DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 9/21/2026 has been entered.
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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 9/21/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-3, 5-7, 9-10, 15-21 and 24-28 remain pending in the application. New claims 24-28 have been added to the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments regarding the 35 USC 103 rejection of claims 1-3, 5-7, 9-10, 15-21 and 24-28, have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the references being used in the current rejection. Note discussion of US Patent 8490765 issued to Lee, below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 26, the claim recites “the leg member is configured to lie flush with the back side of the protective cover when the leg member is placed in the fully extended position”. This is not shown or expressed anywhere in the disclosure. For purposes of examination, the claim to be “the leg member is configured to lie flush with the back side of the protective cover when the leg member is placed in the fully retracted position”
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-6, 9-10, 15-18 and 21, and 24-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by US Patent 6401888 issued to Kuo (Here forth “Kuo”) in view of US Patent 8490765 issued to Lee (Here forth “Lee”).
Regarding claim 1, Kuo discloses a bag, comprising: an elongated body configured to receive golf equipment (Fig 5 of Kuo, the bag shown comprises an elongated body that is capable of receiving golf equipment of a certain size);
a protective cover extending along a back side of the elongated body (Fig 3 of Kuo, groove 11 is formed by walls that are the protective cover and extend along the back side of the elongated body 1 of the bag), the protective cover comprising a recessed portion formed along a back side of the protective cover (Fig 3 of Kuo, Protective cover is formed by the walls that the groove 11 is formed within, the groove 11 is the recessed portion and is along the back side if the protective cover);
one or more wheels or rollers integrated with the protective cover (Fig 3 of Kuo, the wheel10 is within the groove 11/recessed portion of the protective cover); and
a leg assembly pivotably coupled to the protective cover (Fig 5 of Kuo, the leg assembly 2 is pivotably coupled to the protective cover as the protective cover is coupled to the elongated body 1),
wherein the leg assembly comprises (i) a leg member configured to move between a plurality of different locked positions (Fig 5 of Kuo, the leg assembly 3 can move between at least two locked positions as the pivot between elements 341 and 340 aid in locking the locked positions between the fully retracted position within the protective cover and fully extended position outside the protective cover), (ii) an additional wheel disposed on a distal end of the leg member (Fig 3 of Kuo, the leg assembly 3 contains an additional wheel 32), and (iii) a foot pedal provided along the leg member (Fig 5 of Kuo, the foot pedal 342 is provided along the leg member 3), wherein the foot pedal is configured to release the leg member from the plurality of different locked positions (Fig 5 of Kuo, the leg assembly 3 can move between at least two locked positions as the pivot between elements 341 and 340 aid in locking the locked positions between the fully retracted position within the protective cover and fully extended position outside the protective cover with the aid of foot pedal 342), wherein the leg member is movable to a fully extended position (Fig 5 of Kuo) in which [Not taught: the distal end of the leg member is positioned above a hinged connection coupling a proximal end of the leg member to the protective cover when the bag is in an upright position or a tilted position with the one or more wheels or rollers contacting a ground surface under the bag].
Kuo does not expressly disclose the distal end of the leg member being positioned above the hinge.
Lee disclose a similar leg assembly teaches the distal end of the leg member is positioned above a hinged connection coupling a proximal end of the leg member to the protective cover when the bag is in an upright position or a tilted position with the one or more wheels or rollers contacting a ground surface under the bag (Fig 7d of Lee, the leg shape is curved upwards so that the distal end is above the hinged connection to the luggage; the distal end of the leg member is disposed on one side of the hinged connection when the leg member is in a retracted position or a partially extended position, and wherein the distal end of the leg member is disposed on another side of the hinged connection when the leg member is in the fully extended position; the leg member receiving structure is disposed between the hinged connection and a top end of the bag; Fig 7a-d of Lee, the leg member is pivotable more than 120 degrees about the hinged connection).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Kuo and Lee before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the leg assembly of Kuo to have the leg curved upwards which that the leg member is positioned above the hinged connection, as taught by Lee, to advantageously increase the range of motion of that the legs can reach to aid the user.
Regarding claim 2, Kuo further discloses wherein the leg assembly further comprises (iv) a foot-activated release mechanism configured to release the leg member from the recessed portion of the protective cover (Fig 5 of Kuo, the foot-activated release mechanism includes elements 341, 340 and the pivot in-between those two elements).
Regarding claim 3, Kuo further discloses wherein the foot-activated release mechanism is provided within the recessed portion of the protective cover (Fig 5-6 of Kuo, the foot-activated release mechanism includes elements 341, 340 and the pivot in-between; in the retracted position, the elements 341, 340 and the pivot in-between is provided within the recessed portion 11 of the protective cover).
Regarding claim 5, Kuo further discloses wherein the hinged connection is disposed within the recessed portion of the protective cover (Fig 5-6 of Kuo, the leg assembly 3 comprises a hinged connection that can be seen between the elongated body 1 and leg assembly 3 and is disposed within the recessed portion 11).
Regarding claim 6, Kuo further discloses, wherein the leg member is movable between (i) a retracted position in which at least a portion of the leg member is positioned within the recessed portion of the protective cover and (ii) an extended position in which at least a portion of the leg member is positioned outside of the recessed portion of the protective cover (Fig 5-6 of Kuo).
Regarding claim 9, Kuo further discloses wherein the additional wheel is configured to swivel between (i) a first configuration in which the additional wheel is deployable to support or transport the bag and (ii) a second configuration in which the additional wheel is positionable within the recessed portion of the protective cover (Fig 5-6 of Kuo, the wheel 32 swivels out via the leg assembly 3 between a first configuration and second configuration outside the recessed portion 11 and inside).
