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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites, in the preamble, “a control strap for an equestrian bridle assembly” and further “wherein the control strap is configured to operably combine with the equestrian bridle assembly by attachment of said connector pair”. Claim 2 further recites “the equestrian bridle assembly is a hackamore assembly”. However, it is unclear whether the equestrian bridle assembly is required as a part of the claimed invention.
Claims 2-10 are rejected as being dependent from a rejected base claim.
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)(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.
Claims 1 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Newman (U.S. Patent No. 5,231,818).
For claim 1, Newman discloses a control strap (Fig. 1) for an equestrian bridle assembly, comprising: an elongate flexible member (Fig. 1: 10) having a first end and a second end; a connector pair (Fig. 1: 12, 13), each of said connector pair disposed at a first end and said second end of said elongate flexible member (as shown in Fig. 1); a plurality of serially attached elements (Fig. 1: 16), each of said serially attached elements having an aperture (as shown in Fig. 1: 10a), said serially attached elements being threaded onto said elongate flexible member via said aperture between said first end and said second end (as shown in Fig. 1); wherein the control strap is configured to operably combine with the equestrian bridle assembly by attachment of said connector pair (such that the connector pair 12, 13 are rings that are constructed for attachment to an equestrian bridle assembly).
For claim 6, Newman discloses the control strap of claim 1, wherein said elongate flexible member is a metal wire (Col. 2, lines 64-65: chain links are well known to be made of metal wires).
For claim 7, Newman discloses the control strap of claim 6, wherein said series of serially attached elements are a plurality of beads (Fig. 1: 16).
For claim 8, Newman discloses the control strap of claim 7, wherein said plurality of beads (Fig. 1: 16) comprise an at least one material selected from a group of materials, the group consisting of glass, plastic, polymers, resin, acrylic, rubber, wood, ceramic, metal (Col. 1, lines 6-12: weights are well known to be made of metal), stone, silicone, and cork.
For claim 9, Newman discloses the control strap of claim 5, wherein said elongate flexible member (Fig. 1: 10) is an at least one flexible member selected from a group of flexible members, the group consisting of a chain (Col. 2, lines 63-64), a cord, a paracord, a rope, and an elastic band.
For claim 10, Newman discloses the control strap of claim 1, wherein each of said connector pair (Fig. 1: 12, 13) is an at least one connector selected from a group of connectors, the group consisting of an O-ring (as shown in Fig. 1), an S-hook, a D-ring, a clasp, an eyelet pair, a ball/chain connector, and a carabiner.
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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Newman (U.S. Patent No. 5,231,818) in view of Wyse (U.S Patent No. 4,798,043).
For claim 11, Newman discloses a method for controlling a speed of a horse, the method comprising: providing a control strap (Fig. 1) comprising: an elongate flexible member (Fig. 1: 10) having a first end and a second end; a connector pair (Fig. 1: 12, 13), each of said connector pair disposed at a first end and said second end of said elongate flexible member (as shown in Fig. 1); a plurality of serially attached elements (Fig. 1: 16), each of said serially attached elements having an aperture (as shown in Fig. 1: 10a), said serially attached elements being threaded onto said elongate flexible member via said aperture between said first end and said second end (as shown in Fig. 1).
Newman fails to show the method of securing said control strap on a bridle of the horse at a shank of said bridle via said connector pair. Wyse teaches a method for controlling a speed of a horse, the method comprising: providing a control strap (Fig. 1: 68, 70), and a connector pair (Fig. 1: 56); and securing said control strap on a bridle (Figs. 2-3: 24) of the horse at a shank (Fig. 1: 50) of said bridle via said connector pair (Fig. 1: 56). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the control strap of Newman to include the bridle of Wyse for the advantage of controlling and training horses.
Claims 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Newman (U.S. Patent No. 5,231,818) in view of Wyse (U.S Patent No. 4,798,043), as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Watkins et al. (US 3,998,033).
For claim 12, Newman as modified by Wyse disclose the invention substantially as claimed, but fails to show wherein said control strap is installed over the horse’s nose. Watkins et al. teaches a method for controlling a speed of a horse (Col. 2, lines 25-28), the method comprising: providing a control strap (Figs. 1-2: 28, 29) comprising: an elongate flexible member (Col. 3, lines 27-34) having a first end and a second end; wherein said control strap is installed over the horse’s nose (noseband and chinband 28, 29 are identical). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of Newman and Wyse to include the control strap installed over the horse’s nose as taught by Watkins for the advantage of controlling the speed of the horse.
For claim 13, Newman as modified by Wyse and Watkins et al. discloses the method of claim 12, further comprising securing an at least one rein (Watkins et al. 31) to said bridle at said shank (Watkins et al. 12).
For claim 14, Newman as modified by Wyse and Watkins et al. discloses the method of claim 13, further comprising applying a plurality of pressures at said shank via said at least one rein, thereby controlling the speed of the horse (Watkins et al. Col. 1, lines 5-9; Col. 3, line 60-64).
For claim 15, Newman as modified by Wyse and Watkins et al. discloses the method of claim 12, wherein said bridle is a hackamore (Watkins et al. as discussed in Col. 1, lines 5-6).
For claim 16, Newman as modified by Wyse and Watkins et al. discloses the method of claim 15, wherein said connector pair is a shank pair (Watkins et al. 12), each of said shank pair having an at least one aperture (Watkins et al. 14, 15).
For claim 17, Newman as modified by Wyse and Watkins et al. discloses the method of claim 16, wherein said elongate flexible member is a metal wire (Newman Col. 2, lines 64-65: chain links are well known to be made of metal wires).
For claim 18, Newman as modified by Wyse and Watkins et al. discloses method of claim 17, wherein said series of serially attached elements are a plurality of beads (Newman Fig. 1: 16).
For claim 19, Newman as modified by Wyse and Watkins et al. discloses method of claim 18, wherein said plurality of beads (Newman Fig. 1: 16) comprise an at least one material selected from a group of materials, the group consisting of glass, plastic, polymers, resin, acrylic, rubber, wood, ceramic, metal (Newman Col. 1, lines 6-12: weights are well known to be made of metal), stone, silicone, and cork.
For claim 20, Newman as modified by Wyse and Watkins et al. discloses method of claim 15, wherein said elongate flexible member (Newman Fig. 1: 10) is an at least one flexible member selected from a group of flexible members, the group consisting of a chain (Newman Col. 2, lines 63-64), a cord, a paracord, a rope, and an elastic band.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Faucette (US 2,623,340) shows a training hackamore connected to a control strap defining a noseband.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIELLE A CLERKLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-7611. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM-5PM.
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/DANIELLE A CLERKLEY/ Examiner, Art Unit 3643