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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claim 1 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,271,538. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because: As shown in the table attached herein, the limitations of claim 1 are entirely anticipated by the limitations of claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,271,538.
19/070,795 (Instant Application)
US 12,271,538
1. A stylus pen comprising: a core body; and a resonant circuit including a ferrite core, a coil wound on an outer surface of the ferrite core, and a magnetic body spaced apart from the ferrite core by pressure applied to the core body.
1. A stylus pen comprising: a core body configured to serve as a tip of the stylus pen; a resonant circuit including a ferrite core, a coil wound on an outer surface of the ferrite core, a second capacitor electrically connected to the coil, and a magnetic body spaced apart from the ferrite core by pressure applied to the core body; a switching member configured to switch an electrical connection between a first capacitor and the coil according to the pressure applied to the core body; at least one first contact electrically connected to the first capacitor; and at least one second contact electrically connected to the coil and the second capacitor, wherein the switching member electrically connects the first capacitor and the coil when the core body is not in contact with a touch screen, and blocks the electrical connection between the first capacitor and the coil when the core body contacts the touch screen, and wherein the switching member includes: a movable part coupled to the core body and configured to move according to a movement of the core body; and a fixation part installed to maintain a fixed position inside a housing of the stylus pen; and a contact state of the movable part with the fixation part is changed by the pressure applied to the core body, wherein the core body includes a first end portion coupled to the movable part and a second end portion serving as the tip of the stylus pen, wherein the fixation part is located between the ferrite core and the movable part, and wherein an electrical connection between the at least one first contact and the at least one second contact is switched according to the contact state of the movable part and the fixation part.
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
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto (Publication number: US 2017/0285772) in view of Obata (Publication number: US 2018/0039345).
Consider Claim 1, Yamamoto shows a stylus pen (see figure 16), comprising:
(a) A core body (see figure 16; paragraph 206); (read as core member 107).
(b) A resonant circuit including a ferrite core, a coil wound on an outer surface of the ferrite core; (See figure 16; paragraph 206); ferrite core is read as ferrite core 110, and the coil is read as coil 111).
However, Yamamoto does not specifically show a magnetic body spaced apart from the ferrite core by pressure applied to the core body.
In the same field of endeavor, Obata shows a magnetic body spaced apart from the ferrite core by pressure applied to the core body (see figures 9A and 9B; paragraphs 184 and 185); (The magnetic body is read as ferrite chip 26).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teaching of Obata into the teaching of Yamamoto in order to sense a variation of inductance (see Obata; paragraphs 4 and 5).
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL A FARAGALLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624 11/04/2025