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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Applicant has not complied with one or more conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. 120 as follows:
The prior filed applications do not contain any disclosure or embodiments in which a first and second housing with a hinge having the form of a rod-shaped structure connecting them together to be movable relative to each other and a latch member positioned opposite to that hinge member with respect to the camera receiving cavity and either the first and second housing portions being configured to be coplanar when to the latch member is in the closed position to fix the first and second housing portions relative to each other each other or the inclusions of protrusions extending from the first housing portion adjacent to the hinge as is required by claim 21.
The only embodiment which involves a hinge structure which can be considered to be opposite to a latch structure (relative to a camera cavity) is the configuration in Figures 1A-1C in which a hinge structure 132, 134, 136 is positioned opposite a latch structure 138 and with protrusions 124 located adjacent to it, but in this configuration the first and second housing portions (the front and rear portions of the camera case) are not coplanar to each other as is required by the claim.
The embodiments of Figures 3 and 4 do have multiple housing portions which adopt a coplanar relationship when a latch is engaged (segments of the upper portions 320-1-a and 320-1-b), but this embodiment does not include a hinge member which includes a rod shaped member and a latch mechanism which can be considered to be “opposite” to each other with respect to the cavity which receives the camera, instead they are adjacent to each other as all of the structures in these embodiments which could be the claimed hinge member (370-1, 370-2, 370-3, 370-4) are either parts of the latch itself or connect the latch to the housing members. There is not a combination of latch members and hinge members which are “opposite” to each other relative to the cavity, all are adjacent to each other. The embodiments of Figure 3-4 additionally do not have protrusions which extend adjacent to hinge members.
Because none of the disclosed, described, or drawn embodiments of the original or earlier applications describes the presently claimed invention with all of its limitations in a manner that conveys with reasonable clarity to those skilled in the art that the inventor was in possession of the invention as it is now claimed, claims 21-27 do not gain the benefit of the filing date of any of the earlier filed applications.
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 21-27 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 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.
The specification does not contain any disclosure or embodiments in which a first and second housing with a hinge having the form of a rod-shaped structure connecting them together to be movable relative to each other and a latch member positioned opposite to that hinge member with respect to the camera receiving cavity and either the first and second housing portions being configured to be coplanar when to the latch member is in the closed position to fix the first and second housing portions relative to each other each other or the inclusions of protrusions extending from the first housing portion adjacent to the hinge as is required by claim 21.
The only embodiment which involves a hinge structure which can be considered to be opposite to a latch structure (relative to a camera cavity) is the configuration in Figures 1A-1C in which a hinge structure 132, 134, 136 is positioned opposite a latch structure 138 and with protrusions 124 located adjacent to it, but in this configuration the first and second housing portions (the front and rear portions of the camera case) are not coplanar to each other as is required by the claim.
The embodiments of Figures 3 and 4 do have multiple housing portions which adopt a coplanar relationship when a latch is engaged (segments of the upper portions 320-1-a and 320-1-b), but this embodiment does not include a hinge member which includes a rod shaped member and a latch mechanism which can be considered to be “opposite” to each other with respect to the cavity which receives the camera, instead they are adjacent to each other as all of the structures in these embodiments which could be the claimed hinge member (370-1, 370-2, 370-3, 370-4) are either parts of the latch itself or connect the latch to the housing members. There is not a combination of latch members and hinge members which are “opposite” to each other relative to the cavity, all are adjacent to each other. The embodiments of Figure 3-4 additionally do not have protrusions which extend adjacent to hinge members.
Because none of the disclosed, described, or drawn embodiments of the specification describes the presently claimed invention with all of its limitations in a manner that conveys with reasonable clarity to those skilled in the art that the inventor was in possession of the invention as it is now claimed, claims 21-27 do not have written description support.
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 21-27 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.
With regard to claim 21: The claim recites limitations which appear to preclude each other. The claim requires that the first housing portion forms a first portion of a cavity that receives a camera and the second housing portion forms a second portion of the same cavity, then later requires that the first and second housing portions must be coplanar. For two elements to be coplanar they must by definition extend along the same 2-dimensional plane, which makes them incapable of defining a cavity between them which a person having skill in the art would recognize as allowing for a camera to be received within. The contradiction renders the claim indefinite as it appears impossible to satisfy both the limitations regarding the cavity and the limitation regarding coplanar arrangement of elements. Claims 22-27 depend from claim 21 and inherit this indefiniteness.
