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 .
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.
Claims 3-5 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.
In claim 3, line 2, “a first rial” is a double recitation of that which has already been recited in claim 1.
In claim 3, line 3, “a second rail” is a double recitation of that which has already been recited in claim 1.
In claim 3, lines 4-5, “wherein the first tie down is attached to the first rial and the second tie down is attached to the second rail” is a double recitation of similar language already recited in lines 4-5 of claim 1. It is not clear why Applicant has repeated this language. This rejection could be overcome by removing the similar language from claim 3.
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.
Claims 1-10 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chimenti et al. (US 6,739,487).
With respect to claim 1, Chimenti et al. disclose cargo securing system capable of use with a vehicle having a cargo area, the cargo area having a first wall and an opposing second wall, the cargo securing system comprises:
two tie downs 18/18 (“This greatly assists a user by making it possible to maintain two feet at opposite ends of a cross bar 12 in released configurations until purposefully engaged to the anchor 18,” Chimenti et al., col. 10, lines 26-29), wherein a first tie down 18 of the two tie downs is attached to the first rail 11, and a second tie down 18 of the two tie downs is attached to the second rail 11 (not shown);
two support feet 32/32 (Chimenti et al., col. 10, lines 26-29), wherein a first support foot 32 of the two support feet is attached to the first tie down 18, and a second support foot 32 of the two support feet is attached to the second tie down 18 (not shown); and
a cross member 12 configured to connect to the two support feet 18/18 and extend across the cargo area (as shown in Fig. 4 of Chimenti et al.);
wherein the first support foot 32 comprises a latch 60 that is configured to engage the first tie down 18 to attach the first support foot 32 to the first tie down 18, and
wherein the claimed device is capable of use with a first rail and a second rail each include a rail engagement slot, a horizontal portion and a vertical portion (note: the first and second rails are positively recited as part of the claimed invention).
With respect to claim 2, Chimenti et al. disclose that the first tie down 18 comprises a base 19, two upright portions, and a handle 22 extending between the two upright portions as shown below in the image taken from Fig. 5 of Chimenti et al.:
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a handle extending between the two upright portions wherein the latch 60 comprises a finger 76 that engages the handle 22 (as shown in Fig. 2 of Chimenti et al.).
With respect to claim 3, Chimenti et al. disclose that the cargo securing system comprises two securing rails 11/11 (“This greatly assists a user by making it possible to maintain two feet at opposite ends of a cross bar 12 in released configurations until purposefully engaged to the anchor 18,” Chimenti et al., col. 10, lines 26-29), wherein a first rail 11 of the two securing rails is capable of attaching to the first wall of the cargo area, and a second rail 11 of the two securing rails is capable of attaching to the second wall of the cargo area, wherein the first tie down 18 is attached to the first rail 11 and the second tie down 18 is attached to the second rail 11 (not shown).
With respect to claim 4, Chimenti et al. disclose that the first tie down 18 comprises a securing part 30/21 that is configured to engage an engagement slot in the first rail 11 (as shown in Fig. 1 of Chimenti et al.).
With respect to claim 5, Chimenti et al. disclose that the securing part 30/21 comprises a moveable securing plate 30 that is configured to be moved to sandwich a region of the engagement slot between the moveable securing plate30 and the base 19 of the first tie down (as shown in Figs. 1-2 of Chimenti et al.).
With respect to claim 6, Chimenti et al .disclose that the finger 76 is configured to pivot or rotate about an axle to move the finger 76 between a latched position and an unlatched position (Chimenti et al., col. 8, lines 36-41 and col. 9, lines 17-28, wherein in the latched position, the finger 76 engages the handle 22 of the first tie down 18.
