DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term "means" or "step" or a term used as a substitute for "means" that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term "means" or "step" or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word "for" (e.g., "means for") or another linking word or phrase, such as "configured to" or "so that"; and
(C) the term "means" or "step" or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word "means" (or "step") in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word "means" (or "step") in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
If claim limitations in this application that use the word "means" (or "step"), they are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, if claim limitations in this application that do not use the word "means" (or "step"), they are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Regarding claim 1, lines 5-8, the limitation, “wherein the distance is a first distance when the rocker is in the first rocker position and a second distance when the rocker is in the second rocker position, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance” is unclear. Para. 68 of the specification merely discloses when the rocker 80 is opened, a spacing between the tensioning wheel 87 and tensioning plate 89 is increased. Nowhere in the specification discloses the specific first and second distances as claimed. It is unclear if the rocker moves in a shorter distance to achieve the first distance and a longer distance to achieve the second distance. The specification does not disclose that the rocker moves twice to change a distance between the tensioning wheel and the tensioning plate. Therefore, it is unclear how one would make the strapping device based on this claimed subject matter.
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 20 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.
In line 2, there is no antecedent basis for the limitation, “the shaft” in the claim.
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 pre-AIA 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 –
(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of application for patent in the United States.
Claims 1, 6, and 20, as best understood, are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being anticipated by Reiche (US 6,516,715).
Regarding claim 1, Reiche discloses a strapping device comprising:
a tensioning wheel (13) rotatable about a tensioning axis (27);
a tensioning plate. (16)
a rocker (24) movable between a first rocker position and a second rocker position to change a distance between the tensioning wheel and the tensioning plate (see fig. 1 to fig. 2), wherein the distance is a first distance when the rocker is in the first rocker position (fig. 1) and a second distance when the rocker is in the second rocker position (fig. 2), wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance (fig. 2 shows the distance between the tensioning wheel and the tensioning plate is greater than the distance between the tensioning wheel and the tensioning plate as shown in figure 1); and
a motor (see “the drive” in col. 5, line 64) configured to cause the rocker to move from the first rocker position to the second rocker position without driving the tensioning wheel to rotate about the tensioning axis. [(See col. 6, line 17 to col. 7, line 3), which discloses the drive (i.e. a motor) of the tensioning wheel is switch off, this cause a welding process to start and eventually “cause” the rocker to move from the first rocker position to the second rocker position to separate the distance between the tensioning wheel (13) and the tensioning plate (16) from a position in figure 1 to a position in figure 2. It is noted that the claim does not recite that the motor directly moves the rocker].
Regarding claim 6, the strapping device of claim 1, wherein the motor (see “the drive” in col. 5, line 64) is further configured to drive the tensioning wheel (13) to rotate about the tensioning axis (27) without causing the rocker to move from the first rocker position to the second rocker position (see col. 5, lines 58-67).
Regarding claim 20, the strapping device of claim 1, wherein the motor is further configured to drive the tensioning wheel (13) to rotate about the tensioning axis (27) without driving a shaft (26) to rotate to cause the rocker (24) to move from the first rocker position to the second rocker position (see col. 5, lines 58-67).
Conclusion
It is noted that claims 2-5 and 7-19 have not been rejected over prior art. However, in view of the issues under 35 USC 112 rejections as set forth above, the allowability of the claims cannot be determined at this time.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 8,387,523 discloses a rocker assembly.
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JIMMY T. NGUYEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3725
/JIMMY T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3725
