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 Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the feeder contacts a portion of the spring extends beyond the lumen” should be corrected to “the feeder contacts a portion of the spring extending beyond the lumen”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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 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) 2-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (KR 101794057) in view of Takasu (US 2005/0019090) and Santini (CH 702219).
Regarding claim 2, Park teaches a writing tip assembly comprising: a spring (20); a tip body (100) defining a lumen (interior of 100) at least partially housing the spring; a writing ball (10) configured to transfer ink to a substrate, wherein a majority of surface area of the writing ball is covered by the tip body (Fig. 8); and a second ball (40) between the writing ball and the spring, wherein the second ball is configured to transfer ink to the writing ball; wherein the spring comprises a first portion adjacent the second ball, a second portion extending from the first portion, a third portion extending from the second portion (see annotated Fig. 7 below), and a fourth portion extending from the third portion; wherein the second portion has a smaller diameter than that of the third portion, and the third portion has a greater diameter than that of the second portion (see annotated Fig. 7 below).
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Park does not teach that the spring comprises a fourth portion extending from the third portion; or that the writing instrument comprises a feeder configured to provide ink from an ink reservoir to the writing tip assembly via contact between the feeder and the fourth portion.
Takasu teaches a spring with a fourth portion extending from a third portion (see annotated Fig. 2 below).
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Santini teaches a feeder (3) that is configured to provide ink from an ink reservoir to the writing tip assembly (2) via contact between the feeder and a spring (1).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the spring of Park to have a fourth portion extending from the third portion as taught by Takasu for the purpose of holding the spring in place (Takasu, ¶0166).
Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the device of Park with a feeder configured to provide ink from an ink reservoir to the writing tip assembly via contact between the feeder and the fourth portion as taught by Santini for the purpose of ensuring reliable flow of ink to the writing ball (Santini ¶0013).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the second ball has a diameter greater than that of the writing ball (Park, Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the first portion has a smaller diameter than that of the second ball (Park Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the second portion has a greater diameter than that of the second ball (Park Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the writing tip assembly is configured to dispense a free-flowing ‘low-viscosity’ ink from a writing instrument (Park 100).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the spring is unitary (Park Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the third portion has a smaller length than that of the second portion (Park Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the fourth portion has a diameter equal to that of the second portion (Takasu Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the lumen houses the second ball (Park Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the tip body defines a broach (Park, at 110) between the writing ball and the second ball, wherein the second ball is held between the broach and the spring (Park Fig. 8), and wherein the broach defines an ink aperture (Park 110) fluidically coupled to the lumen.
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the lumen defines a first lumen section, a second lumen section having a maximum diameter greater than that of the first lumen section, and a third lumen section having a maximum diameter greater than that of the second lumen section (Park Fig. 8 shows the lumen has multiple sections with diameters that increase step-wise from the ball end of the lumen).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the tip body comprises a ball section housing the writing ball, the second ball, and a tip portion of the spring, wherein the tip body comprises a spring section extending from the ball section and housing a remaining portion of the spring, and wherein the spring section has a maximum wall thickness greater than that of the ball section (Park Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 13, wherein the spring section has a maximum outer diameter greater than that of the ball section (Park Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the tip body is unitary (Park Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein the tip body comprises a metal or an alloy (Takasu ¶0033).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have made the tip body of Park from a metal or an alloy as taught by Takasu, wherein doing so would merely have been a matter of selecting a known material known to be suitable for use as a tip body.
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Park, Takasu and Santini teaches the writing tip assembly of claim 2, wherein one or more of the writing ball, the second ball, or the spring comprises a metal or an alloy (Takasu ¶0034 and ¶0036).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have made the device of Park wherein one or more of the writing ball, the second ball, or the spring comprises a metal or an alloy as taught by Takasu, wherein doing so would merely have been a matter of selecting a known material known to be suitable for use as a writing ball or spring.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-21 are allowed.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADLEY S OLIVER whose telephone number is (571)270-3787. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7-3 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Angwin can be reached at (571)270-3735. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRADLEY S OLIVER/Examiner, Art Unit 3754
/DAVID P ANGWIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754
