DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/14/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 4, 7, 10, 14, 17, and 46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by WO2015104255.
Regarding claim 1, WO2015104255 discloses a guided sliding door assembly comprising a door guide assembly configured to define a first door guide (element 5) extending along a horizontal guide axis from a first guide end to a second guide end (See Figure 2); and a first door arrangement assembly comprising a respective first door assembly configured to define a first door (element 1) guided by said first door guide to be guidedly movable along the guide axis, the first door extending in a vertical door plane along the guide axis; and a respective second door assembly configured to define a second door (element 2) guided by said first door guide to be guidedly movable along the guide axis independently of said first door, the second door extending in a vertical door plane along the guide axis, wherein the first door comprises a second-end door coupler (considered combination of elements 4 and 8) which interfaces in a direction towards the second guide end of the door guide, [the second-end door coupler of said first door being configured to couple to said second door (See at least Figure 5)]*, and the second door comprises a first-end door coupler (elements 3, 13, 16, and 17, see paragraph [0031] of translation) which interfaces in a direction towards the first guide end of the door guide, the first-end door coupler of said second door being configured to couple to said second-end door coupler of said first door, wherein the second-end door coupler of the first door and the first-end door coupler of the second door define a soft-closing mechanism [configured to gradually brake a relative motion between the first and second doors along the guide axis (See at least paragraphs [0032-0034])]*; wherein: the first door comprises a second-end guide shuttle (considered at least element 8) guided in a shuttle guide track (element 5) of said first door guide; the second door comprises a first-end guide shuttle (considered combination of at least element 13, 16, and 17) guided in said shuttle guide track; and one of the second-end door coupler of said first door and the first-end door coupler of said second door comprises a coupler activator (element 17) guided by a separate coupler activator guide track (See at least Figures 5-8, considered “track” of element 16 by which element 17 is “guided”. Examiner notes that element 17 and the “track” of element 16 that guides movement of element 17 are considered “separate” (i.e. distinct, individual, particular, considered independently), since element 17 moves with respect to element 16. See definition for “separate” below) adjacent to the shuttle guide track.
Examiner’s note: *The above/below statements in brackets are examples of an intended use statement that fails to further limit the structure of the claimed invention. Since the claimed invention is directed solely to the structure of sliding door assembly, the prior art must only be capable of meeting the structural recitation in order to be applicable, and in this case, the examiner maintains that the sliding door assembly disclosed by WO2015104255 is entirely capable of the intended use statement. Note that it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex parte Masham 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987).
separate
vb
1. (tr) to act as a barrier between: a range of mountains separates the two countries.
2. to put or force or be put or forced apart
3. to part or be parted from a mass or group
4. (tr) to discriminate between: to separate the men from the boys.
5. to divide or be divided into component parts; sort or be sorted
6. to sever or be severed
7. (Law) (intr) (of a married couple) to cease living together by mutual agreement or after obtaining a decree of judicial separation
adj
8. existing or considered independently
9. disunited or apart
10. set apart from the main body or mass
11. distinct, individual, or particular
12. solitary or withdrawn
Source: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/separate
Regarding claim 4, WO2015104255 discloses wherein the first door comprises a first-end guide shuttle (Figure 2, element 3 of first door) guided by said first door guide, and a second-end guide shuttle (considered at least element 8) guided by said first door guide, and optionally wherein the second-end door coupler of said first door is defined by the second-end guide shuttle of said first door.
Regarding claim 7, WO2015104255 discloses wherein the second door comprises a first-end guide shuttle (considered combination of at least element 13, 16, and 17) guided by said first door guide, and a second-end guide shuttle (Figure 2, element 4 of second door) guided by said first door guide, and optionally wherein the first-end door coupler of said second door is defined by the first-end guide shuttle of said second door.
Regarding claim 10, WO2015104255 discloses wherein the first-end door coupler of said second door defines a coupler interface of a first type, and the second-end door coupler of said first door defines a coupler interface of a second type different from the first type (Examiner notes that the “coupler interface” of the first-end door coupler and the second-end door coupler are different).
Regarding claim 14, WO2015104255 discloses wherein the coupler interface of the first type comprises a self-retractor (at least element 17) [configured to, once having engaged with a coupler interface of the second type, draw itself towards the coupler interface of the second type]*, optionally wherein the self-retractor comprises a main body (element 3), and a retraction bias element (at least element 13) coupled to an activator catcher (at least element 17), and the coupler interface of the second type comprises a self-retractor activator (element 8) configured to engage with the activator catcher to release the retraction bias element from a pre-tensioned latch position to draw the self- retractor towards the coupler interface of the second type, and optionally wherein the activator catcher is movable relative to the main body of the self-retractor along the guide axis.
