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
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 3 a “the” should be inserted before “one end of the transmission shaft that is away from the lower-body assembly”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 10 the “to” after “approach” should be omitted for clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 4 the phrase “to implement that” would be clearer as “such that”. 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.
Claims 2-6 and 8 are 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.
Claim 2 discloses the rotating shaft assembly having “rotatable bearings” and then goes on to disclose “an elastic positioning ring” for abutting the rotary bearings which is worded in a way that makes it unclear if there is an elastic positioning ring for each rotary bearing or just a single bearing that contacts all the rotatable bearings and as such the scope of the claim is unclear. For the purposes of examination the claim will be interpreted as having a plurality of rotary bearings and a plurality of elastic positioning rings wherein each positioning ring is elastically clamped with the transmission shaft and abuts against a respective rotary bearing.
Claim 5 discloses the limitation of the long shaft parts being “loosened” which is unclear as to what is actually required to happen to the long shaft parts and as such the scope is unascertainable. For the purposes of examination, the claim will be interpreted as the long shaft parts being released since the previous limitation requires the parts to be pressed.
Claim 6 discloses the top having “four clamping claws” but previous claim 4 on which this claim depends discloses that the top includes “a plurality of clamping jaws” making it unclear how these parts are intended to relate to each other since they appear connected but the relationship is not provided and as such what is actually required to meet the claims is unascertainable. For the purposes of examination, claim 4 will be interpreted as requiring a plurality of clamping claws. Claim 6 also recites the limitation "the right short shaft part" and “the left short shaft part” in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. Further, the claim requires the claws are arranged to “tilt to one side of the transmission shaft” which is unclear since the claws are arranged on different sides of the shaft part so it is unknown how they all tilt to the same side of the transmission shaft. For the purposes of examination, the claim will be interpreted as the clamping claws arranged to tilt toward the transmission shaft.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the rotary bearings" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The claim also discloses having “second fasteners” which is unclear since no other fasteners are disclosed by the claims making it unclear what is actually required to meet the limitations of the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wingert (1109562). Wingert discloses a spinning top toy (Fig. 1) having a lower-body assembly (13), a counterweight component (24) disposed on the lower-body assembly, a rotating shaft assembly with a transmission shaft (10) fixed to the lower-body assembly and penetrating through the lower-body assembly (Fig. 2) and an upper body assembly with a rotating support (26) that is rotatable and connected with an end of the transmission shaft that is positioned away from the lower-body assembly (Fig. 2). At least one rotary bearing (25) is connected with the end of the transmission shaft by a ring (16) that is positioned away from the lower-body assembly for connecting with the rotatable upper-body assembly (Fig. 2).
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.
Claim(s) 2-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wingert as applied above and further in view of Schaer (2004/0077271). Wingert discloses the basic inventive concept with the exception of having at least two rotary bearings and an elastic positioning ring for each rotary bearing that is configured with an elastic cylinder and a plurality of clamping claws. Schaer discloses a spinning top toy that includes an elastic or resilient ring formed as a cylinder (124) with a plurality of clamping claws (124a-c) that is clamped on a shaft for abutting against and retaining a component onto the spinning top toy (Fig. 5, paragraphs 33 & 39). Although, Schaer does not disclose that the elastic ring is used for positioning bearings, it does teach using an elastic ring for positioning desired components on a toy top and as such it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the ring of Wingert as a resilient ring as taught by Schaer for the predictable result of securely positioning components on a top in a desired manner. In regard to having at least two rotary bearings and an elastic positioning ring for each bearing, the examiner notes that such a modification would have involved a mere duplication of parts which has been held to be an obvious modification unless a new or unexpected result is produced. See In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960).
Claim(s) 7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wingert as applied for claim 1 above and further in view of Crosby (4695262). Wingert discloses the basic inventive concept with the exception of the upper-body assembly having an upper-body outer part formed as a torso that is removably connected to the rotating support, a doll head removably connected with the torso part and an arm part removably connected with the torso part. Crosby discloses a spinning toy top with an upper assembly including an outer part defining a torso part with a head and arms attached to the torso part (Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the upper assembly of Wingert to include a torso, a head and arms for the predictable result of providing a top with increased visual appeal and entertainment value. In regard to the torso, head and arms being removably connected, the examiner notes that making parts separable has been held to be an obvious matter of design choice. See In re Dulberg, 289 F.2d 522, 523, 129 USPQ 348, 349 (CCPA 1961).
Claim(s) 1 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brown (3523386) and Polare (2003/0077977). Brown discloses a spinning top toy (Fig. 3) having a lower-body assembly (16), a counterweight component (118) disposed in the lower-body assembly, a rotating shaft assembly with a transmission shaft (111) fixed to the lower-body assembly and penetrating through the lower-body assembly (Fig. 3) and an upper body assembly with a rotating support (121) that is rotatable and connected with an end of the transmission shaft that is positioned away from the lower-body assembly (Fig. 3). The lower-body assembly further has the transmission shaft fixed to the lower-body component and the counterweight component by penetrating through both the lower-body component and counterweight component (Fig. 3). The counterweight component has a disk-shaped counterweight block with a disk part, a shaft hole part at a center of the disk part and a circular ring part connected at an outer ring of the disk part for connecting to the lower-body component (Fig. 3). A cover plate (119) is located above the counterweight component and is in fit connection with the lower-body component via the transmission shaft (Fig. 3). Brown discloses the basic inventive concept with the exception of having a soft rubber ring disposed at an end of the lower-body component away from the upper-body assembly and a removable outer accessory connected to an outer wall of the lower-body component. Polare discloses a spinning toy top with a soft rubber ring positioned on a body component away from an upper portion thereof for removably connecting outer accessory components (24a, b) to an outer wall of the body component (Fig. 2, paragraphs 20 $ 31). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art from the teaching of Polare to include a rubber ring with removable accessories to the top of Brown for the predictable result of providing enhanced utility and functionality as well as increased visual appeal (paragraph 31).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 and 8 could be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, as set forth and interpreted in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See GB2593129, 2013/0102223, 6406349, 5026057 and 4772241.
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/A.M.H/Examiner, Art Unit 3711 /EUGENE L KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3711
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