Unfortunately absent guidance from the specification which could be analyzed to attempt to determine the intended interpretation or which might lead a person having skill in the art to reasonably adopt a significantly broader interpretation of the term “coplanar” in light of the specification (and no such guidance is present due to the lack of written description support of the claimed combination of limitations) it is not possible to examine the claim (and the claims dependent thereupon) with regard to the prior art.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the arrangement of the first housing portion, second housing portion, hinge, and latch mechanism which when closed positions the first and second housing portions coplanar as claimed in claim 21 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 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 28-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the Geekanoids video titled “GoPro HD Hero 2 Action Camera Review” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmc9u5helB0 (Timestamped images of relevant portions attached, hereafter “Geekanoids”).
With regard to claim 28: Geekanoids discloses a camera housing which comprises: a first housing portion (a front housing portion, the portion which is being held by the reviewer at 2:17) which forms a first portion of a cavity that is configured to receive a camera (the camera is within the cavity at 2:17, the portion of the cavity formed by the first portion is the front, bottom, top, and sides of the cavity), the first housing portion including a first (bottom) side, a second side (a right side of the housing, a third (top) side opposite the first side, and a fourth (left) side; a second housing portion (the portion which is in a folded down position at 2:17) which forms a second portion of the cavity (the rear wall portion of the cavity). The housing includes a hinge proximate to the first (bottom) side of the first housing structure which connects the first housing portion to the second housing portion so that the second housing portion is movable relative to the first housing portion, the hinge comprises an inner hinge structure which is disposed on the first housing portion, an outer hinge structure which is disposed on the second housing portion, and a rod-shaped member extending through the inner and outer hinge structures to movably connect the first and second housing portions (the hinge structure is visible at 1:57 above the reviewer’s right thumb, the hinge takes the form of a pair of outwardly positioned cylindrical sections attached to the second housing portion and a pair of inner cylindrical sections attached to the first housing portion, the cylindrical sections having a hole through which a metal pin extends through). Geekanoids discloses the inclusion of a latch mechanism which is disposed on the third side opposite the first side (the black latch member is most visible at 1:49)) the latch mechanism being extendable from the first housing portion to the second housing portion to hook over a lip portion of the second housing structure and position a fastening structure into a recess of the second housing portion to connect the first housing portion to the second housing portion, the latch mechanism including a portion that is extendable beyond the second housing portion (the hook-haped position which engages with the second housing, visible hooked to the second housing at 1:53) so that when the latch mechanism is moved towards the first housing portion so that the second housing portion is secured against the first housing portion in the closed position (shown at 1:49 and 1:53).
With regard to claim 29: The latch mechanism of Geekanoids comprises a fastening structure (the hook shaped black portion) and the second housing portion comprises a recess (a groove which receives the tip of the hook) that the fastening structure is extendable into to connect the latch mechanism to the second housing portion.
With regard to claim 30: The hook tip of the fastening structure of Geekanoids is shown as extending parallel to the main body portion of the latch mechanism when the latch mechanism is in the latched position.
With regard to claim 31: The latch mechanism as shown in Geekanoids comprises a hinge mechanism that permits the latch mechanism to move relative to the first housing portion. Actuation of the latch mechanism at 2:15 shows this hinged movement.
With regard to claim 32: The hinge mechanism, as can be seen at 2:15, includes a pair of ear portions, positioned on the upper surface of the housing which receive a portion of the latch mechanism such that a rod (formed as part of the smaller black locking portion of the latching mechanism) extends through both the ear portions and a portion of the latch mechanism to form a pivotable connection.
With regard to claim 33: Geekanoids discloses the inclusion of outer buttons which are configured to allow a user to manipulate buttons of the camera through the camera housing, one positioned on the front of the camera casing (visible at 2:15) and one on the top (being pressed at 1:53).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5, 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Szucs et al (US PGPub 2012/0043236 A1) in view of Rayner (US PGPub 2014/0028243 A1).
