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 .
This is a non-final Office Action for serial number 18/432,456, Holder For Connecting Element For Exhibition Stand Profile, filed on February 5, 2024.
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 1-10 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.
Regarding claim 1, the phrase "such as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the coupled state" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2, and 4-10 are inherently depending on rejected claim 1.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 11-12, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being (a)(2) by U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0366202 to Vedanaigam (Vedan).
Vedan ‘202 discloses a holder (201a, 201b_ for use in an assembly with an exhibition stand profile (101), wherein the holder comprises a holder element (197, 204) and a coupling element (198, 206), wherein the coupling element is configured to couple the holder to the exhibition stand profile and wherein the holder element is provided to hold a connecting element which is configured to connect any two objects to each other.
Regarding claim 12, Vedan ‘202 discloses wherein the holder is couplable to the exhibition stand profile in removable manner (Fig. 2b.).
Regarding claim 17, “the exhibition stand profile” is not positively recited in claim 11 and is considered as a functional language.
Regarding claim 20, Vedan ‘202 discloses wherein the coupling element comprises a first leg and a second leg (198, 206), which are configured to surround the connecting element at least partially in order to hold the connecting element through the openings of the holder (201a, 201b – Fig. 2B)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 would be allowable if rewritten or amended 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.
Based on 112 rejections above, the prior art fails to disclose all of the limitations including both the exhibition stand profile and the further exhibition stand profile are placed with one of the side walls against each other or attach to an LED tile.
Claims 13-16, 18-19 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.
Regarding claim 13, the prior art fails to disclose wherein the coupling element comprises a first tongue.
Regarding claim 15, the prior art fails to disclose a second tongue, arranged on a side of the holder lying opposite the first tongue.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent Publication No. 2022/0074200 – pivot joint
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/TODD M EPPS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632 February 5, 2026