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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) (a)(2) as being anticipated by Allen, JR. (US 2018/0303071).
Regarding claim 1, Allen, JR. discloses a device for securing a pet toy or a pet treat, the device comprising: a body (housing portion 22) including one or more inner walls defining a first void (opening 80), the first void being configured to receive the pet toy or the pet treat (fig. 2), the one or more inner walls including a first inner wall (common periphery 26, para. 0034); and a retaining feature (adjustment mechanism 42) being configured to movably couple to the body such that a first end of the retaining feature extends into the first void and applies a force against a portion of the pet toy or the pet treat inserted into the first void and retained against the first inner wall (adjustment mechanism 42, para. 0035), the retaining feature including: a shaft (threaded shaft 50, para. 0041) having: a first shaft section ending in the first end (see figure 3 below, para. 0041), and a second shaft section connected to the first shaft section and having a diameter larger than the first shaft section (see figure 3 below, para. 0041), and an end larger in diameter than the second shaft section and connected to the second shaft section opposite from the first shaft end (handle 23, para. 0041).
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/EBONY E EVANS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3647