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 .
Examiner’s Comments
This office action is in response to the application filed on 11/21/2025.
Claims 1-10 are pending.
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/21/2025 is in
compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The specification needs to be updated to include the 371 information.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites, “the latter” in lines 6 and 21 respectively, it is unclear what latter applicant is referring.
In claim 6, line 8, recites “the latter”. it is unclear what latter applicant is referring.
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.
Claims 1 and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being
anticipated by Ronconi (US 20040169057).
With regard to claim 1, Ronconi discloses stapler device with anti-jamming magazine of the staples and provided with a strike site (F) of the staples fed by the magazine (4) comprising at least: - a container element (11) for storing and sliding the staples towards the strike site (F); - a closure member (as seen in fig.1) of the container (11) to open and close the latter; - a thrusting member (21), having two mutually parallel sidewalls (see fig.4) and a connection wall approximately perpendicular to the sidewalls (see fig.4) and of which it connects two sides so that at least one cross section of this thrusting member (21) is U-shaped; said thrusting member (21) is assigned to transmit to the staples contained in the container element (11) of the magazine (4) an elastic force (by spring 22,see fig.4) directed towards the strike site; said device being characterized in that it comprises a support member (see spring 22 attached to support in fig.4 see also annotated fig.) assigned to support the thrusting member (21) and to slide along at least one first guide member (inside spring 22, as seen in fig.4) of the stapler device and in that it comprises resilient means (22) acting, in the direction of the strike site, on the thrusting member (21) directly or by means of the support member (see annotated fig.), which is provided with at least a concave housing (see fig.4) for matching with outer faces of free edges (as seen in fig.4), opposite to the respective connecting sides of the transverse connection wall, of the side walls of the thrusting member (21) preventing deformation of the latter.
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With regard to claim 7, Ronconi discloses stapler device, characterized in that the closure member comprises a flat plate shaped cover (24), elongated and parallel to the first guide member (see annotated fig.) and having longitudinal edges sliding in respective grooves (20) of the container element (11) for closing and opening the latter, where one end of the cover (24) carries an end element for closing the strike site (F) and the other end carries a grabbing element (24 fig.4), where the ends of the first guide member are connected to respective seats formed in the end and grabbing (24) element, the resilient means (22) are of the coil spring type containing the first guide member (see fig.4) and compressed between the grabbing element (24) and the support member (see annotated fig.).
With regard to claim 8, Ronconi discloses stapler device, characterized in that it comprises a second guide member (pusher guide see annotated fig.) parallel to the first (spring guide see fig.4) and with ends connected to the end (see fig.4) and grabbing (24) elements; the thrusting member (21) and the staples, when present, are slidingly engaged to the second guide member (as shown in fig.4).
With regard to claim 9, Ronconi discloses stapler device, characterized in that the second guide member (as seen in fig.4) is deemed to have the shape of an elongated parallelepiped (so as to conform to the shape of the second guide member).
With regard to claim 10, Ronconi discloses stapler device, characterized in that the grabbing element (24 part of cover) comprises a fastening element (55) assigned for the passage of the first guide member (see fig.5) and the resilient means (22) and for fixing a respective end of the second guide member (see annotated fig.) and comprises a second fastening element (fastening spring at one end see fig.4) connected to a respective end of the first guide member (inside spring 22); the opposite ends of the first and second (51) guide members are locked to the end element (9 when staples are emptied).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claim 2, the prior art of record fails to disclose or teach in combination at least one side of each concave housing is delimited by a lock wall assigned to abut with one of said respective outer faces of a free edge of the thrusting member.
With respect to claim 3, the prior art of record fails to disclose or teach in combination the support member is provided with a connection portion assigned to be at least partially housed in a concavity defined by the side and transversal walls of the thrusting member.
Conclusion
Refer to attachment for notice of references cited and recommended for
consideration based on their disclosure of limitations of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL C. CHUKWURAH whose telephone number is (571)272-4457. The examiner can normally be reached M-F & T-F 7-4:30 IFP.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Kinsaul can be reached at 571-260-1926. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NATHANIEL C CHUKWURAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
7/14/2026
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