Patent Application 18542957 - FISHING ROD - Rejection

Patent Application 18542957 - FISHING ROD

Title: FISHING ROD

Application Information

• Invention Title: FISHING ROD
• Application Number: 18542957
• Submission Date: 2025-05-16T00:00:00.000Z
• Effective Filing Date: 2023-12-18T00:00:00.000Z
• Filing Date: 2023-12-18T00:00:00.000Z
• National Class: 043
• National Sub-Class: 01810R
• Examiner Employee Number: 94949
• Art Unit: 3647
• Tech Center: 3600

Rejection Summary

• 102 Rejections: 0
• 103 Rejections: 2

Cited Patents

The following patents were cited in the rejection:

• US 0638554🔗

Office Action Text

    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 .

	Application Status
Claims 1-5 are pending and have been examined in this application. Claims 1, 3-5 are amended, claim 2 is original.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
As of the date of this action, an information disclosure statement (IDS) has been filed on 12/18/2023, 07/05/2024, 11/21/2024 and reviewed by the Examiner.
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(s) 1, 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (JP 2016077254 A) to Oda in view of (US 0638554 A) to Burton.
In regards to claim 1, Oda teaches a fishing rod comprising: a rod (Oda; 1A); and a grip body attached to a rear end of the rod (Oda; 8), wherein the grip body comprises a main body portion (Oda; 8B) protruding from the rear end of the rod toward an axially outer side of the rod for gripping by a user (Oda; see FIG 4d where element 8B protrudes from the end of the rod 1A; 8B extending in the axial direction to the right of the FIG such that a user gripping the end of the handle would grip 8B), a first insertion portion extending from the main body portion to a rod side and inserted into the rod (Oda; 8A inserted into the rod, see FIGs 4c-d).
	Oda also teaches where elements 8 and 9 are fixed together in the rod (Oda; see FIGs 4c-d, fixed due to the connection between the transition at 9C to 9B).

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Oda fails to teach a first deformation portion recessed in a direction away from an inner peripheral surface of the rod is on an outer peripheral surface of the first insertion portion.
Burton teaches a first deformation portion recessed in a direction away from an inner peripheral surface of the rod is on an outer peripheral surface of the first insertion portion (Burton; C1, see FIGs 3-5 where the exterior tubular implement C has a deformation recessed inwards to secure both B and C together).

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Oda and Burton are analogous art from similar fields of endeavor i.e. fixing tubular implements together via mechanical fasteners.  
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Oda such that its tubular implements 8 and 9 are connected via a mechanical fastener such as the deformation taught by Burton, and where the friction fit of 9C is substituted with the deformation connection of Burton. The motivation for doing so would be to securely form the two pieces together to enhance the sandwiching of the fibers and to prevent accidental removal and to ensure fixing of the two tubular pieces. 

In regards to claim 4, Oda as modified by Burton teach the fishing rod according to claim 1, wherein the first deformation portion is on a proximal end side of the first insertion portion (Oda as modified by Burton; where the deformation C1 would be at a point on Oda’s 8 and 9 at 9C, proximal with respect to the outward end of 8 at 8B).

In regards to claim 5, Oda as modified by Burton teach the fishing rod according to claim 1, wherein the grip body is hollow and comprises a rod plug inserted into a hollow portion of the grip body (Oda; 9, portion 9A inserted into 8), the rod plug comprises a base portion inserted into the grip body (Oda; base portion 9A inserted into 8), and a second insertion portion extending from the base portion and inserted onto an inner peripheral surface of the first insertion portion (Oda; 9B extending from 9A and on an inner peripheral surface of the first insertion portion 8A), and a second deformation portion recessed in the direction away from the inner peripheral surface of the rod and engaging with the first deformation portion is on an outer peripheral surface of the second insertion portion (Oda as modified by Burton; where the second deformation is B1 which is engaged with C1, both being recessed towards a central axis and with respect to Oda, would be away from the inner peripheral surface of the rod).

Claim(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (JP 2016077254 A) to Oda as modified by (US 0638554 A) to Burton as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of (KR 20150002885 U).
In regards to claim 2, Oda as modified by Burton teach the fishing rod according to claim 1, but fail to explicitly teach wherein the first insertion portion is bonded to the inner peripheral surface of the rod with an adhesive.
	KR’885 teaches wherein the first insertion portion  is bonded to the inner peripheral surface of the rod with an adhesive (KR’885; 11 engaging projection inserted into engaging hole 3a of the rod 3 “may be adhesively fixed in the engaging hole 3a).

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	It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Burton such that it utilizes adhesive to secure its insertion portion to the inner peripheral surface of the rod such as taught by KR’885. The motivation for doing so would be to prevent accidental movement or removal of the cap during use by securing the components together.

In regards to claim 3, Oda as modified by Burton and KR’885 teach the fishing rod according to claim 2, wherein the first insertion portion comprises a milling surface that is flat and on the outer peripheral surface of the first insertion portion along an axial direction of the rod (Burton; the milling surface being the upper surface at C1 which is flat and extends in an axial direction see FIGs 3 and 5), and the first deformation portion is on the milling surface (Burton; see FIGs 3-4 with the outer surface of C being a milling surface with the deformation C1 on the exterior surface of C).

Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/06/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. 
Applicant argues that Oda fails to teach the amended claim language, and argues that “FIG 4(d) of Oda does not illustrated element 8B. Instead, element 8B is illustrated in FIGs. 4(a)-(c). … element 8B does not protrude toward an axially outer side of the rod 1A, nor is element 8B for gripping by a user at least because element 8B is buried within element 1A. Therefore Oda does not disclose, or suggest, the above-quoted features of claim 1.”
Examiner respectfully disagrees, from FIG 4, it is clear that element 8 is comprised of 8A, and 8B. FIG 4(d) is referenced to demonstrate where the portion of 8, indicated as 8B and analogous to applicant’s “main body portion”, is protruding from the rear end of the rod. An annotated drawing side-by-side FIG 4(a) is provided below for clarity. 
	Further, it is asserted that Oda does teach the amended claim language because Oda’s main body portion (8B) protrudes from the end of the rod towards an axially outer side of the rod at its end. Due to this portion protruding from a rod, a user gripping the end of the rod would necessarily grip onto Oda’s main body regardless if it has a cover draped over it. Oda’s 8, 8B still provides a solid surface which would support a user’s hand when the end of the rod is gripped.

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Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.

Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATELYN T TRUONG whose telephone number is (571)272-0023. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 8-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, KIMBERLY BERONA can be reached on (571) 272-6909. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KATELYN T TRUONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3647