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 .
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) 1-9 and 11-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin (KR 102105432 B1) in view of Eckmann (US 5823922). With respect to claims 1, 3-4, 6-8, 11-16, Jin discloses the basic claimed structure including a water vessel 100 with four handles 110 connected to an upper surface of the vessel (Figure 7), the handle having an outboard side facing an outer edge portion of the vessel and an inboard side facing an inner edge portion of the vessel. Not disclosed by Jin is a hooded component. Eckmann teaches a hood component 12 sized to at least partially cover a handle 3 including a top and an outboard side. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the device of Jin with a hooded component for the handles including an outboard side as taught by Eckmann with a high likelihood of success for safety by protecting the fingers of a user. The combination combines known features to achieve predictable results. The combination would inherently provide hand protection when the board is in use. With respect to claims 2, 6-7, 9, note Jin, Figure 7. With respect to claims 5, 11, it would have been an obvious choice of engineering design to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the hooded component of a plastic material with a high likelihood of success for improved durability in water conditions. Note that a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have has some years of experience and would have been familiar with various handle assemblies and handle materials including plastic. Such a person would have found the combination to have been obvious.
Claim 10 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Jaeger (US 4743017) shows a handle. Tobin (US 3992021) shows a handle and guard.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN AVILA whose telephone number is (571)272-6678. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 6-4.
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STEPHEN AVILA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3617
/STEPHEN P AVILA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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