DETAILED ACTION
The Information Disclosure Statements filed on June 13, 2023 and January 11, 2024 have both been reviewed and considered by the Examiner.
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) 1-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dominguez (US 4,452,150).
Dominguez discloses a method for securing a hopper car cover comprised of a hopper railroad car top hatch cover assembly 20 for a hopper railroad car 4 having a roof 4 and an upwardly extending coaming 10. The assembly is comprised of a hatch cover 30 pivotally connected on one side of the coaming and including a movable hatch pivotally movable from a closed position engaging the coaming to an open position disengaged from the coaming by way of shaft 44. A hatch cover securer, in the form of a pivot arm 26, is movably connected on an opposite side of the coaming and including a hatch cover engager movable from a hatch cover engagement position in which the hatch cover engager secures the movable hatch in the closed position engaging the coaming to a hatch cover non-engagement position in which the hatch cover engager allows the movable hatch to move to the open position. The hatch cover engager is pivotally movable from the hatch cover engagement position to the hatch cover non-engagement position by way of movable arm 26. The hatch cover securer includes a hatch cover engager rotator connected to the hatch cover engager and configured to pivot the hatch cover engager from the hatch cover engagement position to the hatch cover non-engagement position, as shown in figures 1 and 2. The hatch cover engager is configured to engage a pivot arm 26 of a hinge of the hatch cover when the hatch cover engager is in the hatch cover engagement position. The hatch cover engager 33 is linearly movable from the hatch cover engagement position in which the hatch cover engager secures the hatch cover to the hatch cover non-engagement position.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert J McCarry Jr. whose telephone number is (571)272-6683. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00-3:00.
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/Robert J McCarry Jr/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
RJM
January 5, 2026