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 .
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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species B in the reply filed on 12/30/2025 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/12/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hansen (US 20140251231 A1).
Regarding claim 21, Hansen teaches a pet toy (Figs. 1-3) comprising:
a base (base of toy below “top piece” 40/70/80) including a plurality of treat compartments (Figs. 2-3, “depressions” 50, “treat holes” 90, “treat receptacles” 100);
a rotating body coupled to the base (Figs. 1-3, “top piece” 40/70/80) and configured to selectively cover one or more of the plurality of treat compartments (As shown in Figs. 1-3 with “top piece” 40/70/80 covering “depressions” 50, “treat holes” 90, “treat receptacles” 100); and
a pin (Fig. 3, at “center axis point” 110) extending through and rotatably coupling the rotating body and the base (As shown in Fig. 3 with rotating arrow).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-20 are allowed.
Claims 22-26 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the prior art of record fails to disclose or render obvious the combined limitations of Applicant’s claimed invention.
Specifically, a pet toy comprising: a base including a plurality of treat compartments; and a rotating body coupled to the base and configured to selectively cover one or more of the plurality of treat compartments, the rotating body including a blade and a folding panel rotatably coupled to the blade.
Hansen (US 20140251231 A1) in view of Hu (US D1038539 S), Wu (US D1027057 S), Wu (US D1001397 S), Citak (US 2020/0187456 A1), Hansen (US D755446 S), Liu et al. (US 2015/0305305 A1), Hansen (US 2014/0224185 A1), Lee (KR 101264278 B1), Desrosiers (US 2012/0204799 A1), and Polimeni, Jr. (US 7,198,005) teaches a similar pet toy as the claimed invention.
However, Hansen (US 20140251231 A1) in view of Hu (US D1038539 S), Wu (US D1027057 S), Wu (US D1001397 S), Citak (US 2020/0187456 A1), Hansen (US D755446 S), Liu et al. (US 2015/0305305 A1), Hansen (US 2014/0224185 A1), Lee (KR 101264278 B1), Desrosiers (US 2012/0204799 A1), and Polimeni, Jr. (US 7,198,005) lacks the rotating body including a blade and a folding panel rotatably coupled to the blade. The above references disclose at least one blade or at least one folding panel, but in contrast, none of the above references has the two coupled to one another as required by claims 14 and 22.
Thus the prior art does not fairly teach these features as specifically required by the claimed invention.
Conclusion
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/S.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 3647