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 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.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “ a cam follower member (31, 41) intended to cooperate with the guide groove”. The use of “intended” renders the claim indefinite as it is unclear whether the cam follower cooperates with the guide groove based on the language of the claim. For the purposes of compact prosecution, the phrase “intended to cooperate” will be examined as if amended to recite “which cooperates”.
Claim 9 recites the limitation "the distance from the guide groove (22) to the axis of rotation" in ln.3.
Claim 13 recites the limitations:
"the bottom" and "the body" in ln. 2
"the top" in ln. 3
There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims.
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.
Claims 1-3, 6-7, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kaneko (JP 2534428, cited on IDS, hereinafter Kaneko).
Regarding claim 1, Kaneko discloses an “Animation mechanism comprising: a cam mounted to move in rotation around an axis of rotation of the cam (4), the cam comprising a guide groove (4a), a first animation member (10) kinematically connected to the cam by a first transmission member (11), a second animation member (3) kinematically connected to the cam by a second transmission member (13), the first transmission member and the second transmission member each comprising a cam follower member intended to cooperate with the guide groove (11 and 13 cooperate with groove 4a).”
Regarding claim 2, Kaneko discloses “the second animation member is kinematically connected to the first animation member (11 and 13 are connected via 4a).”
Regarding claim 3, Kaneko discloses “the second animation member (3) is mounted to move in rotation with respect to the first animation member (3 moves rotationally with respect to 1).”
Regarding claim 6, Kaneko discloses “the guide groove (4a) is arranged around the axis of rotation of the cam (4a surrounds the axis of rotation of 4) and wherein said cam follower member is inserted in the guide groove (11 and 13 cooperate with 4a).”
Regarding claim 7, Kaneko discloses “the guide groove (4a) forms a closed curve.”
Regarding claim 15, Kaneko discloses “Timepiece comprising an animation mechanism as claimed in claim 1 (the animation mechanism is for a mechanical clock).”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 and 8-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but contain subject matter which would be allowable if incorporated into the independent claim including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
No prior art was found wherein an animation mechanism for a timepiece comprises a single rotating cam with a single inset, non-circular, and closed loop guide groove, the groove having at least one active and one inactive portion, cooperates with first and second cam followers having cooperating transmission members, and further wherein when the cam follower member of the first transmission member follows an active portion of the guide groove, the cam follower member of the second transmission member follows an inactive portion of the guide groove, and when the cam follower member of the second transmission member follows an active portion of the guide groove, the cam follower member of the first transmission member follows an inactive portion of the guide groove.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Maddocks, et al. – WO 2021188788 – Discloses an animation mechanism which uses two cam followers following internal grooves in a rotating cam. However, the device employs two closed loop guide grooves which are on opposite faces of the cam to create the animated effect.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J WALKER whose telephone number is (571)270-7599. The examiner can normally be reached from 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM ET Monday through Friday.
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/MICHAEL JAMES WALKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2831
/EDWIN A. LEON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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