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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 10/14/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 2-5 under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of Lindsay (Pub. No. US 2009/0116831 A1; hereafter Lindsay), Mayr (U.S. Patent No. 6,827,319; hereafter Mayr), and Kessler (Pub. No. US 2014/0093314 A1; hereafter Kessler) have been fully considered. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Lindsay in view of Mayr and Kessler.
Examiner does not necessarily agree with Applicant’s interpretation that the movable jaw and movable member as interpreted by Examiner is in error. In Examiner’s understanding, it was that the jaw with the movable member was construed as the “movable jaw,” that is, identifying it as the jaw with the moving part, while the movable member was further distinguished as that part of the moving jaw that moved independently of the rest of the jaw.
However, such an interpretation is not necessary for the prior art to reasonably read on the claimed invention, and in order to advance prosecution, new interpretation and item mapping are presented. For the sake of clarity, annotated figures with labels are included below.
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Annotated Fig. 8 of Instant Application Annotated portion of Lindsay Fig. 2
As can be seen from the above figures, both disclose the same engagement region with the defined slot. Lindsay discloses a locking member, which Examiner has construed as equivalent to the movable jaw of Applicant’s invention. However, in order to advance prosecution, Examiner notes that if this is insufficient to Applicant, because it is not the jaw itself that moves, but an inset member, Examiner notes that Kessler discloses a movable jaw portion that is functionally its own entire jaw (see Kessler Fig. 10, items 100 and 152, which shows that the clamp portion has a dovetail face, and therefore can be construed as a small movable jaw, as opposed to a portion of a larger jaw.). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to replace the clamp brake of Lindsay with a quick release jaw like that in Kessler in order to increase the clamping area, and therefore securing force, of the clamp.
In this construction, Lindsay does not disclose a movable member.
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Mayr Annotated Fig. 4
As noted in the previous Office Action dated 10/01/2025 the construction of the movable member of Mayr is substantially identical to the disclosed movable member in the instant application. Applicant’s assertion that the slider 9 does not “extend laterally into the slot” is unpersuasive, the fact that the shape is less narrow than the equivalent portion in the instant application does not mean that it does not extend laterally.
Also as discussed in the previous Office Action, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to add the movable member of Mayr to the device of Lindsay (or, in the alternative, in Lindsay modified with the clamping jaw of Kessler) in order to enable both lateral insertion and vertical insertion of the camera into the dovetail mount, as suggested by Kessler.
Under this interpretation of Lindsay in view of May and Kessler, Lindsay (or, in the alternative, Lindsay modified with the clamping jaw of Kessler) discloses first jaw and the movable jaw as called for in claim 1, Mayr discloses the movable member as called for in claim 1, and Kessler teaches that it would have been obvious to combine the references in order to have both structures, as called for in claim 1. The claims are therefore still rejected in view of Lindsay, Mayr, and Kessler, and the rejections are reproduced below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 2-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lindsay (Pub. No. US 2009/0116831 A1; hereafter Lindsay) in view of Mayr (U.S. Patent No. 6,827,319; hereafter Mayr) and Kessler (Pub. No. US 2014/0093314 A1; hereafter Kessler).
Regarding claim 2, Lindsay discloses a mounting assembly suitable to support an imaging device thereon and suitable to be supported by a tripod comprising:
(a) said mounting assembly including a tiltable structure suitable for supporting said imaging device only capable of being tilted along a single tiltable axis (see Lindsay paragraph [0025] which discloses that the head “tilts about the horizontal axis”);
(b) said mounting assembly including a base supporting said tiltable structure suitable to be supported by said tripod that is rotatable only along a single rotary axis generally perpendicular to said tiltable axis (see Lindsay paragraph [0025] “The pan and tilt head provides also for pan movement of the head about a vertical axis.”);
(c) said tiltable structure supporting a clamp thereon that defines an engagement region that includes a first jaw and at least one movable jaw, said first jaw and said movable jaw being capable of moving in a lateral direction toward and away from one another to selectively engage an imaging device within said engagement region, where said engagement region includes a planar upper surface that is arranged substantially parallel to the movement of said movable jaw, and wherein said first jaw and said movable jaw define a slot between said first jaw and said movable jaw (see Lindsay Fig. 2, items 15 and 16. See also Response to Arguments, above, regarding the interpretation wherein the clamp is replaced with the movable jaw of Kessler.); (e) where said movable jaw is configured to said selectively engage said imaging device in a first engagement manner, where said at least one movable haw is suitable to secure said imaging device to said mounting assembly independently of said movable member (see Lindsay Fig. 2, item 16 can clamp onto the imaging device. Since the device of Lindsay does not disclose a movable member, it must secure the imaging device independently of the movable member).