Regarding claim 10, Kuo further discloses wherein the additional wheel is configured to rotate about a first axis when the additional wheel is in the first configuration (Fig 5 of Kuo, the wheel 32 rotates about an axis), wherein the first axis is parallel to a rotational axis of the one or more wheels or rollers integrated with the protective cover (Fig 5 of Kuo, the rotational axis will across the axis of wheel 10 and the first axis will be across the axis of wheel 32 which are parallel to each other), and wherein the additional wheel is configured to rotate about a second axis that is different than the first axis when the additional wheel is in the second configuration (Fig 6 of Kuo, the rotational axis will across the axis of wheel 10 and the second axis will be across the axis of wheel 32 which are parallel to each other), wherein the second axis is skewed relative to the rotational axis of the one or more wheels or rollers integrated with the protective cover (Fig 5-6 of Kuo, the second axis is skewed relative to the rotation axis of the wheels 32).
Regarding claim 15, Kuo further discloses wherein the leg member is movable between (i) the fully extended position and (ii) one or more other extended positions in which at least a portion of the leg member is positioned outside of the recessed portion of the protective cover (Fig 5 of Kuo).
Regarding claim 16, Kuo further discloses wherein the protective cover includes a gap or a spacing provided along an upper edge of the protective cover (Fig 3 of Kuo, gap or spacing 11 is within the protective cover into which leg assembly 3 retracts).
Regarding claim 17, Kuo further discloses wherein the leg member is configured to pivot beyond the upper edge of the protective cover by moving through the gap or spacing provided along the upper edge of the protective cover (Fig 5 of Kuo).
Regarding claim 18, Kuo further discloses further comprising a leg member receiving structure provided along the upper portion of the elongated body (Fig 3 of Kuo, leg member receiving structure 11 is within the protective cover into which leg assembly 3 retracts along a portion of the elongated body if the lower portion is considered everything below the wheel housing of wheels 10 and everything else is considered the upper portion), wherein the leg member is configured to lock into the leg member receiving structure to form a protective spine along the back side of the elongated body (Fig 1 of Kuo, leg member that is part of leg assembly 3 forms a protective spine along backside of the elongated body when received within leg receiving structure 11).
Regarding claim 21, Kuo further discloses wherein a body portion of the leg member is rotatable relative to the proximal end of the leg member (Fig 5-6 of Kuo, the leg member rotates to extend around proximal end of leg).
Regarding claim 24, Kuo as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the distal end of the leg member is disposed on one side of the hinged connection when the leg member is in a retracted position or a partially extended position, and wherein the distal end of the leg member is disposed on another side of the hinged connection when the leg member is in the fully extended position (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 1; Fig 7d of Lee).
Regarding claim 25, Kuo as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the leg member is pivotable more than 120 degrees about the hinged connection (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 1; Fig 7a-d of Lee).
Regarding claim 26, Kuo further discloses wherein the leg member is configured to lie flush with the back side of the protective cover when the leg member is placed in the fully extended position (Fig 2 of Kuo, Claim is rejected according to 112a statement above; the leg member has a portion that is flush with the backside of the protective cover when retracted).
Regarding claim 27, Kuo further discloses wherein the gap or spacing is disposed above the hinged connection coupling the proximal end of the leg member to the protective cover (Fig 5-6 of Kuo, in the extend position, a gap is the receiving groove 11 between the hinged connection of the leg member and protective cover).
Regarding claim 28, Kuo as modified includes all of the limitations including wherein the leg member receiving structure is disposed between the hinged connection and a top end of the bag (See the detailed description of the rejection of claim 1; Fig 7d of Lee).
Claims 7 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuo in view of US Patent 8764030 issued to Murphy (Here forth “Murphy”).
Regarding claim 7, Kuo does not expressly disclose wherein the additional wheel is rotatably coupled to the leg member.
Murphy discloses a similar bag that teaches wherein the additional wheel is rotatably coupled to the leg member (Fig 6 of Murphy, additional wheel 500 is rotatably couples via joint 514; the additional wheel 500 is configured to swivel about the distal end of the leg member 510).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Kuo and Murphy before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the bag of Kuo to have the additional wheel be rotatable, as taught by Murphy, to advantageously adjust the angle of the wheel to aid the intended user.
Regarding claim 19, Kuo as modified does not expressly disclose the limitation further comprising an actuator configured to release the leg member from the leg member receiving structure.
Murphy discloses a similar bag that teaches further comprising an actuator configured to release the leg member from the leg member receiving structure (Fig 2 of Kuo, handle 110 not only can be used to pull the bag after the additional leg 510 is deployed but is an actuator that when pulled in direction 112 deploys the legs).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Kuo and Murphy before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the bag of Kuo to have the legs be deployed via actuator release, as taught by Murphy, to advantageously aid the user in easily deploying the additional leg.
Regarding claim 20, Kuo does not expressly disclose the limitation further comprising a panel or a layer of material configured to cover the recessed portion of the protective cover when the leg assembly is retracted into or positioned within the recessed portion of the protective cover.
Murphy further comprising a panel or a layer of material configured to cover the recessed portion of the protective cover when the leg assembly is retracted into or positioned within the recessed portion of the protective cover (Fig 1 of Murphy, material covers retracted legs when retracting within leg receiving portion).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art having the teachings of Kuo and Murphy before them, when the application was filed, to have modified the bag of Kuo to have a layer of material configured to cover the recessed portion of the protective cover when the leg assembly is retracted into or positioned within the recessed portion of the protective cover , as taught by Murphy, to advantageously protect the additional legs when not in use.
Conclusion
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/JESSICA KAVINI TAMIL/Examiner, Art Unit 3733
/ANDREW T KIRSCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733
