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 the invention of Group II, claims 9-17 in the reply filed on 10 February 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-8 and 18-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 10 February 2026.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Figs. 1, 3-7 fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(m) as they contain solid black shading. 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 9-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hedlund et al. US 2021/0362806. Hedlund et al. discloses a suspension system comprising: at least one front shock assembly 140; at least one rear shock assembly 146 comprising an electronic valve (see paragraph [0083]), wherein said electronic valve is configured to adjust a stiffness of said at least one rear shock assembly; and a user interface 180 communicatively coupled with said electronic valve, said user interface configured to provide a signal to said electronic valve to increase a firmness of said at least one rear shock assembly or return said at least one rear shock assembly to a pre-increased firmness configuration; wherein said user interface is located remote from said at least one rear shock assembly,
wherein said user interface is wirelessly coupled with said at least one rear shock assembly or connected via a wired connection (see paragraph [0085] “electronic controller 100 is a distributed system comprised of multiple controllers each of which control one or more systems of snowmobile 10 and may communicate with each other over one or more wired and/or wireless networks”); wherein said control valve is a two-state valve; wherein said control valve adjusts said stiffness of said at least one rear shock assembly to a firmest compression setting; wherein said control valve adjusts said stiffness of said at least one rear shock assembly to a lockout compression setting (see paragraph [0100] the “rough trail mode”).
Claims 9-10, 12-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Graus et al. US 11,479,075. Graus et al. discloses a suspension system comprising: at least one front shock assembly 220; at least one rear shock assembly 226 comprising an electronic valve (see col. 7 lines 16-21) wherein said electronic valve is configured to adjust a stiffness of said at least one rear shock assembly; and a user interface 122 communicatively coupled with said electronic valve, said user interface configured to provide a signal to said electronic valve to increase a firmness of said at least one rear shock assembly or return said at least one rear shock assembly to a pre-increased firmness configuration; wherein said user interface is located remote from said at least one rear shock assembly; wherein said user interface is coupled with said at least one rear shock assembly via a wired connection; wherein said control valve is a two-state valve;
wherein said control valve adjusts said stiffness of said at least one rear shock assembly to a firmest compression setting; wherein said control valve adjusts said stiffness of said at least one rear shock assembly to a lockout compression setting (see col. 8 lines 39-44 which incorporates by reference US Patent Application serial number 15/377640 {see US 2017/0087950} which teaches a lockout of the shock absorber in paragraph [0081] ); further comprising a plurality of rear shock assemblies 226, wherein at least two of said plurality of rear shock assemblies comprise: said electronic valve, wherein said electronic valve is configured to adjust said stiffness of said at least two rear shock assemblies, wherein said user interface is communicatively coupled with each of said at least two of said plurality of rear shock assemblies.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kevin Hurley whose telephone number is (571)272-6646. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9 am-5:30 pm Kevin.Hurley@USPTO.GOV.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Valentin Neacsu can be reached at 571-272-6265. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN HURLEY/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3611
March 20, 2026