With respect to claim 7, Chimenti et al. disclose that the latch 60 comprises a button 46 and movement of the button causes the finger 76 to move into the unlatched position where the finger 76 disengages the handle 22 of the first tie down 15 (Chimenti et al., col. 9, lines 59-665; Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 8, Chimenti et al. disclose that the latch 60 comprises a spring 42 or bias member, the spring 42 or bias member is configured to move the finger 76 into the latched position after the button 46 is released (“A resilient biasing mechanism 40 in the form of a spring 42 is utilized to urge the latch body 60 toward the latching configuration,” Chimenti et al., col. 8, lines 62-64; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 9, Chimenti et al. disclose that the first support foot 32 comprises a lock 48 for locking a position of the finger 76 (Chimenti et al., col. 9, lines 66-67 and col. 10, lines 1-8). With respect to claim 10, Chimenti et al. disclose that the first support foot 32 has a generally L-shape (as shown in Fig. 1 of Chimenti et al.).
With respect to claim 15, Chimenti et al. disclose a cargo securing system capable of use with a vehicle having a cargo area, the cargo area having a first wall and an opposing second wall, the cargo securing system comprises:
two securing rails 11/11, wherein a first rail 11 of the two securing rails is capable of attaching to the first wall of the cargo area, and a second rail 11 of the two securing rails is capable of attaching to the second wall of the cargo area; two tie downs 18/18, wherein a first tie down 18 of the two tie downs is attached to the first rail 11, and a second tie down 18 of the two tie downs is attached to the second rail 11 (not shown), the first tie down 18 comprises a base 19, two upright portions, and a handle 22 extending between the two upright portions as shown below in the image taken from Fig. 5 of Chimenti et al.:
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two support feet 32/32 (“This greatly assists a user by making it possible to maintain two feet at opposite ends of a cross bar 12 in released configurations until purposefully engaged to the anchor 18,” Chimenti et al., col. 10, lines 26-29), wherein a first support foot 32 of the two support feet is attached to the first tie down, and a second support foot 32 of the two support feet is attached to the second tie down; the first support foot 32 comprises a latch 60, the latch comprises a finger 76 that pivots or rotates about an axle to move the finger between a latched position and an unlatched position (Chimenti et al., col. 8, lines 50-52), wherein in the latched position 76, the finger engages the handle 22 of the first tie down 18; and a cross member 12 configured to connect to the two support feet 32/32 and extend across the cargo area (as shown in Fig. 4 of Chimenti et al.),
wherein the first rail and the second rail each include a rail engagement slot, a horizontal portion and a vertical portion s shown below in the image taken from Fig. 4 of Chimenti et al.:
[AltContent: ][AltContent: textbox (vertical portion)][AltContent: textbox (horizontal portion)][AltContent: textbox (slot)][AltContent: ][AltContent: ]
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With respect to claim 16, Chimenti et al. disclose that the latch 60 comprises a button 46 and movement of the button causes the finger 76 to move into the unlatched position where the finger 76 disengages the handle 22 of the first tie down 18 (Chimenti et al., col. 9, lines 59-665; Fig. 3), and the latch 60 comprises a spring 42 or bias member, the spring 42 or bias member is configured to move the finger 76 into the latched position after the button 46 is released (“A resilient biasing mechanism 40 in the form of a spring 42 is utilized to urge the latch body 60 toward the latching configuration,” Chimenti et al., col. 8, lines 62-64; Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 17, Chimenti et al. disclose a cargo securing system capable of use with a vehicle having a cargo area, the cargo area having a first wall and an opposing second wall, the cargo securing system comprises: a tie down 18 capable of attaching to a side wall of a vehicle (via track 11), the tie down 18 comprises a base 19, two upright portions, and a handle 22 extending between the two upright portions as shown below in the image taken from Fig. 5 of Chimenti et al.:
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a support foot 32, the support foot comprises a latch 60, the latch 60 comprises a finger 76 that pivots or rotates about an axle to move the finger between a latched position and an unlatched position (Chimenti et al., col. 8, lines 50-52), wherein in the latched position, the finger 76 engages the handle 22 of the tie down 18 (as shown in Fig. 2 of Chimenti et al.), and
wherein the claimed device is capable of use with a first rail and a second rail each include a rail engagement slot, a horizontal portion and a vertical portion (note: the first and second rails are positively recited as part of the claimed invention).
