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 .
DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This is in response to the amendment filed 08/20/2026 for Application No. 18/501,356. By the amendment, claims 1-8, 12-13 and 21-29 are pending with claims 1-3, 5-6, 8 and 12-13 being amended, new claims 21-29 are added and claims 7, 9-11 and 14-20 are canceled.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs’) submitted on 06/15/2026 and 07/24/2026 were filed after the mailing date of the non-final action on 05/20/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 26 is objected to because of the following informalities: the term “a recesses” appeared to be a typographical error and should be replaced with limitation - -a recess- - for clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
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 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kuchenbuch et al. (DE 10 2010/050826 A1, machine translation attached).
Regarding claim 21, Kuchenbuch discloses an electrified fire fighting vehicle (See at least Figures 5,7,9 and machine translation attached) comprising:
a chassis (claims 7 and 9, i.e., body/vehicle structure of underbody 9 of vehicle 1) including a frame rail (i.e., guide rails 15 attached to vehicle structure of underbody 9 of vehicle 1);
an energy storage system (i.e., battery 2, battery box 7, guide bolts 14 and shear bolts 16) supported on the chassis (i.e., vehicle structure of underbody 9 of vehicle 1) and arranged within a housing (i.e., battery box 7); and
a breakaway mount (i.e., guide rails 15, guide bolts 14, pins 16) coupled between the chassis (i.e., vehicle structure of underbody 9 of vehicle 1) and the energy storage system (i.e., battery 2, battery box 7, guide bolts 14 and shear bolts 16) and including a shear pin (i.e., shear pin(s) 16), and
wherein the shear pin (i.e., shear pin(s) 16) is coupled directly between the housing (i.e., battery box 7) and the frame rail (i.e., pin(s) 16 connected between guide rails 15 attached to vehicle structure of underbody 9 of vehicle 1 at an angle of approximately 180 degrees) at an angle so that the shear pin (i.e., shear pin(s) 16) is configured to fail during an impact event and allow the energy storage system (i.e., battery 2, battery box 7, guide bolts 14 and shear bolts 16) to displace laterally relative to the chassis (i.e., vehicle structure of underbody 9 of vehicle 1; paras. [0002], [0006], [0011], [0056], [0057]; claims 1 and 23).
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 08/20/2026 has been entered. Applicant’s amendments have overcome the rejections of claims 1-8 and 13 under 35 USC §102(a)(1) by Wussmur, and claims 9-10 under 35 USC §103 over Wussmur in view of Kumagai and claim 12 over Wussmur in inview of Bertz set forth in the prior Office action. However, new claim 1 has raised new issues indicated above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see the Remarks filed 08/20/2026, with respect to claims 1-3, 13, 9-10 and 12 mentioned above have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of the claims have been withdrawn.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6, 8, 12-13 and 26-29 are allowed.
Claims 22-25 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.
The reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter regarding claim 1 are the same as claim 11, previously set forth in the Office action mailed on 05/20/2026.
Claims 2-8 and 12-13 are allowed upon dependent from an allowed base claim.
Regarding claim 22, the prior art of record fails to disclose or render obvious the electrified fire fighting vehicle of claim 21 and in combination with the remaining features recited, particularly “wherein the rack floor includes a frame recess”.
Regarding claim 26, the prior art of record fails to disclose or render obvious the electrified fire fighting vehicle of claim 26 and in combination with the remaining features recited, particularly “wherein the recess formed in the frame rail is configured to define a lateral width that allows the energy storage system to displace to a displaced state where the energy storage system falls laterally relative to the frame rail and falls laterally off the frame rail”.
Claims 23-25 and 27-29 are allowable as being dependent upon the respective allowable base claim.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tinh T Dang whose telephone number is (571)270-1776. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9AM - 5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at Mon-Friday from 8AM-4:30PM at (571) 270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TINH T DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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