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 Objections
Claims 7 and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities:
With respect to claim 7, it appears the references to “end section assembly” should be to “first subset assembly”.
With respect to claim 13, it appears “a two” in line 2 should just be “two”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 17 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
With claim 14 being amended to include the channel (122) configured to engage with a cross rail of the lower rail assembly, claim 14 is now specific to the work surface embodiment best depicted in figure 7, where the worksurface hangs from the lower rail assembly. However, claim 17 is still directed to the work surface embodiment seen in figure 12, where the working surface is positioned above the lower rail assembly. In summary, claim 17 appears to be mixing different working surface embodiments, and the current claim is not supported by the original disclosure.
As claim 14 is now indicated as allowable, claim 17 should either be amended so that it is clearly supported by the original disclosure, or alternatively, it can be canceled.
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 8-10 and 13 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 claims 8-10, there appear to be more vertical rails claimed than actually disclosed. Claim 4 first introduces the confined space assembly including a subset of the vertical rails (any two of the four vertical rails 104 in the confined space assembly), then claim 8 claims two more subsets, adding 4 vertical rails, bringing the total number of rails to at least 6, which is two more than disclosed. Appropriate correction and clarification are required
Claim 13 is indefinite for a number of reasons. First of all, it is unclear if the limitation “two side assemblies and an end assembly comprising a fifth subset of the plurality of vertical rails” is including the two side assemblies in the fifth subset, or if the fifth subset only includes the end assembly.
Second, with respect to claim 13, it is noted that a first subset is claimed in claim 4, and then two more subsets are claimed in claim 5, bringing the total number of vertical rails by the end of claim 5 up to six vertical rails; which is the maximim number disclosed in the perimeter rail (four vertical rails 78 and 2 vertical rails 92); so adding another subset (the fifth subset) renders the claim indefinite and unclear as it is not clear what the different subsets comprise. It is also unclear whether the two side assemblies in claim 13 are the same as, or in addition to, the third and fourth subsets and their respective guardrails in claim 5.
Appropriate correction and clarification are required.
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.
Claim(s) 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Claypool (US 2017/0101297).
Claypool discloses
19. An adjustable platform rail assembly for a mobile elevated work platform (figure 5), the adjustable platform rail assembly comprising:
a lower rail assembly (lower fixed position rails of guard rail 800) extending away from a platform to define a passenger compartment (figure 9); and
an upper rail assembly (upper collapsible rails of guard rail 800) coupled to the lower rail assembly and extending upwardly away from the lower rail assembly (figure 9), the upper rail assembly including:
a perimeter rail assembly (see below) rotatably coupled to the lower rail assembly (figure 8 versus 9) and extending partially around a first portion of the platform (see below); and
a confined space assembly (see below) rotatably coupled to the lower rail assembly (figure 8 versus 9) and extending entirely around a second portion of the platform forming a confined space perimeter (see below), the first portion of the platform being larger than the second portion (see below),
wherein the upper rail assembly is movable between (a) a first configuration in which the upper rail assembly defines an upper perimeter having a first length corresponding to the perimeter rail assembly and the confined space assembly (see below) and (b) a second configuration in which the upper rail assembly defines an upper perimeter having a second length corresponding to the confined space assembly, the second length being shorter than the first length (see below),
wherein the confined space assembly includes a plurality of cross rails (see below) extending around the passenger compartment and a first restraining rail (see below) rotatably coupled to one of the plurality of cross rails (figures 8-9) and extending across the passenger compartment to another of the plurality of cross rails to form the confined space perimeter (see below).
20. The adjustable platform rail assembly of claim 19, wherein the first length corresponds with a perimeter surrounding the first portion and the second portion (see below), and the second length corresponds with a perimeter of the second portion (see below).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7, 11-12 and 14-15 are allowed.
Claims 8-10 and 13 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
With respect to the rejection of claims 19-20 and the applied prior art of Claypool, applicant argues that the prior art does not disclose the newly added plurality of cross rails with a first restraining rail rotatably coupled to one of the plurality of cross rails, as now recited in claim 19.
However, as identified in the annotated images, Claypool does in fact disclose a plurality of cross rails (see below) extending around the passenger compartment and a first restraining rail (see below) rotatably coupled to one of the plurality of cross rails (figures 8-9) and extending across the passenger compartment to another of the plurality of cross rails to form the confined space perimeter (see below).
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As to applicant’s argument that 802 is not part of the confined space assembly, examiner points out that the prior art assigns 802 to the top horizontal bars of the folding rail, meaning all/each of those top horizontal bars have the reference 802, hence the reason the examiner specified “802 of confined assembly”, to clarify the location. This argument is also moot as the claim language has been amended in a way that lead to different bars being identified as the cross rails. See image above for current cross rail identification.
For at least these reasons applicant’s remarks are not found persuasive in the claims remain rejected as advanced above.
Conclusion
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 COLLEEN M CHAVCHAVADZE whose telephone number is (571)272-6289. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00AM-4:00PM.
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, Daniel Cahn can be reached at 571-270-5616. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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COLLEEN M. CHAVCHAVADZE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3634
/COLLEEN M CHAVCHAVADZE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3634
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