With respect to claim 18, Chimenti et al. disclose a cross member 12 configured to connect to connect to the support foot 18, wherein the cross member 12 is capable of extending along a length of the first wall or the second wall, or the cross member is capable of extending between the first wall and the second wall.
With respect to claim 19, Chimenti et al. disclose that the support foot 32 comprises a button 46, and movement of the button causes the finger 76 to move into the unlatched position where the finger 76 disengages the handle 22 of the tie down 18 to separate or remove the support foot 32 from the tie down 18 (Chimenti et al., col. 9, lines 59-65 and col. 8, lines 62-64; Figs. 2-3).
With respect to claim 20, Chimenti et al. disclose that the latch 60 comprises a spring 42 or bias member, the spring 42 or bias member is configured to move the finger 76 into the latched position in a steady state configuration (“A resilient biasing mechanism 40 in the form of a spring 42 is utilized to urge the latch body 60 toward the latching configuration,” Chimenti et al., col. 8, lines 62-64; Fig. 2).
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.
Claims 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chimenti et al. (US 6,739,487), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of JP 2021-528297.
With respect to claim 11, Chimenti et al. disclose the claimed cargo securing system except for the support foot comprising a securing part configured to engage an engagement slot in the cross member. However, JP 2021-528297 teaches a similar cargo securing system including a first support foot 10 and a securing part 111/112 configured to engage an engagement slot in a cross member 800 as shown below in the image taken from Fig. 1 of JP 2021-528297:
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It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to replace the teaching of Chimenti et al. with the securing part taught by JP 2021-528297 for the reduction of parts. The securing part of Chimenti et al. includes at least P four parts 90/86/88/92 for securing the cross member to the first support foot and JP 2021 528297 teaches a securing system with only two parts 111/112.
With respect to claim 12, JP 2021-528297 teaches that the securing part 111/112 of the first support foot comprises a stationary securing plate and a moveable securing plate that is configured to be moved relative to the stationary securing plate to sandwich a region of the engagement slot of the cross member between the moveable securing plate and the stationary securing plate as shown below in the image taken from Fig. 2 of JP 2021-528297:
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With respect to claim 13, JP 2021-528297 teaches that the cross member 800 comprises the engagement slot and a second engagement slot (as shown at the top of cross member 800 in Fig. 1 of JP 2021-528297.
With respect to claim 14, JP 2021-528297 teach that the engagement slot and/or the second engagement slot comprises a pair of opposing walls and a pair of inwardly turned fingers to define a cross section having a C- or U-shape as shown below in the image taken from Fig. 1 of JP 2021-528297:
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Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/8/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive of any error in the above rejection.
Regarding the 112(b) rejection, Applicant has corrected the antecedent basis issue with claim 1, but has now created a double recitation issue with claim 3. Additionally, Applicant has not addressed the similar phrase in claim 3 that results in a double recitation of the first and second tie downs being attached to the first and second rails, respectively.
The amended language added to independent claims 1 and 17 is not directed at the claimed invention. Applicant does not positively recite “a first rial” and “a second rail” as part of the claimed invention. Instead, Applicant recites these as structures the cargo securing system is intended to be used with.
However, as noted with independent claim 15, “two securing rails” are positively recited as part of the claimed invention. Nevertheless, as outlined in the above rejection of claim 15, Chimenti et al. teaches these limitations as well. Thus, if Applicant were to positively recite the first and second rail in claims 1 and 17 as well, these claims would still be rejected as being anticipated by Chimenti et al.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. McFadden et al. (US 2024/0174182) is cited to show another example of a cargo securing system including a rail with a horizontal portion and a vertical portion.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL J COLILLA whose telephone number is (571)272-2157. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 - 4:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amy Weisberg can be reached at 571-270-5500. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Daniel J Colilla/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612
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