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 . 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.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because figures 7 and 9 contain grayscale photograph instead of black and white line drawings, as required. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2 and 7-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KR 10-2098176 B1.
Referring to Claim 1: KR 10-2098176 discloses a device for fixing functional objects (100) between the rails (10) of a railway line comprising:
- a base unit (200) dimensioned so as to be disposed between said rails (2, 3),
- a first fixing element (300) arranged so as to fix a part of the base unit to one of said rails (Figs. 3 and 4),
- a second fixing element (300) arranged so as to fix another part of the base unit to the other of said rails (Figs. 3 and 4),
- at least one attachment element (130, 140, 230) arranged so as to fix the base unit (200) to at least one functional object (100) (Figs. 3 and 4).
Referring to Claim 2: KR 10-2098176 discloses the device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each fixing element (300) comprises a linked part (240) secured to the base unit (200) and a free end (320) intended to contact the inner side of a rail (10) (Figs. 3 and 4).
Referring to Claim 7: KR 10-2098176 discloses the device (1) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the base unit (200) comprises a housing (210) inside which is disposed at least a part (242) of the fixing elements (300) (see attached EPO translation, Para. [0053]).
Referring to Claim 8: KR 10-2098176 discloses an assembly composed of at least one device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, a functional object (100) and attachment elements (130, 140, 230) for fixing the functional object to the base unit (200) (Figs. 3 and 4) (Para. [0053]) (Para. [0041-0045]) or to another functional object.
Referring to Claim 9: KR 10-2098176 discloses the assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein each attachment element is provided with a male part (140) (Para. [0033]) or a female part.
Referring to Claim 10: KR 10-2098176 discloses the assembly as claimed in claim 8, comprising a locking piece intended to lock the link between a male part (140) and a female part (212) (Para. [0033]).
Referring to Claim 11: KR 10-2098176 discloses a method for placing and fixing functional objects (100) between the rails (10) of a railway line (Figs. 1 and 2) comprising the following steps:
- placement of a device as defined in any one of claims 1 to 7, between two rails (10),
- fixing of the base unit (200) to the rails, by deployment of the fixing elements (300),
- placement of a functional object (100) between the rails, alongside the device or another functional object (Figs. 3 and 4),
- attachment of the functional object (100) to the device or to the other functional object (Figs. 3 and 4), or vice versa.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP S59-135905.
Referring to Claim 1: JP S59-135905 discloses a device (1) for fixing functional objects (2) between the rails (13) of a railway line comprising:
- a base unit (3) dimensioned so as to be disposed between said rails (Fig. 1),
- a first fixing element (9) arranged so as to fix a part of the base unit to one of said rails (Fig. 2),
- a second fixing element (9) arranged so as to fix another part of the base unit to the other of said rails (Fig. 2),
- at least one attachment element (4) arranged so as to fix the base unit (3) to at least one functional object (2) (Figs. 1 and 2).
Referring to Claim 2: JP S59-135905 discloses the device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each fixing element (9) comprises a linked part (6, 10-12) secured to the base unit (3) and a free end intended to contact the inner side of a rail (13) (Fig. 2).
Referring to Claim 3: JP S59-135905 discloses the device (1) as claimed in claim 2, wherein each free end (9) can be displaced relative to the base unit (3), between an idle position and an active position, the latter corresponding to a configuration in which the free end (9) contacts the inner side of a rail (13) and exerts against the latter a sufficient force to ensure an optimal fixing of the base unit (3) to said rails (Fig. 2).
Referring to Claim 5: JP S59-135905 discloses the device (1) as claimed in claim 3, wherein each fixing element (9) comprises a cylinder (6).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 6 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.
Claims 12-14 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 4, the prior art fails to teach that “each fixing element comprises an articulated mechanism composed of at least two arms.” Examiner finds no obvious reason to modify the prior art in this manner. Such a modification would require an improper degree of hindsight reasoning.
Regarding claim 6, the prior art fails to teach that “each fixing element comprises an articulated mechanism composed of at least one rod and a pivoting triangular element.” Examiner finds no obvious reason to modify the prior art in this manner. Such a modification would require an improper degree of hindsight reasoning.
Regarding claim 12 and depending claims 13 and 14, the prior art fails to teach the combination of limitations recited in independent claim 12. More specifically, KR 10-2098176 fails to specifically outline the parts used in the placement and removal of the functional object, including a motorized traction unit, a storage section, an assembly zone and a ramp, as recited in claim 12. In the International Search Report of corresponding International Application No. PCT/IB2021/061900, mailed 03/04/2022, the reference Coots (US 6,807,909) is listed as anticipating the corresponding claim 12. While Coots teaches a motorized traction unit with a storage section (16) (Fig. 1) and a ramp (36) for the continuous placement of functional objects (14) between the rails (24) (Fig. 3), Coots fails to teach an assembly zone allowing the functional objects and the fixing devices to be linked to one another, prior to the ramp, and fails to teach a ramp that allows continuous placement or removal of the functional objects and the fixing devices between the rails, as recited in claim 12. The tie plates 14 of Coots are fastened to the ties, but not prior to being disposed by the ramp, such a modification to link fasteners to the tie plate prior to be placed by the ramp would interfere with the intended operation of Coots. Further, the preamble of claim 12 recites placement and removal of functional objects, and the body of the claim further recites “a ramp disposed following the assembly zone to allow the continuous placement or removal of the functional objects and the fixing devices between the rails.” Coots has no ability to allow the ramp to remove tie plates or fasteners. Further, while the removal of track components with the aid of a ramp is variously known in the art (e.g., Miller et al. (US 6,112,670) and Sperling (US 2009/0188406 A1)), Examiner finds no obvious reason to Coots to be capable of removal of functional objects. Thus, claim 12 is nonobvious and allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY L KUHFUSS whose telephone number is (571)270-7858. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:00am to 6:00 pm CDT.
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/ZACHARY L KUHFUSS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617