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
The claim listing is objected to as the claims skip from “Claim 7” to “Claim 11”, without mentions of claims 8-10.
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 11-13 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.
Claim 11 refers to “a second restraining rail” without any mention of a first restraining rail. It is unclear if claim 11 is supposed to claim both a first and a second restraining rail, or if it is supposed to depend from claim 3, where a first restraining rail is claimed.
With respect to claim 12 there is no antecedent basis for “the adjustable platform”.
With respect to claim 13, applicant refers to “a fifth subset of the plurality of vertical rails” without mention of a first, second, third or fourth subset of the plurality of vertical rails. It is unclear if claim 13, which currently depends from claim 1, is supposed to also claim the first through fourth subsets, or if it is supposed to depend from claim 5, where there is antecedent basis for the previous four subsets of rails.
Additionally with respect to claim 13, there is no antecedent basis for “the brackets”, in line 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 –
Claim(s) 14-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Risser (US 6,145,619).
Risser discloses:
14. A platform assembly (figure 1) comprising:
a platform (2, figure 1);
a lower rail assembly (4-22 even #s; figs 1 & 3) coupled to and extending away from the platform to define a passenger compartment (figs 1 & 3); and
an upper rail assembly (24, 26, 36, 38, 58; figure 1) coupled to the lower rail assembly and extending upwardly away from the lower rail assembly (figure 1);
wherein the upper rail assembly (4-22 even #s) includes:
a perimeter rail assembly (24, 38, 58) extending around a first portion of the platform (figure 8B); and
a confined space assembly (26, 36) extending around a second portion of the platform (figure 8B),
wherein the perimeter rail assembly includes a pair of side assemblies (side frames of 24 and 38) and an end assembly (end frames of 24, 38), wherein each of the side assemblies and the end assembly are hingedly coupled to the lower rail assembly and foldable inward, toward the passenger compartment (figures 8A, 8C), and wherein a portion of the end assembly is wider than the lower rail assembly (figure 8A).
15. The platform assembly of claim 14, wherein the upper rail assembly is coupled to the lower rail assembly and is movable between a first position wherein the upper rail assembly defines an upper perimeter defined by a first length (figure 8B) and a second position wherein the upper rail assembly defines an upper perimeter defined by a second length shorter than the first length (figure 8A).
16. The platform assembly of claim 14, wherein the end assembly (end frames of 24, 38) comprises a working surface (outer panels of 24, 38 that are horizontal in a folded position; figure 8A), wherein in a first position the working surface is outside a perimeter of the passenger compartment (figure 8B) and wherein in a second position the working surface is inside the perimeter of the passenger compartment (figure 8A).
17. The platform assembly of claim 16, wherein in the second position the working surface is positioned above the lower rail assembly (figure 8A).
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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 cross rail (802 of confined assembly) extending across the passenger compartment 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 are allowed.
Claims 11-13 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.
Claim 18 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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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