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, see pages 14-18, filed 07/07/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 3-6, 8-12, and 14-24 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of 35 USC 112(b), as discussed in further detail below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8-12, and 14-24 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.
Regarding claims 1, 21, and 22:
The claims recite both “concurrent lowering of the chassis of the first vehicle and the chassis of the second vehicle toward the respective payload” and “the second part of the joint action includes raising the chassis of the second vehicle with respect to the reference to retrieve the second portion of the respective payload.” Based on this contradiction, it is not clear if the chassis of the second vehicle is raised or lowered in order to retrieve the payload.
Regarding claim 3:
The claim recites “the second part of the joint action includes lowering the chassis of the second vehicle”; as discussed above, this is contradictory with claim 1.
Regarding claims 4-6, 8-12, 14-20, 23, and 24:
The claims fail to cure the deficiencies of claims 1, 21, and 22, and are thus indefinite for at least the same reasons.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3-6, 8-12, and 14-24 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 1, 21, and 22: As discussed in the previous action, Wedler (EP 2698307, previously cited) teaches positioning a robot chassis in order to pick up a payload module by a linear movement of the chassis. However, Wedler fails to teach receiving a signal indicating that the chassis of the vehicle is positioned above a portion of the payload.
The closest available art, Kumagai et al. (US 20220050465), teaches transportation of a payload by sandwiching the payload between a plurality of robots, wherein the robots comprise a sensor detecting that each robot has made contact with the transport object (Kumagai – Abstract). However, Kumagai et al. fails to teach receiving a signal indicating that a robot chassis is positioned above a portion of the payload, instead merely teaching that the robot chassis is in contact with the portion of the payload.
Regarding claims 3-6, 8-12, 14-20, 23, and 24: The claims are dependent on either claim 1 or claim 22 and are potentially allowable for at least the same reasons.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARAH A MUELLER whose telephone number is (703)756-4722. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30-12:00, 1:00-5:30; F 8:00-12:00.
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/S.A.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/NAVID Z. MEHDIZADEH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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