With regard to claim 1: Szucs discloses a camera housing (a housing for an iPhone™ 4, see ¶0004 and ¶0033-0035, as this smartphone incorporates a camera the housing of Szucs can be reasonably be considered to be a camera housing), the camera housing comprising: a first housing portion which forms a first portion of a cavity which is configured to receive a camera and a second housing portion that forms a second portion of the cavity (The first housing portion is the top, left, right, and part of the bottom portion of the Frame 100 of Figure 22, the second portion is the bottom section which is adjacent to latch, to the right of pin 15 in Figure 25, together they define the perimeter of an cavity in which the phone is inserted) and a hinge mechanism which is positioned on the first housing portion and to which a latch mechanism (combination of 2 and 3) is movably connected (the hinge and latch mechanism is best seen in Figure 25 which shows more detail than Figure 22, and involves attachment of the latch members, specifically element 2, to the first housing portion using hinge pin 15). The latch mechanism is movable between an open position (shown in Fig 26c) and a closed position (shown in 26b). In the closed position the latch mechanism extends over a portion of the second housing portion to prevent the second housing portion from moving relative to the first housing portion (a hook member of the latch engages with a latch point 15 positioned inwardly from the edge of the second housing portion, described in ¶0025 and best seen in Figure 26c).
While Szucs discloses a wide variety of attachments and support structures in Figures 6-21, it is not clear how they are combined with or integrated with a housing having a structure as in Figures 22-26, and further there does not appear to be protrusions which exist to facilitate mounting of the camera housing to a camera mount.
Rayner teaches that a user of holder for a portable device may wish to incorporate various accessories into that holder including, as shown in Figures 9A-15D configurations which incorporate protrusions (94a, 94b) which interface with corresponding fingers (108a-108c) of a camera mount to facilitate mounting of the device to the mount (the association of the protrusions and mounts are discussed in ¶0183-0212). The inclusion of such protrusions allows for the device to be stably held by a variety of different mounts and enables hands-free use of the device in various configurations (Fig 14 shows a chest-mount, Fig 15 shows a head mount).
A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to have configured the camera housing of Szucs to include protrusions on the first housing portion (either integral or attachable via a coupling system) in order to allow for the camera housing to be secured to various support devices of the types taught by Rayner and enable convenient various hands-free operation.
With regard to claim 2: Szucs discloses that the housing includes outer buttons that are configured to allow a user to manipulate buttons of the camera through the camera housing (see ¶0031, outer button members are labeled 112 in Figure 22).
With regard to claim 3: The camera housing of Szucs is disclosed as forming a periphery around the camera, as the iPhone™ is contained within the space defined by the housing.
With regard to claim 4: Szucs shows that the hinge mechanism includes first and second ear portions (the upright circular members shown Figure 26, see annotated detail of Figure 26 below), with the latch mechanism (when assembled) extending between the first and second ear portions (similar circular members are present on part 2 of the latch, with Figure 26 showing a pair of hinge pins arranged to extend through each of the ear members and the corresponding circular member of 2) so that the latch mechanism is pivotable relative to the hinge mechanism as discussed in ¶0025.
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With regard to claim 5: The latch mechanism of Szucs is configured such that the latch mechanism is connected to the hinge mechanism via a rod so that the latch mechanism is movable relative to the hinge mechanism (see 0025 disclosing inclusion of two distinct pin members, one connecting 2 to the first housing portion and a second connecting 3 to 2, both of which allow rotation of part or all of the latch mechanism relative to the hinge mechanism.
With regard to claim 7: Szucs indicates that the camera housing and latch mechanism can be made of a variety of materials, with the frame explicitly disclosed as being formable of plastic, see ¶0032-0034. As for the latch mechanism, ¶0032 indicates that the actuator itself (members 2 and 3) may be formed of “metal plating” without disclosing what the metal is plated on, indicating that the determination of the base material is left to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of Szucs. It would have been obvious to said person to have used plastic as the base material for the latch member in order to make use of the same material for both the frame and the latch and minimize the complexity of formation of the device (additionally ¶0034 of Szucs indicates that Szucs considers plastic to be a “strong durable” material, and it would follow that a latch made of the same plastic coated with metal plating would also be a “strong durable” material as required by ¶0032).
With regard to claim 9: the latch mechanism of Szucs is disclosed as being configured such that when the latch mechanism is in the closed position the latch mechanism, extends over a first (outer) surface of the second housing to a second surface (the inner perimeter surface of the hole which receives the hook-like end of 3, best seen in Figure 26A) to lock the first housing portion and the second housing portion together.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Leon W Rhodes Jr whose telephone number is (571)270-5774. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM - 6:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Lindsay can be reached at (571) 272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LEON W RHODES, JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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