Lindsay does not disclose the movable member of item (d) or that the movable member extends within said engagement region in a manner such that when an imaging device is placed within said engagement region a first elongate portion of said movable member causes said second portion of said movable member to automatically engages said imaging device.
Mayr discloses a quick swap mounting mechanism including a movable member supported by one of said first jaw and said movable jaw capable of moving independently relative to a first jaw (see Mayr Fig. 4, items 5 and 10), said movable member having a first elongate portion of said movable member extending laterally within said engagement slot (see Mayr Fig. 4, item 5. See also Response to Arguments, above) in a manner such that when an imaging device is placed within said engagement region said first elongate portion of said movable member moves by being at least partially lowered with respect to said upper surface when extending within said slot when an imaging device is placed within said engagement region (see Mayr Figs. 2 and 3, item 9. Note how item 9 is lowered during engagement.), said movable member including a second portion of said movable member that engages said imaging device when said imaging device is placed within said engagement region when said first elongate portion of said movable member moves in said at least partially lowered direction (see Mayr Figs. 2 and 3, item 5. Note that item 5 is raised with respect to the upper surface 3 that engages with the imaging device.), where said movable member is configured such that said imaging device is capable of first coming into contact with said first elongate portion prior to any engagement of said imaging device with said second portion when engaged with said clamp (see Mayr col. 2, ll. 65-67 and Response to Arguments, above), where said first elongate portion of said movable member and said second portion of said movable member simultaneously move when said imaging device is said placed within said engagement region (see Mayr Figs. 2 and 3, items 5 and 9 are connected so that they move simultaneously); wherein said first elongate portion of said movable member and said second portion of said movable member are not movable relative to one another and are maintained in a fixed position relative to one another when said imaging device engages with said movable member (see Mayr Fig. 3, items 5 and 9, which are locked into position by locking mechanism 15 when in the engaged position.), and wherein when said imaging device is engaged with said quick release clamp to selectively engage said imaging device with said first jaw, said imaging device automatically engages said movable member to at least partially engage said imaging device (see Mayr Fig. 2, items 5, 7, and 9, the clamp automatically engages as the imaging device is lowered onto the slider 9) [claim 3] wherein said first elongate portion is a pin (see Mayr Fig. 4, item 9); [claim 4] wherein said first elongate portion is recessed into said clamp upon said imaging device being placed within said engagement region (see Mayr Fig. 3, item 9); [claim 5] wherein said second portion of said movable member disengages said imaging device upon removal of said imaging device from within said engagement region (see Mayr Fig. 2, the reverse of the insertion operation, as the pin is biased upwards via spring 11, the plate 5 disengages the imaging device).
Prior art Kessler discloses a clamping device which has two distinct engagement mechanisms: a dropping gate (see Kessler Fig. 9, item 70), and a movable clamping jaw (see Kessler Fig. 9, item 107). The engagement mechanism of Lindsay (see Lindsay Fig. 2, items 16 and 17) function similarly to the movable jaw of Kessler. Meanwhile, the clamp of Mayr (see Mayr Fig. 2, item 5) allows for vertical insertion of the device, similar to the dropping gate of Kessler.
As discussed in the Response to Arguments, above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to add the clamp of Mayr to the mounting device of Lindsay in addition to the movable jaw already present in Lindsay in order to enable both vertical quick-attachment and lateral adjustment of the device position until the clamping jaw is secured, as taught by Kessler. The combination of Lindsay as modified by Mayr and Kessler discloses a movable jaw configured to said selectively engage said imaging device in a first engagement manner (i.e. Lindsay’s jaw 16, comparable to Kessler’s quick-release clamping jaw) and said movable member configured to selectively engage said imaging device in a second engagement manner where said first engagement manner is different than said second engagement manner (i.e. Mayr’s drop-in rotating gate, comparable to Kessler’s dropping gate), where said at least one movable jaw is suitable to secure said imaging device to said mounting assembly independently of said movable member (see Lindsay Fig. 2, item 16 and Response to Arguments, above.).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NOAM S REISNER whose telephone number is (571)270-7542. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00AM-5:30PM.
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/NOAM REISNER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852 11/14/2025
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