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 .
Drawings
1. The drawings are objected to because top surface 440 and bottom surface 450 in paragraph 0057; platform 460 in paragraph 0062; one or more track 150 in paragraph 0066, rear wall element 110, paragraph 0078, one or more spanner element 120 in paragraph 0084, one or more front elements 140 in paragraph 0089, cooling system 600, ducting 110, top element 300, working surface 310, cooling compartment 320, perimeter track 330 and top surface tracks 150 are not labeled in the drawings. 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 § 112
2. 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.
Claims 1-20 are 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. with respect to claim 1, a plurality of front elements is claimed but then a singular front element is discussed in the wherein clause in claim 1 and in claim 2 and thus it’s unclear if the table has singular front element or plurality of front elements. With respect to claims 4 and 14, the limitation “said first internal cavities” lacks antecedent basis. With respect to claim 9, 10 and 19, “said sidewalls”, “said sidewall elements” and “end caps” lack antecedent basis.
With respect to claim 11, the claim recites “at least one perimeter track” but then later claims it as “perimeter tracks” in line 5 and thus it is unclear if at least one or plurality of tracks are being claimed. Same with “end cap tracks”. Claim 11 recites “a plurality of front elements in line 12 is claimed but then a singular front element is discussed in the wherein clause in line 13 of claim 11 thus it’s unclear if the table has singular front element or plurality of front elements. Furthermore it’s unclear if “a first sidewall element”, “a first end cap” are part of the “at least one sidewall element” and “at least one end cap” or different elements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-4, 6, 7, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2015/0173526A1 (Delgadillo).
With respect to claim 1, Delgadillo shows a modular preparation table comprising: a base element (815, FIg.14); at least one sidewall element (830, FIg.14) selectively connected to said base element; at least one end cap (835) selectively connected to said base element; a rear wall (800/805, FIg.14); a top element (810); and a plurality of front elements (847, 857, FIg.14, Fig.13), wherein said base element (815), said top element (810), said rear element (800), said front element (847), a first sidewall element (830), and a first end cap (835) form a first internal cavity when said sidewall element is in a connected configuration (Fig.14).
With respect to claim 2, wherein a second sidewall element (middle 845, FIg.14) forms a second internal cavity in association with said first sidewall element (830), said base element (815), said top element (810), said rear element (800), and said front element (847), when said second sidewall element (middle 845) is in connected configuration (FIg.14).
With respect to claim 3, further including a cooling system (200, FIg.14).
With respect to claim 4, wherein said cooling system (100 and 200, FIg.4) further includes a ducting (233, 141, FIg.8/215, FIg.3), said ducting configured selectively direct airflow into said first internal cavities.
With respect to claim 6, further including a spanner (840, Fig.14).
With respect to claim 7, wherein said top element (810) further includes a working surface (FIg.14).
With respect to claim 9, wherein said sidewalls (830) and end caps (835) further include a shelf bracket (840, 845, FIg.14).
5. Claims 1, 3-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2022/0095837 A1 (Bigott).
With respect to claim 1, Bigott shows a modular preparation table (10, Fig.1) comprising: a base element (40, FIg.1); at least one sidewall element (42) selectively connected to said base element; at least one end cap (44) selectively connected to said base element; a rear wall (46); a top element (18); and a plurality of front elements (48, 108, doors not shown), wherein said base element (40), said top element (18), said rear element (46), said front element (48), a first sidewall element (42), and a first end cap (44) form a first internal cavity when said sidewall element is in a connected configuration.
With respect to claim 3, further including a cooling system (26).
With respect to claim 4, wherein said cooling system (26) further includes a ducting (60, FIg.11), said ducting configured selectively direct airflow into said first internal cavities.
With respect to claim 5, wherein said base element (40) further includes a hardware platform (51, FIg.9).
With respect to claim 6, further including a spanner (72, 74, Fig.9).
With respect to claim 7, wherein said top element (18, FIg.1) further includes a working surface (Fig.1).
With respect to claim 8, wherein said top element (18) further includes a cooling compartment (22, paragraph 0025).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. Claims 2 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 2022/0095837 A1 (Bigott) in further in view of US 2015/0173526A1 (Delgadillo).
With respect to claim 2, Bigott doesn’t show a second sidewall element forming a second internal cavity. Delgadillo shows wherein a second sidewall element (middle track 840, FIg.14) forms a second internal cavity in association with said first sidewall element (835), said base element (815), said top element (810), said rear element (800), and said front element (857/front frame see fig.13), when said second sidewall element is in connected configuration. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include a second sidewall element forming a second internal cavity, such as taught by Delgadillo, in order to divide the inner cavity into plurality of cavities in order to provide for a more organized and compartmented storage.
With respect to claim 9, Bigott doesn’t show the sidewall and end caps further include a shelf bracket. Delgadillo shows wherein said sidewalls (835 and middle 840) and end cap (830) further include a shelf bracket (845). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include shelf bracket to the sidewalls and end cap of Bigott, such as taught by Delgadillo, in order to mount shelves/drawers thereon for further organization of the interior cavity.
