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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “the first driving assembly is configured to drive the first locking assembly and the second locking assembly to move toward or away from each other, such that the first locking assembly and the second locking assembly cooperate to fix a piece-to-be-transferred.” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 2 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinese Patent Document 113581324 (hence, '324), as provided by the Applicant.
In re claim 1, ‘324 teaches a supporting frame (bottom platform of 1); a positioning platform (top platform of 1), which is arranged on the supporting frame (fig. 2); and a positioning transmission mechanism, which comprises a first locking assembly (33, 34 left), a second locking assembly (33, 34 right), and a first driving assembly connected to the first locking assembly and the second locking assembly, wherein the first locking assembly and the second locking assembly are arranged on two opposite sides of the positioning platform at an interval in a first direction in a horizontal plane, and the first driving assembly is configured to drive the first locking assembly and the second locking assembly to move toward or away from each other, such that the first locking assembly and the second locking assembly cooperate to fix a piece-to-be-transferred (clear from figs. 3-4).
‘324 differs in that it does not teach an automated guided vehicle. Nonetheless, the examiner takes the position that automated vehicles were well known and conventional in the art at the time of invention and it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill to incorporate such technology in to the apparatus of ‘324.
In re claim 2, ‘324 teaches the first driving assembly comprises: a first driving member (62); and a first transmission assembly (32), which is connected to the first driving member and is connected to the first locking assembly and the second locking assembly, respectively, wherein the first driving member is configured to drive the first transmission assembly to move, so as to drive the first locking assembly and the second locking assembly to move toward or away from each other (clear from figs. 3-4).
In re claim 17, ‘324 differs in that it does not teach a handlebar. Nonetheless, the examiner takes official notice that handlebars were well known and conventional in the art at the time of invention and it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill to incorporate such technology in to the apparatus of ‘324.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-16 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EREZ GURARI whose telephone number is (571)270-1156. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00AM-6:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason Shanske can be reached at (571) 270-5985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EREZ GURARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614