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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Duty to Disclose
The applicant is respectfully reminded that if they presently know of information material to patentability of the claimed invention they have a duty to disclose such information as required by 37 C.F.R. 1.56 (see MPEP 2001). This reminder is being made because during the course of examination the Examiner encountered a prior art document which was material to the determination of patentability of the current application and which appears to share assignment and/or inventors with the current application:
Zeng et al (CN 214248793 U, English machine translation attached) appears to be attributed to two of the currently named inventors and list an overseas entity related to the assignee as an applicant. Zeng includes disclosure of a handheld stabilizer holding with power supply components and power supply distribution wires positioned internally within the handheld component tubing (see ¶0029) sufficient to establish, by itself, a prima facie case of unpatentability of multiple claims (as detailed in the claim rejections which follow).
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 1-3 and 5-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zeng et al (CN 214248793 U, English machine translation attached).
With regard to claim 1: Zeng discloses an auxiliary shooting structure which comprises: a handheld component (a ring comprising handles 5 and 6 and upper and lower sections 1 and 2, see ¶0028) which comprises an accommodation cavity configured to house an electrical connecting line (see ¶0029 disclosing the presence of electric wires positioned within the insides of the upper and lower sections); a stabilizer mounting component 4 which is configured to mount on the handheld component and electrically connect to the electrical connecting line for mounting a stabilizer 13 (see ¶0029 and 0031 disclosing connection of the stabilizer mounting component to electrical connection point 210 which is connected to t he electrical connecting line and ¶0038 disclosing connection of the stabilizer to the stabilizer mounting component); and a power supply component (combination of V-port battery connection 8, Anton battery power connection 10, top handle connector 3, and the power supply connections passing within element 41 which are noted in ¶0038) which is provided on the handheld component (via connection of the battery holder and the mounting component to the handheld component as noted in ¶0036, 0031, and 0038).
With regard to claim 2: The power supply component of Zeng is provided on the stabilizer mounting component (see ¶0038 disclosing the inclusion of power supply connections within the stabilizer mounting component which connects the stabilizer to the electrical circuit running between the various connection points of the ring).
With regard to claim 3: The stabilizer mounting component of Zeng comprises a connecting base 41 which is installed on the handheld component and electrically connected to the electrical connecting line, and the power supply component comprises a power supply interface which is provided on the connecting base (the circuitry passing through the connecting base to connect the gimbal to the power supply line as disclosed in ¶0038).
With regard to claim 5: The power supply component of Zeng is disclosed as being electrically connected to the electrical connecting line (to supply power to the line from the battery as in ¶0034 or to direct power from the line to the attached gimbal to supply power to the gimbal, as disclosed in ¶0038), enabling the handheld component to be powered.
With regard to claim 6: The power supply component of Zeng includes a battery mounting bracket (either 3, 8, or 10) which is configured to mount a battery (a battery handle 14, v-mount battery, or Anton mount battery, respectively) and electrically connected to the electrical connecting line (see ¶0035-0036 and ¶0038).
With regard to claims 7-8::The power supply component of Zeng comprises a V-mount battery supply component 8, an Anton battery power supply component 10, and a docking handle 14.
With regard to claim 9: The handheld component includes a plurality of ports (combinations of 105, 106, 107, and 108 and 205, 206, 207, and 208 fur each of the two upper and lower ports, respectively), with each port comprising a mounting member (105 or 205), a circuit board (106, 206, the shape of the elements in the figures indicates a circuit board component); and a contact pin (see ¶0036-0037 disclosing the presence of electrical contacts on the circuit board elements). In Zeng the mounting member is mounted to the handheld component (via screws 108/208) with the circuit board housed within the handheld component and the contact pin being electrically connected to the circuit board and exposed outside the mounting member such that the contact pin is connected to the battery mounting bracket, with the circuit board being electrically connected to the electrical connecting line (see ¶0029 discussing construction of the ports and attachment of the elements to the handheld component).
With regard to claim 10: Zeng discloses that the handheld component comprises a first ring pipe 1, a second ring pipe 2, a first handle part 5, and a second handle part 6, with the first handle part being configured to connect at two ends to the first end of the first ring pipe and a first end of the second ring part and the second handle being connected at two ends to a second end of the first ring pipe and a second end of the second ring pipe. This configuration is best seen in Figures 1 and 4.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 11-12 are 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With regard to claim 4: While the disclosure of Zeng appears to indicate the presence of a simple circuit in the handheld component which would be capable of feeding power to from the port upon which the stabilizer mounting component is mounted back through the handheld component to other devices of the handheld component, Zeng and other prior art devices do not teach feeding power from a gimbal supporting connecting base to which a stabilizer is attached by connecting a battery to the connecting base with a power supply line. Zeng discloses power feed in the opposite direction without mentioning power being fed in the claimed direction.
With regard to claims 11-12: The prior art does not teach the combination of an internal power supply connecting line as claimed in combination with the claimed foldable structure. Folding structures are known to be used in supporting structures for stabilizers to allow for compact storage, see e.g. CN 215929180 U, but the combination with a support having the claimed shape and the claimed arrangement is not taught.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Schaller (US Patent 7,646,424 B2) discloses a camera support with internal routing of electrical connection lines.
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.
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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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