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
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) 1-4, 7, 14-17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Telles (US 4,264,084 A).
With respect to claims 1 and 14, Telles discloses a utility vehicle with step assembly, said vehicle having a chassis 101, said step assembly comprising a movable frame 24, 50, able to pivot between a stowed and deployed position, a plurality of steps 72, a latch 80, and actuation lever 84, wherein said lever causes said latch to lock the position in a stowed or deployed position, as shown in figures 1 and 2.
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With respect to claim 2 and 15, Telles discloses the lever 84 as pivoting between first and second directions for locking and unlocking the latch 80, as shown in figure 2.
With respect to claims 3, 4, 16, and 17, Telles discloses said lever 84 is pivoted between first and second opposite directions for locking and unlocking said movable frame between the stowed and deployed positions, as shown in figures 1-2.
With respect to claims 7 and 20, Telles discloses hinges 143, 48 on said frame for pivoting the frames between the stowed and deployed positions, as shown in figures 1 and 2.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-13 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: In claim 8, the recitation of a second lever for actuating the unlocking of the frame for pivoting between the stowed and deployed positions, in combination with the rest of the recited structure defines over the prior art.
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.”
Claims 5, 6, 18, and 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY J RESTIFO whose telephone number is (571)272-6697. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11am-8pm.
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JEFFREY J. RESTIFO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3613
/JEFFREY J RESTIFO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613