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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. 19063680, filed on 2/26/2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/26/2025 and 9/15/2025 were filed on/after the filing date of the application on 2/26/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith (Us 20240357973 A1) in view of Miyaki (US 20230113799 A1) and Barth (US 2800153).
Regarding claim 1, Smith teaches a chainsaw (100), comprising a main body (102), wherein
the main body includes a guide bar (110), a saw chain (114), a drive sprocket (sprocket on 400, see Figure 4B) and a guide wall (410),
the saw chain is wound around the guide bar and the drive sprocket (see Figure 4A), the drive sprocket is configured to: be disposed behind the guide bar and have a rotation shaft in a right/left direction (view in Figure 4B) of the main body (see Figures 4A-B); and move the saw chain along the guide bar by being rotated, the guide wall includes a first wall (top portion above the apex of the wall 410 in Figure 4B) and a second wall (bottom portion below the apex of the wall 410 in Figure 4B), wherein the first wall is a wall that is provided arcuately along the drive sprocket, and is disposed with a predetermined gap between the saw chain and the first wall (gap of 405, see Figure 4B), the second wall is a wall that is extended rearward via a connecting portion to the first wall (see Figure 4B), and,
when seen from the right/left direction, an angle between: a first direction passing through a center of the rotation shaft along a vertical direction of the main body (vertical direction pass 400, see Figure 4B); and a second direction passing through the center of the rotation shaft and an apex of the connecting portion is at an unknown degrees (see Figure 4B)
Smith fails to teach the angle of the first and second direction is 0° or more and 30° or less.
Miyaki teaches a chainsaw including a guide wall (see Figure 2), when seen from the right/left direction, an angle between: a first direction passing through a center of the rotation shaft along a vertical direction of the main body (vertical direction, see Figure 2); and a second direction passing through the center of the rotation shaft and an apex of the connecting portion is at an unknown degrees (see Figure 2).
Barth teaches a chainsaw including a guide wall (10, see Figure 3), when seen from the right/left direction, an angle between: a first direction passing through a center of the rotation shaft along a vertical direction of the main body (vertical direction, see Figure 3); and a second direction passing through the center of the rotation shaft and an apex of the connecting portion is at an unknown degrees (see Figure 3).
Although Smith, Miyaki and Barth all fails to teach a specific angle of 0° or more and 30° or less, they all show different shape of the guide wall and the different location of the apex. With respect to the specific angle of 0° or more and 30° or less, the courts have held that where the general conditions of the invention are met, a change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art., In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955). MPEP 2144.04 IV. A. Therefore, it would have been obvious to further modify Smith to have the specific angle of 0° or more and 30° or less set forth in the claim and to get the desired shape for the guide wall wanted by the end user.
Regarding claim 2, modified Smith further teaches the second wall is extended from the connecting portion in a third direction, and, when seen from the right/left direction, an angle between the first direction and the third direction is unknown value.
Smith fails to teach the angle of the first and third direction is 40° or more and 60° or less.
Furthermore, with respect to the specific angle of 40° or more and 60° or less, the courts have held that where the general conditions of the invention are met, a change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art., In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955). MPEP 2144.04 IV. A. Therefore, it would have been obvious to further modify Smith to have the specific angle of 40° or more and 60° or less set forth in the claim and to get the desired shape for the guide wall wanted by the end user.
Regarding claim 3, modified Smith further teaches the first wall has a predetermined width in the right/left direction, and is configured such that the predetermined width is constant with distance from the connecting portion (see Figure 4A).
Smith fails to teach is configured such that the predetermined width is decreased with distance from the connecting portion.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Smith to change the shape of the guide wall to any shape including, such that the predetermined width is decreased with distance from the connecting portion. Since the courts have held that where the general conditions of the invention are met, a change in shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art., In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966). MPEP 2144.04 IV. B.
Regarding claim 4, modified Smith further teaches the predetermined gap has 3 mm or more and 20 mm or less (6 mm, paragraph 0050 of Smith).
Regarding claim 5, modified Smith further teaches the main body further includes an opening, and the opening communicates with a space in which the drive sprocket is disposed, and opens the main body downward (opening to the left of 323, see Figure 3B of Smith).
Regarding claim 6, modified Smith further teaches the main body further includes a sprocket cover, the sprocket cover is configured to: be disposed to cover the drive sprocket, a part of the saw chain and a part of the guide bar, and have the guide wall on a surface closer to the drive sprocket (see Figure 4B of Smith).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIANG DONG whose telephone number is (571)270-0479. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8 AM-6 PM.
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/LIANG DONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3724 6/12/2026
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