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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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 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.
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(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as anticipated by Mimura (2025/0135309) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Mimura.
As to claim 1, Mimura discloses a racket (2) comprising a frame (4) including a head (14). Mimura further discloses the racket including a ball-hitting face stiffness value G2 is greater than or equal to 45,000 kgf/cm and less than or equal to 60,000 kgf/cm and a side pressure stiffness value G1 is greater than or equal to 5,000 kgf/cm and less than or equal to 8,000 kgf/cm ([0006] & [0086]) which is considered equivalent to a ratio (G2/G1 such as 60,000/5,000) of the ball-hitting face stiffness value to the side pressure stiffness value is greater than or equal to 3.20 as claimed.
As to claims 2 and 3, Mimura further discloses the head includes a plurality of reinforcement fibers ([0031]-[0033] & [0043]-[0047]) which is considered equivalent to the head includes a high-elasticity layer comprises straight-type reinforcement fibers as claimed. To the extent that Mimura fails to disclose the head includes a high-elasticity layer comprises straight-type reinforcement fibers as claimed, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the racket of Mimura so the plurality of fibers of the head comprises straight-type reinforcement fibers with a high-elasticity layer positioned on an inner side in the head in a thickness direction of the head to provide an additional strength and rigidity with high-elasticity and better protecting the racket. The racket of Mimura as modified comprises the high-elasticity layer as claimed.
As to claim 4, Mimura further discloses in a cross section that extends along a plane that is perpendicular to an axial direction of the frame and that passes a center of the head (Figs. 1, 5 & 14). However, Mimura fails to disclose a ratio (Tf/Wf) of a thickness Tf of the frame to a width Wf of the frame is greater than or equal to 2.0 as claimed, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the racket of Mimura so the racket is constructed with a ratio (Tf/Wf) of a thickness Tf of the frame to a width Wf of the frame is greater than or equal to 2.0 because a selection of the specific ratios would appear to have been an obvious matter of design choice based upon conventional design considerations, such as to increase the rigidity of the racket.
As to claims 5-7, Mimura discloses the ratio (G2/G1) is greater than or equal to 4.10 (see the values as in claim 1 above).
As to claims 8 and 9, Mimura discloses the side pressure stiffness value G1 is less than or equal to 90 kgf/cm and the ball-hitting face stiffness value G2 is greater than or equal to 100 kgf/cm (see the values as in claim 1 above).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUAN K BUI whose telephone number is (571)272-4552. The examiner can normally be reached Generally M-F, 7-4.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Orlando E. Avilés can be reached on 571-270-5531 or orlando.aviles-bosques@uspto.gov. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LUAN K BUI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736
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