Kurtis Klett

Patent Trials and Appeals BoardNov 3, 2020

14864046 - (D) (P.T.A.B. Nov. 3, 2020)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 14/864,046 09/24/2015 Kurtis P. Klett 6966 5542 44341 7590 11/03/2020 JOHNSON & PHUNG ONE WEST WATER STREET, SUITE 285 ST. PAUL, MN 55107 EXAMINER PENG, RAYSHUN K. ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3711 MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE 11/03/2020 PAPER Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte KURTIS P. KLETT Appeal 2020-002076 Application 14/864,046 Technology Center 3700 Before CHARLES N. GREENHUT, MICHAEL J. FITZPATRICK, and MICHAEL L. WOODS, Administrative Patent Judges. WOODS, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 134(a), Appellant1 appeals from the Examiner’s decision to reject claims 1–3, 5, 6, and 8–20. See Appeal Br. 11. Claims 4 and 7 are cancelled. Id. at 2. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We REVERSE. 1 We use the word Appellant to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42(a). Appellant identifies itself, Kurtis P. Klett, as the real party in interest. Appeal Br. 2. Appeal 2020-002076 Application 14/864,046 2 CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER The application is titled “Hockey Shoot Tutor” and describes “a device that train[s] hockey players to develop their hockey puck shooting techniques.” Spec. 2. Claims 1, 13, and 20 are independent. Appeal Br. 18–28 (Claims App.). Claim 1, reproduced below with emphasis added to a limitation central to our analysis, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: 1. A one-piece hockey puck-training device for improving hockey puck shooting comprising: a hockey goalie panel mannequin having a 2-dimensional shape having a perimeter similar to a perimeter of a shape of a live hockey goalie in a butterfly style position, said hockey goalie panel mannequin constructed from a manipulated durable material characterized to produce a rebound of a hockey puck which ricochets off said mannequin simulating the rebound of a hockey puck which rebounds from a hockey goalie, said hockey goalie panel mannequin securable to a hockey goal post to form a right shoulder target slot having a shape and size similar to a shape and size of a space having a perimeter formed from a said live goalie’s neck and right shoulder region and a right goal post corner when a said live goalie is tending a net in said butterfly position with each of said sides of said right shoulder target slot having a different length and a side sloping against said right shoulder region of said hockey goalie panel mannequin, a left shoulder target slot having a shape and size similar to a shape and size of a space having a perimeter formed from said live goalie’s neck and left shoulder region and a left goal post corner when said live goalie is tending said net in said butterfly position with each of said sides of said left shoulder target slot having a different length and a side sloping against said left shoulder region of said hockey goalie panel mannequin, a right lower arm target slot having a shape and size similar to a shape and size of a space having a perimeter formed from a said live goalie’s lower right arm, midsection, and upper right thigh and said right goal post when said live goalie is Appeal 2020-002076 Application 14/864,046 3 tending said net in said butterfly position with each of said sides of said right lower target slot having a different length and a side sloping against said upper right thigh of said hockey goalie panel mannequin, a left lower arm target slot having a shape and size similar to a shape and size of a space having a perimeter formed from a goalie’s lower left arm, midsection, and upper left thigh and the left goal post when said live goalie is tending said net in said butterfly position with each of said sides of said left lower target slot having a different length and a side sloping against said upper left thigh of said hockey goalie panel mannequin, a between the legs/skates target slot having a shape and size similar to a shape and size of a space having a perimeter formed from a said live goalie’s skates, said live goalie’s groin region, and a ground surface when said live goalie is tending said net in said butterfly position, a right floor slot having a shape and size similar to a shape and size of a space having a perimeter formed from a lower right region of said live goalie and said ground surface when said live goalie is tending said net in said butterfly position, and a left floor slot having a shape and size similar to a shape and size of a space having a perimeter formed from a lower left region of said live goalie and said ground surface when said live goalie is tending said net in said butterfly position with said right shoulder target slot, said right lower arm target slot, said right floor slot, and said between the legs/skates target slot each comprises a different shape and size; said target slots shaped and sized to mimic the typical scoring areas when a hockey goalie is tending a net in the “butterfly style” technique. Appeal Br. 18–20 (Claims App.) (emphasis added). Appeal 2020-002076 Application 14/864,046 4 REFERENCES The prior art relied upon by the Examiner is: Name Reference Date Frantti US 3,856,298 Dec. 24, 1974 Greaney US 3,840,228 Oct. 8, 1974 Guenette US Des. 309,486 July 24, 1990 Delegarde US Des. 387,111 Dec. 2, 1997 Béluse US 6,012,994 Jan. 11, 2000 Farquhar US 2007/0265115 A1 Nov. 15, 2007 Johnson US 2009/0149281 A1 June 11, 2009 REJECTIONS The following rejections are before us on appeal: Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis 1–3, 5, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19 103 Guenette, Béluse, Delegarde 6, 9, 14, 18 103 Guenette, Béluse, Delegarde, Frantti 10 103 Guenette, Béluse, Delegarde, Johnson 11 103 Guenette, Béluse, Delegarde, Farquhar 15, 16 103 Guenette, Béluse, Delegarde, Greaney 20 103 Guenette, Béluse, Frantti, Greaney, Delegarde Final Act. 2–26. OPINION The primary issue before us is whether Guenette satisfies the following claim limitation: said hockey goalie panel mannequin securable to a hockey goal post to form a right shoulder target slot having a shape and size similar to a shape and size of a space having a perimeter Appeal 2020-002076 Application 14/864,046 5 formed from a said live goalie’s neck and right shoulder region and a right goal post corner when a said live goalie is tending a net in said butterfly position with each of said sides of said right shoulder target slot having a different length. Appeal Br. 18 (Claims App., independent claim 1) (emphasis added); see also id. at 22–23, 26 (independent claims 13 and 20 reciting a similar limitation). In rejecting the claims, the Examiner finds that Guenette teaches the aforementioned limitation. See Final Act. 2–7. In support of this finding, the Examiner submits the following annotated figure (id. at 4): Appeal 2020-002076 Application 14/864,046 6 The above figure is two annotated reproductions of Guenette’s Figure 1. Compare id., with Guenette Fig. 1. Guenette describes Figure 1 as depicting “a front elevational view of a practice hockey net attachment showing our new design, the side opposite being substantially a mirror image.” Guenette (Description). Guenette is a design application and includes little other detail. See id. at code (11). Appeal 2020-002076 Application 14/864,046 7 As indicated by the annotations, the Examiner finds that Guenette teaches a “right shoulder target sides having different length[s].” Final Act. 4. Appellant disagrees with the Examiner’s finding, explaining that “once Guenette’s device is attached to a hockey goal post, at least 2 sides of each of Guenette’s targets will have the same lengths.” Appeal Br. 13. Appellant’s argument is persuasive. Appellant’s construction of the limitation is also consistent with Appellant’s Specification, including the Drawings. To illustrate, we reproduce Figure 1 of the application, below: Figure 1 depicts instructional hockey shooter tutor 10 having mannequin 12 and secured to hockey goal posts 20, 21, and 23. See Spec. 6–9. The mannequin is formed with cutouts to expose open net 11, including right shoulder target slot 13, which an aspiring hockey player will aim at. See id. As can be seen, the perimeter of right shoulder target slot 13 has five sides, each side having a different length. Appeal 2020-002076 Application 14/864,046 8 The “right shoulder target slot” of Guenette, on the other hand, is rectangular in shape once Guenette’s device is secured to the opening of a hockey goal. See Guenette Fig. 1. As such, Guenette does not teach or disclose a goalie panel mannequin securable to a hockey goal post to form a right shoulder target slot . . . having a perimeter formed from a said live goalie’s neck and right shoulder region and a right goal post corner . . . with each of said sides of said right shoulder target slot having a different length[,] as recited in the independent claims. Appeal Br. 18–28 (emphasis added). For the foregoing reason, we do not sustain the rejection of claims 1– 3, 5, 8, 12, 13, 17, and 19 as unpatentable over Guenette, Béluse, and Delegarde. Furthermore, the Examiner’s rejections of claims 6, 9–11, 14–16, 18, and 20 inherit the same unsupportable finding discussed above. See Final Act. 15–26. For the same reason that we reverse the rejection based on Guenette, Béluse, and Delegarde, we also reverse the rejections of claims 6, 9–11, 14–16, 18, and 20. CONCLUSION The Examiner’s rejections are reversed. Appeal 2020-002076 Application 14/864,046 9 DECISION SUMMARY In summary: Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed 1–3, 5, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19 103 Guenette, Béluse, Delegarde 1–3, 5, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19 6, 9, 14, 18 103 Guenette, Béluse, Delegarde, Frantti 6, 9, 14, 18 10 103 Guenette, Béluse, Delegarde, Johnson 10 11 103 Guenette, Béluse, Delegarde, Farquhar 11 15, 16 103 Guenette, Béluse, Delegarde, Greaney 15, 16 20 103 Guenette, Béluse, Frantti, Greaney, Delegarde 20 Overall Outcome 1–3, 5, 6, 8– 20 REVERSED