Regarding claim 17, WO2015104255 discloses wherein the activator catcher is movable against a brake bias relative to the main body of the self-retractor, and optionally wherein the brake bias is generated by a damper. Examiner notes, however, that the limitation of claim 14 reciting “optionally wherein the self-retractor comprises a main body, and a retraction bias element coupled to an activator catcher” is clearly and explicitly identified as “optional” and therefore not required by the claim, and therefore the limitations of claim 17 directed to features of the “main body” and “activator catcher” are necessarily optional and not required
Regarding claim 46, WO2015104255 discloses a guided sliding door assembly comprising a door guide assembly configured to define a first door guide (element 5) extending along a horizontal guide axis from a first guide end to a second guide end (See Figure 2); and a first door arrangement assembly comprising a respective first door assembly configured to define a first door (element 1) guided by said first door guide to be guidedly movable along the guide axis, the first door extending in a vertical door plane along the guide axis; and a respective second door assembly configured to define a second door (element 2) guided by said first door guide to be guidedly movable along the guide axis independently of said first door, the second door extending in a vertical door plane along the guide axis, wherein the first door comprises a second-end door coupler (considered combination of elements 4 and 8) which interfaces in a direction towards the second guide end of the door guide, [the second-end door coupler of said first door being configured to couple to said second door (See at least Figure 5)]*, and the second door comprises a first-end door coupler (elements 3, 13, 16, and 17, see paragraph [0031] of translation) which interfaces in a direction towards the first guide end of the door guide, the first-end door coupler of said second door being configured to couple to said second-end door coupler of said first door, wherein the second-end door coupler of the first door and the first-end door coupler of the second door define a soft-closing mechanism [configured to gradually brake a relative motion between the first and second doors along the guide axis (See at least paragraphs [0032-0034])]*, and wherein the soft-closing mechanism is located at a top portion of the first and second doors. Examiner notes that paragraph [0036] of WO2015104255 explicitly recites “A damped version can be realized both in the region of the lower support rail 5 and in the region of the upper guide rail 7, it is also possible to provide a collision protection device 8 exclusively in the region of the lower support rail 5 or exclusively in the region of the upper guide rails 7”. Therefore, WO2015104255 explicitly recites that configuring the soft-closing mechanism such that it is located at a top portion of the first and second doors (i.e. “in the region of the upper guide rails 7”) is fully intended and within in the disclosed scope of the invention.
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 33 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2015104255 in view of Kern et al. (US 6,352,097) (hereinafter Kern).
Regarding claim 33, WO2015104255 does not explicitly disclose wherein the door guide assembly is further configured to define a second door guide extending along a horizontal guide axis parallel to the first door guide, wherein the guided sliding door assembly further comprises a second door arrangement assembly comprising a respective first door assembly configured to define a first door guided by said second door guide, such that the first and second door arrangement assemblies define a bypass door assembly. Kern, however, teaches that it is known in the art to configure a guided sliding door assembly comprising a door guide assembly configured to define a first door guide (See Figure 8, portion of element 28 in which element 18 is guided and retained) extending along a horizontal guide axis from a first guide end to a second guide end; and a first door arrangement assembly comprising a respective first door assembly configured to define a first door (element 18) guided by said first door guide to be guidedly movable along the guide axis, the first door extending in a vertical door plane along the guide axis; and a respective second door assembly configured to define a second door (element 14) guided by said first door guide to be guidedly movable along the guide axis independently of said first door, the second door extending in a vertical door plane along the guide axis, and wherein the door guide assembly is further configured to define a second door guide (See Figure 8, portion of element 28 in which element 20 is guided and retained) extending along a horizontal guide axis parallel to the first door guide, wherein the guided sliding door assembly further comprises a second door arrangement assembly comprising a respective first door assembly configured to define a first door (element 20) guided by said second door guide, such that the first and second door arrangement assemblies define a bypass door assembly, and optionally wherein the second door arrangement further comprises a respective second door assembly configured to define a second door (element 16) guided by said second door guide, wherein the second door guide is configured in accordance with the first door guide, and the first and second door assemblies of the second door arrangement assembly are configured in accordance with the first and second door assemblies of the first door arrangement assembly. Therefore, 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 guided sliding door assembly of WO2015104255 such that it is configured to include a second door guide extending along a horizontal guide axis parallel to the first door guide, wherein the guided sliding door assembly further comprises a second door arrangement assembly comprising a respective first door assembly configured to define a first door guided by said second door guide, such that the first and second door arrangement assemblies define a bypass door assembly, as taught by Kern, as this would provide a door system with more than 2 sliding doors, which would provide a larger overall opening when needed, as this would be found desirable to potential users for particular applications of the door system. Additionally, all the claimed elements were known in the prior art as evidenced above, and one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed, or substituted one known element for another, using known methods with no change in their respective functions. Such a combination or substitution would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made, since the elements perform as expected and thus the results would be expected. MPEP 2143
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3, 6, 9, and 11-13 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/21/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the argument “Applicant submits that because WO teaches that the element 17 corresponds to both the coupler activator and the coupler activator guide track, WO does not teach that the coupler activator and the coupler activator guide track are separate from each other, as now recited in independent claim 1”. This argument is unclear. As stated in Final Rejection filed 12/16/2025, the “coupler activator” is explicitly indicated as being element 17 of WO2015104255, which is guided by a coupler activator guide track (See at least Figures 5-8, considered “track” of element 16 by which element 17 is “guided”. Examiner notes that element 17 is shown as being slidably guided along a “guide track” of element 16 in Figures 5-8) adjacent to the shuttle guide track, and therefore element 17 does not “correspond to both the coupler activator and the coupler activator guide track”.
Regarding the argument “Applicant submits that independent claim 46 specifically recites that "the second-end door coupler of the first door and the first-end door coupler of the second door define a soft-closing mechanism." Accordingly, the claimed soft-closing mechanism is defined by the second-end door coupler of the first door and the first-end door coupler of the second door, and is not a separate device such as, e.g., the collision protection device 8 of WO. In other words, the "soft-closing mechanism" of WO is not defined by any combination of elements 3, 4 and/or 6”. Examiner disagrees, and notes that, for examination purposes, and as explicitly indicated in Final Rejection filed 12/16/2025, and also above, the structure of “a second-end door coupler” is identified as the combination of elements 4 and 8, and therefore element 8 is considered to be part of the “second-end door coupler” of WO2015104255, and the claim language “the second-end door coupler of the first door and the first-end door coupler of the second door define a soft-closing mechanism” is considered to be fully satisfied. Examiner further points to paragraphs [0030-0031] of WO2015104255 (See English translation) which describes the “permanent coupling between the said supporting part 4 and the collision protection device 8”.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN B REPHANN whose telephone number is (571)270-7318. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm.
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/JUSTIN B REPHANN/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
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