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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/29/2025 was considered by the examiner.
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 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burg US3834549 in view of Hill US2839320.
Claim 1. Burg discloses a shelving system components adapted to assemble stackable shelves (denoted A, B, and C below), wherein the shelving system components for each stackable shelf comprise: four vertical tubes (12); four shelf-length horizontal tubes (14); four shelf-end horizontal tubes (14 at faces AA and BB below); a shelf plank (16); one more transverse plank supports (denoted 14 in the middle of faces AA and BB below) adapted to extend between the shelf-length horizontal tubes (illustrated below); and eight brackets (20), wherein each bracket of the eight brackets is adapted to slidably engage with at least an end of a vertical tube, an end of a shelf-length horizontal tube, and an end of a shelf-end horizontal tube; wherein each stackable shelf, upon assembly of the shelving system components, comprises a rectangular box frame (denoted A below) comprising the four vertical tubes at vertical edges thereof, the eight brackets at corners thereof, the four shelf-length horizontal tubes at lengthwise horizontal edges thereof, the four shelf-end horizontal tubes at endwise horizontal edges thereof, the one more transverse plank supports extending between at least two of the shelf-length horizontal tubes, and the shelf plank supported atop the one more transverse plank supports; wherein the four vertical tubes, the four shelf-length horizontal tubes, the four shelf-end horizontal tubes, and the eight brackets are adapted to be shared by adjacent stackable shelves (system B below as illustrated below); Burg however is silent on the eight brackets comprise brackets selected from a group of bracket types, the group of bracket types including at least a three-arm corner bracket type, a four-arm edge bracket type, and a five-arm middle bracket type.
Hill before the filing date of the instant invention discloses a shelving system with at least a three-arm corner bracket type (11), a four-arm edge bracket type (30), and a five-arm middle bracket type (40). Both Burg and Hill disclose connectors it would have been obvious to substitute one for the other with the motivation of easier installation without tinkering with the connectors, as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue known options within his or her technical grasp.
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Claim 2. Burg as modified discloses the four vertical tubes, the four shelf-length horizontal tubes, and the four shelf-end horizontal tubes have rectangular shaped cross sections (Col.4:55-58).
Claim 3. Burg as modified is silent on the four vertical tubes have first cross section size and wherein the four shelf-length horizontal tubes and the four shelf-end horizontal tubes have a second cross section size, and wherein the first cross section size is smaller than the second cross section size, however it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to have different cross section size especially for the horizontal tubes as it would save material for manufacture thus reducing cost, besides such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Claim 4. Burg as modified discloses the four vertical tubes, the four shelf-length horizontal tubes, and the four shelf-end horizontal tubes comprise metal (steel – Col.4:56).
Claim 5. Burg as modified discloses the four vertical and horizontal tubes can within the scope of the invention be provided in various forms and be made of various materials such as steel but is silent on aluminum. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to form said element from aluminum so as to provide a light rigid shelving system. Furthermore, it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Claim 6. Burg as modified is silent on the shelf plank comprises a cement composite material, however it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to form said element from cement composite material so as to provide a rigid shelving system. Furthermore, it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Claim 8. Burg as modified discloses the three-arm corner bracket type, the four-arm edge bracket type, and the five-arm middle bracket type comprise bracket arms with fastener holes for fasteners (25 of Hill) to secure a bracket to a tube (Fig.5 of Hill).
Claim 9. Burg as modified by Hill discloses wherein the one more transverse plank supports comprises at least three transverse plank supports. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to provide more transverse plank support for extra support especially for a longer shelving system, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art.
Claim 12. Burg as modified discloses the shelving system further comprises shelving system base members (122) adapted for positioning on a floor under a bottom stackable shelf of the mausoleum shelving system.
Claim 13. Burg as modified is silent on the shelving system further comprises fasteners adapted to fasten the shelving system to a floor under the mausoleum shelving system or to a wall behind the mausoleum shelving system. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to provide fasteners adapted to fasten the shelving system to a floor with the motivation of securing the shelfing unit and avoid it tipping over, as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue known options within his or her technical grasp.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burg US3834549 and Hill US2839320 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Bowers US3218097.
Claim 7. Burg as modified is silent the three-arm corner bracket type, the four-arm edge bracket type, and the five-arm middle bracket type comprise bracket arms with tapered ends. Bowers before the filing date of the instant invention discloses a three-arm corner bracket type comprise bracket arms with tapered ends (15a). Both Hill and Bower discloses equivalent structure known in the art, therefore, because these two connectors were art-recognized equivalents, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to substitute one for the other with the motivation of easier installation.
Claims 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burg US3834549 and Hill US2839320 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Duran US4427379.
Claim 10 and 11.Burg as modified is silent at least one angle brace adapted to extend between a vertical tube and a shelf-length horizontal tube or a shelf-end horizontal tube or eight angle braces, including an angle brace adapted to extend between each respective vertical tube and each respective shelf-length horizontal tube, and an angle brace adapted to extend between each respective vertical tube and each respective shelf-end horizontal tube.
Duran before the filing date of the instant invention to discloses a shelving system with braces (Fig.1 and 8). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to provide braces with the motivation of providing a superior rigid shelving system, as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue known options within his or her technical grasp.
Claims 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burg US3834549 and Hill US2839320 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Garcia US10138650 .
Claim 14, 15, and 16. Burg as modified is silent on the group of bracket types further comprises one or more front bracket types, wherein the front bracket types include front panel support knobs, wherein the front panel support knobs comprise fastener holes for fasteners to secure front panels to the mausoleum shelving system, wherein the fastener holes for the fasteners to secure the front panels to the mausoleum shelving system comprise friction-fit threaded inserts.
Garcia before the filing date of the instant invention discloses a cabinet/shelfing system (Fig.1) with one or more front bracket types (202), wherein the front bracket types include front panel support knobs (103A), wherein the front panel support knobs comprise fastener holes for fasteners (103B) to secure front panels (101) to the shelving system, wherein the fastener holes for the fasteners to secure the front panels to the shelving system comprise friction-fit threaded inserts (Col.6:55-57). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to provide the frontal system of Gracia to the shelving system of Burg with the motivation of providing security to the contents stored in the shelfing system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to attached NOTICE OF REFERENCE CITED.
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BABAJIDE A. DEMUREN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3633
/BABAJIDE A DEMUREN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633
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