DETAILED ACTION
The response dated 7/28/2025 has been entered and is treated below.
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 4,937,929 to Nokajima.
Regarding claim 1 Nokajima discloses a vehicle body conveyance system, comprising an unmanned carrier (see figure 1) conveying a vehicle body between a plurality of work stations, the vehicle body conveyance system comprising: positioning pins (73), standing on the work stations to be inserted through positioning holes formed in the vehicle body, wherein the unmanned carrier comprises: a driving part (17), driving the unmanned carrier; a pair of gripping rails (47 and associated elements), respectively gripping lower surfaces of a pair of side sills provided on left and right of the vehicle body (see e.g., figure 8); a left-right width adjusting mechanism, connected with each of the pair of gripping rails (see figures 8-9), a lifting part (7), lifting and lowering the gripping rails; and a control part, respectively controlling the driving part, left-right width adjusting mechanism, and the lifting part, wherein the control part is configured to: adjust a left-right width between the pair of gripping rial to fit a left-right width between the pair of side sills of the vehicle body (col. 8 lines 13-17) by controlling the left-right width adjusting mechanism, control the lifting part to lift up the vehicle body to separate the positioning hole of the vehicle body from the positioning pin (removing body from station), control the driving part to move the unmanned carrier to another one of the work stations (moving to another station), and control the lifting part to lower the vehicle body to insert the positioning hole through the positioning pin standing on the another work station (col. 9 lines 60-65).
Regarding claim 2 Nokajima discloses the gripping rails has a front-rear length equal to a front-rear width between a pair of jack-up points provided at front and rear of the side sill, and in a case of conveying the vehicle body, when the vehicle body moves forward or rearward with respect to the gripping rails, the gripping rails contacts the jack-up point. See figure 2. It is noted that the vehicle body is not positively claimed and is the article being handled and therefore does not limit the apparatus. See MPEP 2115. Nokajima is capable of interacting with a vehicle body in the claimed manner and thus reads on the claim. See MPEP 2114 and 2115.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/28/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argued that sliders 58 should be correlated to the claimed gripping rails as they are the features in Nokajima that move left and right. Examiner contends that Nokajima still reads on the claims. As can be seen in figure 8 the bottom of the side sill rests on 60 and 58 moves laterally to grip the sill from the inside. The claims do not require a specific shape of the rail or a particular movement that would preclude the combination of 58/60 from reading on the rail and the movement of 58 on the claimed width adjustment. Claiming more details of the rail itself (as shown in figure 4) would likely overcome this rejection, but as claimed Nokajima still reads on the claims.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 MARK C HAGEMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5547. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:15-4:45 (PST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Saul Rodriguez can be reached at 571-272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARK C HAGEMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3652
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