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 .
Specification
The following title is suggested: “UTILITY CART WITH A HANDLE ADAPTABLE FOR PULLING AND PUSHING”.
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 5 be found allowable, claim 4 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Horowitz (US 9,145,154).
Horowitz discloses a utility cart comprising: a frame member having a front and a rear and comprising two generally parallel base frame members (38, 40) attached together using at least one crossmember (10), the frame member further comprising vertical frame members (12, 14) arising generally perpendicularly from the generally parallel base frame members; the frame member further comprising a tow handle attachment member (28); a pair of wheels (44) attached to the rear of the frame member; a pair of wheels (40) attached to the front of the frame member; a tow handle bracket (pivotal connection at 26) attached to the front of the frame member; a longitudinally extending tow handle (50) attached to the tow handle bracket, the tow handle bracket being operable to pivot relative to the tow handle bracket; a hook (48) for releasably securing the tow handle to the tow handle attachment member.
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.
Claim(s) 2 – 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Horowitz (US 9,145,154) in view of Su (TW M550247 U).
Horowitz meets all the limitations of the claimed invention, as set forth above with respect to claim 1, but does not disclose a spring biased hook or torsion bar.
Su discloses a hook (224) for securing a tow handle (21) to a tow handle attachment member (113). The hook is mechanically connected via an extension member to a spring biased (see 23) torsion bar that biases the hook downwardly so as to catch on the tow handle attachment member to secure the tow handle (see Fig. 9) and wherein the torsion bar can be twisted to as to release the hook (see 223) so that the town handle can be manipulated (see Fig. 8). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the cart of Horowitz to include the biased hook of Su in order to provide a more secure and manipulable handle attachment mechanism.
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 Katy M Ebner whose telephone number is (571)272-5830. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, J. Allen Shriver can be reached at (303)297-4337. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Katy M Ebner/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613