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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed April 17th, 2026 have been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pg. 15, Par. 1, filed April 17th, 2026, with respect to claims 6-21 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 6-21 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed April 17th, 2026 with respect to claims 22 and 24-25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The limitations of claims 22 and 24-25 are unchanged from the previous limitations of cancelled claims 1-4, which were anticipated by Prendergast (US 2007/0012830). Applicant did not present remarks in regards to claims 22 and 24-25 and as the limitations remain substantially the same, examiner maintains the rejection.
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 22 and 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Prendergast (US 2007/0012830).
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Regarding claim 22, Prendergast discloses a bridge assembly (Figs. 30-34, 288) comprising:
a mounting shoe (examiner labeled Fig. 31);
a stem portion attached to the mounting shoe (examiner labeled Fig. 31), the stem portion including a first rail receiving receptacle (as shown in examiner labeled Fig. 31, the stem portion has a receptacle that couples to a receiving end of 404);
a sliding arm member slidably coupled to the stem portion (element 404), the sliding arm member including a longitudinally extending detent track on a top side of the sliding arm member (as shown in Fig. 31, there are two indentations on a top surface of 404) and a longitudinally extending detent track on a bottom side of the sliding arm member (as shown in Fig. 30b, there are indentations along the track that extends longitudinally); and
an adapter plate (element 20, 22) slidably coupled to the sliding arm member (as shown in Figs. 30a-30b, 20 slides along 404), the adapter plate including a second rail receiving receptacle (as shown in Fig. 31, 404 has a bottom rail for receptacle on 22);
wherein the stem portion includes a first ball plunger assembly disposed within a bore in a downwardly facing surface of the first rail receiving receptacle (Fig. 31, element 206), the first ball plunger assembly including a spring-loaded ball biased into contact with the longitudinally extending detent track on the top side of the sliding arm member ([0068], “a detent ball 410 and a detent spring 412 system fix the socket assembly 20 in its position at either end of the shuttle 404 until a force sufficient to overcome the detent ball and spring system is applied to the socket assembly”, as shown in Fig. 31, examiner interprets the ball and spring system to correspond to indents 206); and
wherein the adapter plate includes a second ball plunger assembly disposed within a bore in an upwardly facing surface of the second rail receiving receptacle (Fig. 30b, element 206), the second ball plunger assembly including a spring-loaded ball biased into contact with the longitudinally extending detent track on the bottom side of the sliding arm member ([0068], “a detent ball 410 and a detent spring 412 system fix the socket assembly 20 in its position at either end of the shuttle 404 until a force sufficient to overcome the detent ball and spring system is applied to the socket assembly”, as shown in Fig. 30b, examiner interprets the ball and spring system to correspond to indents 206).
Regarding claim 24, Prendergast further discloses wherein the first rail receiving receptacle includes a first pair of parallel engagement members (examiner labeled Fig. 31) and the second rail receiving receptacle includes a second pair of parallel engagement members (examiner labeled Fig. 31).
Regarding claim 25, Prendergast further discloses wherein the sliding arm member comprises an upper portion including a first dovetail rail ([0068], “The shuttle 404 is adapted to be slidably attached to a monorail 288 (described in more detail below) and also to the socket assembly 20, by using, for example, a dovetail joint”) and a lower portion including a second dovetail rail (as shown in Figs. 31-32, the lower portion includes a second dovetail), with the first dovetail rail being slidably coupled to the first rail receiving receptacle and the second dovetail rail being slidably coupled to the second rail receiving receptacle (as shown in examiner labeled Fig. 31, the stem portion has a receptacle that couples to a receiving end of 404, as shown in Fig. 31, 404 has a bottom rail for receptacle on 22).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 23 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: with respect to the allowable subject matter, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of the claimed combination of limitations to warrant a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102 or 103.
Specifically, with respect to claim 23, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or suggest wherein the longitudinally extending detent track on the top side of the sliding arm member comprises a longitudinally extending groove having a detent on each end.
Claims 6-21 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 6, Prendergast (US 2007/0012830) discloses a bridge assembly (Figs. 1-4 and 30-34, 288) comprising:
a mounting shoe (examiner labeled Fig. 31);
a stem portion attached to the mounting shoe (examiner labeled Fig. 31);
a sliding arm member (22) slidably coupled to the stem portion (as shown in Figs. 12-13, 22 is connected the to stem portion), the sliding arm member including a first slot (61) extending through the sliding arm member between a top side and a bottom side thereof (as shown in Fig. 4, hole 61 extends from the top to the bottom of 22), and
an adapter plate (24 in Fig. 31) slidably coupled to the sliding arm member (24 is slidably coupled to 22).
However, the prior art of Prendergast taken either singularly or in combination with any other prior art fails to disclose or fairly suggest the following:
“the first slot including an interior annular ledge that divides the first slot into a top groove and a bottom groove, and a second slot extending through the sliding arm member between the top side and the bottom side thereof, the second slot including an interior annular ledge that divides the second slot into a top groove and a bottom groove; a first overtravel stop positioned within the bottom groove of the first slot; a second overtravel stop positioned within the bottom groove of the second slot; and wherein the first overtravel stop and the second overtravel stop define respective lateral travel limits of the adapter plate”.
Regarding claim 11, Prendergast (US 2007/0012830) discloses a bridge assembly (Figs. 1-4 and 30-34, 288) comprising:
a mounting shoe (examiner labeled Fig. 31);
a stem portion attached to the mounting shoe (examiner labeled Fig. 31);
a sliding arm member (22) slidably coupled to the stem portion (as shown in Figs. 12-13, 22 is connected the to stem portion), the sliding arm member including a first slot (61) extending through the sliding arm member between a top side and a bottom side thereof (as shown in Fig. 4, hole 61 extends from the top to the bottom of 22),
an adapter plate (24 in Fig. 31) slidably coupled to the sliding arm member (as shown in Fig. 31, 24 slides along 22), the adapter plate including an attachment interface configured to couple to a monocular optical device (as shown in Fig. 31, element 24 has an attachment interface for the monocular device), the adapter plate being configured to be laterally displaced between a first position in which the monocular optical device is disposed in front of a first eye of a user and a second position in which the monocular optical device is disposed in front of a second eye of the user ([0068], “As shown in FIG. 30a, the socket assembly containing ENVG may be in a left-eye view position. In order to shift to a right-eye view position, … Then, a lateral force may be applied to the ENVG which allows the socket assembly 20 to slide along the shuttle from the left side to the right side”).
However, the prior art of Prendergast taken either singularly or in combination with any other prior art fails to disclose or fairly suggest the following:
“the first slot including an interior annular ledge that divides the first slot into a top groove and a bottom groove, and a first overtravel stop positioned within the bottom groove of the first slot, and a second slot extending through the sliding arm member between the top side and the bottom side thereof, the second slot including an interior annular ledge that divides the second slot into a top groove and a bottom groove, and a second overtravel stop positioned within the bottom groove of the second slot; and wherein the first overtravel stop defines a first lateral travel limit of the adapter plate corresponding to the first position, and the second overtravel stop defines a second lateral travel limit of the adapter plate corresponding to the second position”.
Claims 7-10 and 12-21 are allowed due to dependency.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
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 MATTHEW Y LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-3526. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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, Pinping Sun can be reached at (571) 270 - 1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW Y LEE/Examiner, Art Unit 2872 20 May 2026
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