph 4, lines 1 - 5), and a mounting seat extending into an inner cavity of the inner tube disposed on the mounting base plate (page 6, paragraph 3, lines 1 - 10);
wherein the elastic member is placed inside the mounting seat entirely within the inner cavity of the inner tube without occupying space between the inner tube and the outer tube (page 6, paragraph 4, lines 6 - 8);
wherein one end of the elastic member (piece) is configured to abut against the mounting seat of a first damping sleeve of the two damping sleeves (page 7, paragraph 4, lines 1 - 4) and the other end is configured to abut against a part of the inner wall of the inner tube or the mounting seat of a second damping sleeve of the two damping sleeves (page 7, paragraph 3, lines 1 - 3);
wherein an elastic force of the elastic member (piece) is configured to drive the inner tube (pipe), the damping member (piece) and the outer tube (pipe) to fit closely and form a friction damping with the damping member (piece) and the inner wall of the outer tube (pipe) (page 6, paragraph 3, lines 14 and 15);
wherein the inner tube (pipe) is configured to slide along an inner wall surface of the outer tube (pipe) through the damping member (piece) and is configured to maintain in a relative position after sliding through the damping member (piece) (page 6, paragraph 3, lines 5 - 7).
Regarding claim 2, (CN 219509965 U) discloses (in claim 2) the telescopic rod:
wherein the mounting (bottom pate) base comprises a mounting seat extending into an inner cavity of the inner tube (pipe);
wherein one end of the elastic member (piece) is in contact with the mounting seat, and the other end is in contact with the inner wall of the inner tube (pipe).
Regarding claim 3, (CN 219509965 U) discloses (in claim 3) the telescopic rod, further comprising a mounting groove with an opening at one end in the mounting seat, wherein a part of the elastic member (piece) is arranged in the mounting groove, and the other part extends out of the opening of the mounting groove to abut against the inner wall of the inner tube (pipe).
Regarding claim 4, (CN 219509965 U) discloses (in claim 4) the telescopic rod,
further comprising a mounting hole disposed at a tube wall of the inner tube (pipe), and
further comprising a positioning (locating lug) boss disposed at the inner wall of the
damping sleeve, wherein the positioning boss protrudes outward and extends into the
mounting hole.
Regarding claim 6, (CN 219509965 U) discloses (in claim 6) the telescopic rod,
wherein the first damping sleeve comprises an elastic structure arching inwardly to
elastically resist the outer wall of the inner tube (pipe).
Regarding claim 7, (CN 219509965 U) discloses (in claim 7) the telescopic rod,
wherein the connection direction of two disconnection intervals is perpendicular to
the connection direction of the two positioning (locating lug) bosses.
Regarding claim 8, (CN 219509965 U) discloses (in claim 8) the telescopic rod,
further comprising:
a pair positioning ribs are disposed at the inner wall of the outer tube (pipe) and are on the same circle as the two damping sleeves (page 7, paragraph 5, lines 1 and 2), and
wherein the two positioning ribs pass through the disconnection (cutting) intervals between the two damping sleeves at corresponding positions (page 7, paragraph 5, lines 2 - 4).
Regarding claim 9, (CN 219509965 U) discloses (in claim 9) the telescopic rod, wherein the mounting hole on the inner tube (pipe) is disposed at the positioning (locating) rib of the inner tube (pipe).
Regarding claim 10, (CN 219509965 U) discloses the telescopic
rod, further comprising:
a reinforcing rib (locating lug boss) disposed at the positioning boss of the two damping sleeves and coaxially arranged with the positioning (locating rib on the inner tube (pipe) (page 7, paragraph 6, line 2) ) (page 8, paragraph 1, line 1); and
wherein the inner wall surface of reinforcing (lug) boss is configured to protrude from the inner wall surface of the inner tube (pipe) (page 8, paragraph 1, lines 2 and 3).
Regarding claim 11, (CN 219509965 U) discloses (in claim 11) the telescopic
rod, wherein the positioning rib on the inner tube (pipe) and the positioning rib on the
outer tube (pipe) are arranged at about 90 degrees (page 8, paragraph 2, lines 3 and 4).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WARREN K FENWICK whose telephone number is (571)270-3040. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30 AM to 7:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
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, Walter L. Lindsay, Jr. can be reached at 571-272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WALTER L LINDSAY JR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2852
WKF