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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Specification
The incorporation of essential material in the specification by reference to an unpublished U.S. application, foreign application or patent, or to a publication is improper. Applicant is required to amend the disclosure to include the material incorporated by reference, if the material is relied upon to overcome any objection, rejection, or other requirement imposed by the Office. The amendment must be accompanied by a statement executed by the applicant, or a practitioner representing the applicant, stating that the material being inserted is the material previously incorporated by reference and that the amendment contains no new matter. 37 CFR 1.57(g).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1 and 10 and thus the dependent claims 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 1 applicant claims a first set of :”closable openings” on line 6 and a second set of “closable openings’ on line 8 with out any particular structure to render the first and second sets of openings “closable’ This is no more than a desired result without sufficient structure to effect the function of “closable. Note the same situation in independent claim 10 on lines 7 and 9 respectively thus rendering the claims dependent there from functional and incomplete.
While it is noted that claim 6 sets forth structure of the first set of closable openings there isn’t any such structure for the second set and while claim 8 may provide structure for the second set of openings there isn’t any for the first set leaving the remaining sets functional and incomplete.. The same problem occurs with claims 17 and 19, where only one of the first or second sets is claimed, leaving the other functional and incomplete.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The refeences sho the openings fro wheels and handle but not closable openings forindependent use.
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/SUE A WEAVER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733