8. Claims 5 and 8 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2015/0173526A1 (Delgadillo) alone.
With respect to claim 5, Delgadillo teaches in a different embodiment (Fig.21) wherein said base element (935) further includes a hardware platform (931/940). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include a hardware platform on the base element in FIg.14, such as shown in FIg.21 of Delgadillo, in order to fixedly support casters thereon in order to be able to easily move the modular table elsewhere.
With respect to claim 8, Delgadillo shows a different embodiment in FIg.8 that teaches wherein said top element (510) further includes a cooling compartment (110, FIg.8). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include a cooling element on the top element of FIg.14 of modified Delgadillo, such that it has a cooling compartment as shown in FIg.8, in order to be able to cool food items on the top of the preparation table and easily access the food when needed.
9. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2015/0173526 A1 (Delgadillo) in further in view of US Patent 8,832,917 B1 (Elliott).
With respect to claim 10, Delgadillo doesn’t show the sidewall elements and the end cap selectively connected to the base with tracks. Elliott shows sidewall elements (152, 154, Fig.26) and the end cap (104) selectively connected to the base (178) with tracks (178a, Fig.26). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to selectively connect the sidewall elements and end cap to the base with tracks, such as taught by Elliott, in order to easily and quickly attach and disassemble the sidewall elements and end cap to the base.
10. Claims 11-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2015/0173526 A1 (Delgadillo) in further in view of US 2014/0286701 (Sauer).
With respect to claim 11, Delgadillo shows a modular preparation table comprising: a rectangular base element (815, FIg.15); at least one sidewall element (830); at least one end cap (835) including a bottom surface; a rear wall (800, FIg.14); a top element (810); and a plurality of front elements (847, drawer fronts 857, FIg.13, Fig.14), wherein said base element (815), said top element (810), said rear element (800), said front element (847, drawer fronts), a first sidewall element (830), and a first end cap (835) form a first internal cavity when said sidewall element is in a connected configuration (Fig.14).
With respect to claim 11, Delgadillo does not teach a perimeter track and at least one end cap track, the sidewall element having a sidewall track and the end cap having a bottom surface associated with a bottom surface track. Sauer teaches a base element (12, FIg.1A) comprising at least one perimeter track (18) and at least one end cap track (16), sidewall element (20) including a sidewall track (26, FIg.1B), the sidewall track (26) configured to be selectively slide into the perimeter track (18) thereby connecting the sidewall (20) to the base (12); the one end cap (20’, FIg.4A) including a bottom surface associated with a bottom surface track (Fig.4B, same track 26 as sidewall 20), the bottom surface track being configured to selectively slide into said end cap track (16) thereby connecting said end cap (20’) to said base (12). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include a perimeter track and an end cap track to the base element and a sidewall track to the sidewall element and bottom surface track to the end cap of Delgadillo, such as shown by Sauer, in order to lockingly secure the sidewall and the end cap to the base element and to easily mount and disengage them when needed.
With respect to claim 12, the combination (Delgadillo) teaches wherein a second sidewall element (middle 845,FIg.14) forms a second internal cavity in association with said first sidewall element (830), said base element (815), said top element (810), said rear element (800), and said front element (847), when said second sidewall element (middle 845) is in connected configuration (FIg.14).
With respect to claim 13, the combination (Delgadillo) shows further including a cooling system (200, FIg.14).
With respect to claim 14, the combination (Delgadillo) wherein said cooling system (100 and 200, FIg.4) further includes a ducting (233, 141, FIg.8/215, FIg.3), said ducting configured selectively direct airflow into said first internal cavities.
With respect to claim 15, the combination (Delgadillo) teaches in a different embodiment (Fig.21) wherein said base element (935) further includes a hardware platform (931/940). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include a hardware platform on the base element in FIg.14, such as shown in FIg.21 of Delgadillo, in order to fixedly support casters thereon in order to be able to easily move the modular table elsewhere.
With respect to claim 16, the combination (Delgadillo) teaches further including a spanner (840 attached to 830).
With respect to claim 17, the combination (Delgadillo) teaches wherein said top element (810) further includes a working surface (FIg.14).
With respect to claim 18, the combination (Delgadillo) shows a different embodiment in FIg.8 that teaches wherein said top element (510) further includes a cooling compartment (110, FIg.8). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to include a cooling element on the top element of FIg.14 of modified Delgadillo, such that it has a cooling compartment as shown in FIg.8, in order to be able to cool food items on the top of the preparation table and easily access the food when needed.
With respect to claim 19, the combination (Delgadillo) teaches wherein said sidewalls (830 and middle drawer track, FIg.14) and end caps (835) further include a shelf bracket (845).
11. Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2015/0173526 A1 (Delgadillo) in view of US 2014/0286701 (Sauer) in further view of US Patent 5,733,022 (Whetstone).
With respect to claim 20, Delgadillo in view of Sauer doesn’t show the perimeter track is T track configuration. Whetstone shows wherein said perimeter track (27, Fig.2) is in a T track configuration (28 and 29, Fig.2). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to make the perimeter track T track configuration, such as taught by Whetstone, in order to be able to efficiently support the bottom of the sidewall elements and end cap by having flanges on them that sit on the horizontal part of the T-shaped track.
Conclusion
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/HIWOT E TEFERA/Examiner, Art Unit 3637