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
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-6, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gopahwamy et al. US 2023/0343220.
Gopahwamy et al. discloses A tow bar system for an independently steered and powered trailer, comprising:
a front tow bar 120 (righthand side shown in Fig. 3) configured to removably couple to a hitch of a lead vehicle 20;
a rear tow bar 120 (lefthand side shown in Fig. 3) configured to removably couple to a hitch of the trailer; and
a damper system 136 disposed between the front tow bar and the rear tow bar and configured to absorb compressive and tensile loads occurring during steering, accelerating, and braking of the independently steered and powered trailer; further comprising an angle sensor 144 disposed on the front tow bar configured to sense an angle between the lead vehicle and the front tow bar, wherein the angle sensor is configured for signal communication with an automated driving system of the lead vehicle and/or the trailer; further comprising an angle sensor 146 disposed on the rear tow bar configured to sense an angle between the trailer and the rear tow bar, wherein the angle sensor is configured for signal communication with an automated driving system of the lead vehicle and/or the trailer; further comprising a load cell 56 configured to sense one or more forces on the tow bar system; wherein the damper system comprises: a damper 136; a front support 132 coupled between the front tow bar and the damper; and a rear support 134 coupled between the rear tow bar and the damper.
Claims 1, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Smith US 2006/0249926.
Smith et al. discloses a tow bar system for an independently steered and powered trailer, comprising: a front tow bar 17 configured to removably couple to a hitch of a lead vehicle; a rear tow bar 14 configured to removably couple to a hitch of the trailer; and a damper system 23 disposed between the front tow bar and the rear tow bar and configured to absorb compressive and tensile loads occurring during steering, accelerating, and braking of the independently steered and powered trailer; further comprising a length adjustment and locking mechanism 30,27 configured to selectively adjust a length of the tow bar system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8, 10, 13-19 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.
Conclusion
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/KEVIN HURLEY/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3611
September 24, 2025