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 .
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 1 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Guus et al. (NL 2026648).
With respect to claim 1, Guus et al. disclose a load kit for supporting a load on a flatbed of a trailer, the load kit comprising:
a cross member 5 configured to extend across a lateral width of the flatbed (as shown in Fig. 1 of Guus et al.) and selectively couple to the trailer (via brackets 4–see middle of pg. 4 of the machine translation of Guus et al.), the cross member 5 including:
a first brace 4; and
a second brace 4 laterally spaced from the first brace 4 (as shown in Fig. 1 of Guus et al.);
a first support 2 configured to be received by the first brace 4 and extend along at least a portion of a longitudinal length of the flatbed (as shown in Fig. 2 of Guus et al.); and
a second support 3 configured to be received by the second brace 4 and extend along at least a portion of the longitudinal length of the flatbed (as shown in Fig. 1 of Guus et al.).
With respect to claim 9, Guus et al. disclose a plurality of fasteners 20, wherein a first fastener 20 of the plurality of fasteners is configured to selectively couple the first support 2 within the first brace 4, and wherein a second fastener 20 of the plurality of fasteners is configured to selectively couple the second support 4 within the second brace (as shown in Figs. 2 and 4B of Guus et al.).
Claims 1, 5, 6, 12, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bowman (US 3,912,139).
With respect to claim 1, Bowman discloses a load kit for supporting a load on a flatbed of a trailer (Bowman, abstract), the load kit comprising:
a cross member 26 configured to extend across a lateral width of the flatbed (as shown in Fig. 2 of Bowman) and selectively couple to the trailer (Bowman, col. 3, lines 17-30), the cross member 26 including:
a first brace 32; and
a second brace 38 laterally spaced from the first brace 32 (as shown in Fig. 2 of Bowman);
a first support 12 configured to be received by the first brace 32 and extend along at least a portion of a longitudinal length of the flatbed (as shown in Fig. 2 of Bowman); and
a second support 14 configured to be received by the second brace 38 and extend along at least a portion of the longitudinal length of the flatbed.
With respect to claim 5, Bowman discloses that the first support 12 and the second support 14 are configured to support the load 130 (as shown in Fig. 1 of Bowman).
With respect to claim 6, Bowman discloses that the first support 12 and the second support 14 are configured to provide a vertical space between the flatbed and the load (as shown below the rear tire 134 in Fig. 2 of Bowman).
With respect to claim 12, Bowman discloses a plurality of cross members 26/24/22 including the cross member 26 configured to be spaced along the longitudinal length of the flatbed (as shown in Fig. 2 of Bowman), wherein the first support 12 and the second support 14 are configured to extend between the plurality of cross members 26/24/22.
With respect to claim 13, Bowman discloses that the first support 12 includes a plurality of first segments 12a/12b and the second support 14 includes a plurality of second segments 14a/14b.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guus et al. (NL 2026648), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of BUNKR Trailer Accessories (Youtube.com video).
With respect to claim 2, Guus et al. disclose the claimed load kit except for the storage rack. However, BUNKR Trailer Accessories teaches a similar load kit including a storage rack as shown below in the image taken from time 0:55 of the video:
[AltContent: textbox (retainer)][AltContent: ][AltContent: textbox (storage rack)][AltContent: ]
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In the combination, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of use the storage rack disclosed by BUNKR Trailer Accessories for storing the cross member, the first support, second support when the cross member, the first support, and the second support when the cross member, the first support, and the second support (as disclosed by Guus et al.) are positioned along the flatbed because BUNKR Trailer Accessories teaches that the storage rack can carry longitudinal members such as dunnage which is very similar to the cross member or supports disclosed by Guus et al.). Such storage would be useful when the cross member and supports are not in use.
With respect to claim 3, BUNKR Trailer Accessories teaches that the storage rack is configured to couple to a frame of the trailer as shown below in the image taken from time 0:43 of the video:
[AltContent: ][AltContent: textbox (trailer frame)][AltContent: ][AltContent: ][AltContent: textbox (storage rack)][AltContent: ]
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[AltContent: textbox (storage support)]
With respect to claim 4, BUNKR Trailer Accessories disclose that the storage rack includes:
a storage support (as indicated above) configured to couple to and extend in a lateral direction from the frame of the trailer; and
a retainer extending vertically upwards from a free end of the storage support (as shown in the above image used in association with the rejection of claim 2).
Claims 15-16 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dorr et al. (EP 3296186), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of BUNKR Trailer Accessories (Youtube.com video).
