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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-6) January 7, 2026 in the reply filed on is acknowledged. Claim 7 is hereby withdrawn as being directed to a non-elected invention.
Information Disclosure Statement
IDS filed 9/14/2023 has been considered, however, the website links did not open any web pages.
Claim Objections
The numbering of claims is not in accordance with 37 CFR 1.126 which requires the original numbering of the claims to be preserved throughout the prosecution. When claims are canceled, the remaining claims must not be renumbered. When new claims are presented, they must be numbered consecutively beginning with the number next following the highest numbered claims previously presented (whether entered or not). In this case, claim 5 has been omitted. Accordingly:
misnumbered claim 6 has been renumbered claim 5 and
misnumbered and withdrawn claim 7 has been renumbered as claim 6.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the depth" in lines 1 and 2 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, in that a depth has not been previously recited.
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, 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bacallao (U.S. PGPUB no. 20170172322, hereinafter “Bacallao”).
Regarding claim 1, Bacallao discloses a holding system mountable on upper and lower rails comprising:
a holder body (defined as back structure 136 [0032] [0033]-[0035] Figs 2, 3 shown below);
an upper hook positionable over the upper guard rail of a lift platform, the upper hook extending from the holder body (defined as top rail coupler hook 128 which is positionable over the upper guard rail of a lift platform [0023]-[0025] Figs 2, 3);
a lower hook beneath the upper hook positionable over the lower guard rail of a lift platform, the lower hook extending from the holder body (defined as bottom rail coupler hook 132 which is positionable over the lower guard rail of a lift platform [0023]-[0025] Figs 2, 3);
upwardly projecting arms from the holder body defining a space therebetween sufficient to allow placement of a plurality of conduit between the arms (defined as bagging station arms 188 which define a space sufficient to allow a plurality of conduit to be placed between them [0018] Fig 1 shown below). The recitations of a “conduit holding system” mountable on “guard rails of a lift platform” have not been given patentable weight because it has been held that a preamble is denied the effect of a limitation where the claim is drawn to a structure and the portion of the claim following the preamble is a self-contained description of the structure not depending for completeness upon the introductory clause. 88 USPQ 478 As described above, the device of Bacallao would be capable of being mounted on the claimed guardrail and holding conduit.
Figs 1-3:
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Regarding claim 3, Bacallao teaches the limitations of claim 1, as described above, and further teaches wherein the holder body further comprises:
a recessed surface capable of holding a pipe operable to limit lateral movement of the pipe while in recessed surface (defined as middle rail holder 160 which is capable of holding a pipe and would limit any lateral movement of a pipe [0030] Figs 1, 2).
Regarding claim 4, Bacallao teaches the limitations of claim 1, as described above, and further teaches wherein the system is comprised of a non-conductive material ([0019] explains that the support frame can be made of any suitable materials including wood and plastic which are non-conductive materials).
Regarding claim 5, Bacallao teaches the limitations of claim 4, as described above, and further teaches wherein the system is comprised of plastic ([0019] explains that the support frame can be made of plastic).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bacallao.
Regarding claim 2, Bacallao teaches the limitations of claim 1, as described above, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the depth of the upper hook is less than the depth of the lower hooks of each conduit holder.
However, in [0024] Bacallao describes that rail coupler hooks 128 and 132 can be any size or shape as desired to couple to particular size and shape of rails. 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 work holder of Bacallao based on the size and shape of the rails being attached to, including configurations where the depth of the upper hook would be less than the depth of the lower hooks in applications in which the lower rails were much larger than the upper rail as an obvious matter of design choice within the skill of the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cummings (U.S. PGPUB no. 20090301982) describes a material storage rack for use on an aerial lift.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN M LARSON whose telephone number is (571)272-2765. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Keller can be reached at 571-272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN MICHAEL LARSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/BRIAN D KELLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723