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 handle 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 § 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.
(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) 1, 2, 9, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Bosi EP 1366692.
Regarding claims 1, 2, 9, and 10 Bosi discloses an expandable step system for reaching elevated locations, the expandable step system comprising: a frame with a front and rear surfaces (Bosi, Figure 1D) with the rear surface including a pair of push latches (14); a first step (5) with a first scissors mechanism (2); a second step (6) with a second scissors mechanism (2); and a pair of side channels (Bosi, Figures 1D and 3) for said step system to be pulled from and pushed to a bottom drawer of a cabinet; wherein said bottom drawer having a receiving frame (11) for lateral movement of said pair of side channels; wherein said first scissors mechanism expands and collapses said first step and said second scissors mechanism expands and collapses said second step (Bosi, ¶0016); wherein said first step and said second step are coplanar within said frame when said first step and said second step are collapsed (Bosi, Figure 1C) and further wherein said front surface engageable by a user’s foot for actuating said pair of push latches and deploying said step system from the cabinet by said pair said front surface. (Bosi, ¶0015).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-20 are allowed.
Claims 3-8 and 11-15 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Bosi EP 1366692 teaches against a pivoting member for manually expanding and collapsing said first step and said second step (Bosi, ¶0011, ¶0016).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US 2017/0226800.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRISTEN C HAYES whose telephone number is (571)272-7881. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-6pm.
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/KRISTEN C HAYES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642