With respect to claim 15, Dorr et al. disclose the claimed trailer except for the flatbed coupled to the chassis, the storage rack configured to couple to the chassis, a plurality of cross members 14/15 configured to selectively engage with the plurality of interfaces, and a plurality of cross members 14/15 configured to selectively engage with the plurality of interfaces. Dorr et al. disclose a trailer for a truck, the trailer comprising:
a chassis 2;
a plurality of interfaces 24 positioned along a longitudinal length of the chassis 2 (as shown in Fig. 4 of Dorr et al.);
at least one cross member 14 configured to selectively engage with the plurality of interfaces 24 (as shown in Fig. 4 of Dorr et al.);
a plurality of first supports 12a/12b configured extend along at least a portion of the longitudinal length of the trailer (as shown in Fig. 2 of Dorr et al.), the plurality of first supports 12a/12b configured to selectively couple with the plurality of cross members 14/15;
a plurality of second supports 13a,13b configured extend along at least a portion of the longitudinal length of the trailer and be laterally spaced from the plurality of first supports 12a/12b (as shown in Fig. 2 of Dorr et al.), the plurality of second supports 13a/13b configured to selectively couple with the plurality of cross members 14/15
BUNKR Trailer Accessories teaches a similar trailer kit including a flatbed coupled to a chassis and a storage rack configured to couple to the chassis, the storage rack configured to selectively store the plurality of cross members, the plurality of first supports, and the plurality of second supports as shown below in the image taken from time 0:55 of the video:
[AltContent: textbox (chassis)][AltContent: textbox (flatbed)][AltContent: ][AltContent: ][AltContent: textbox (retainer)][AltContent: ][AltContent: textbox (storage rack)][AltContent: ]
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It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of use the storage rack disclosed by BUNKR Trailer Accessories for storing the cross member, the first support, second support when the cross member, the first support, and the second support when the cross members, the plurality of first supports, and the plurality of second supports (as disclosed by Dorr et al.) are positioned along the flatbed because BUNKR Trailer Accessories teaches that the storage rack can carry longitudinal members such as dunnage which is very similar to the cross members or supports disclosed by Dorr et al.). Such storage would be useful when the cross member and supports are not in use.
While Dorr et al. only shows a single cross member 14 selectively engaged with the plurality of interfaces, it has been held that the mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced (see MPEP§ 2144.04, part VI, B). In this instance, there has been no unexpected result disclosed from providing additional cross member configured to selectively engage with the plurality of interfaces at additional first and second supports because this would provide the same function of strengthening a mechanical connection while simultaneously allowing the first and second support members to extend a longer length along a trailer.
With respect to claim 16, in view of the duplication of parts, at least a portion of each cross member 14/15 of the plurality of cross members 14/15 is configured to be received within a respective one of the plurality of interfaces 24.
With respect to claim 19, Dorr et al. disclose that the plurality of cross members 14/15 are configured to extend across a lateral width of the flatbed, and wherein the plurality of first supports 12a/12b and the plurality of second supports 13a/13b are configured to extend substantially perpendicular to the plurality of cross members (as shown in Fig. 2 of Dorr et al.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8, 10-11, 14, 17-18, and 20 are 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:
Claims 7-8 have been indicated as containing allowable subject matter primarily for the vertical space provided between the flatbed and the load being equal to or greater than a vertical height of the ramp.
Claims 10-11 have been indicated as containing allowable subject matter primarily for the cross member including a first retainer positioned at a first lateral end thereof and a second retainer positioned at an opposing second lateral end thereof, and wherein the first retainer and the second retainer are configured to facilitate selectively coupling the cross member to the trailer.
Claim 14 has been indicated as containing allowable subject matter primarily for
the first end of a first segment 14a of the plurality of first segments being configured to interface with a second end of a second segment 14b of the plurality of first segments within the first brace of a respective cross member of the plurality of cross members, and wherein a first end of a first segment of the plurality of second segments is configured to interface with a second end of a second segment of the plurality of second segments within the second brace of the respective cross member.
Claims 17-18 have been indicated as containing allowable subject matter primarily for the plurality of first supports and the plurality of second supports are configured to support a load and provide a vertical space between the load and the flatbed.
Claim 20 has been indicated as containing allowable subject matter primarily for
providing a cross member, a first support, a second support, a first pin, a second pin, a third pin, and a fourth pin, the cross member having a first retainer positioned at a first end thereof, a second retainer positioned at opposing second end thereof, inserting the first pin through the first retainer to secure the first retainer within the first interface; inserting the second pin through the second retainer to secure the second retainer within the second interface; disposing the first support within the first brace; disposing the second support within the second brace; inserting the third pin through the first brace and the first support to secure the first support to the cross member; and inserting the fourth pin through the second brace and the second support to secure the second support to the cross member.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL J COLILLA whose telephone number is (571)272-2157. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 - 4:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amy Weisberg can be reached at 571-270-5500. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Daniel J Colilla/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612