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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on December 14, 2023 and June 21, 2024 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed December 14, 2023 are accepted.
Abstract
The Abstract filed December 14, 2023 is accepted.
Specification
The amendment to the specification filed February 13, 2024 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1 – 3 and 5 - 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hill (US 9,846,034).
With respect to claim 1, Hill discloses a laser leveling device (100) comprising at least two line projection devices (103), a housing (113) comprising at least two outlet domes (projecting from the top of the housing as an X shape, Figure 6), each of which is associated with one of the at least two line projection devices (103), and an operating unit (152) configured for operating the laser leveling device (100), the operating unit (152) being arranged between the at least two outlet domes (i.e. inside the housing, figure 3, for example).
Referring to claim 2, Hill sets forth a laser leveling device (100) wherein each of the at least two outlet domes (projecting from the top of the housing as an X shape, Figure 6) has a surface normal (i.e. defined by the planes of each outlet dome) and the operating unit (152) is arranged on the housing (113) relative to a plane spanned by two surface normals of the at least two outlet domes (See Figure 6).
In regards to claim 3, Hill teaches a laser leveling device (100) wherein the operating unit (152) comprises at least one operating element (i.e. batteries, power button, circuit, and processor; Column 10, lines 27 - 39) arranged between the at least two outlet domes (See Figure 6).
Regarding claim 5, Hill shows a laser leveling device (100) wherein the housing (113) comprises at least one separating surface (See Figure 5 below) arranged at least in sections between the outlet domes (See Figure 5 below).
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With regards to claim 6, Hill discloses a laser leveling device (100) wherein each of the at least two outlet domes has a surface normal (i.e. defined by an imaginary tangent line that is perpendicular to the dome surface); the separating surface has a separating surface normal that lies on the plane spanned by the surface normal of the at least two outlet domes (See Figure 5)
Referring to claim 7, Hill sets forth a laser leveling device wherein the operating unit comprises at least one operating element (i.e. power button) arranged on the separating surface (i.e. top surface).
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In regards to claim 8, Hill teaches a laser leveling device (100) wherein the at least two line projection devices comprises three line projection devices (103; Figure 6), the at least two outlet domes comprises three outlet domes (Figure 5), and the operating unit is arranged at least partially between the three outlet domes (See Figures 5 and 6).
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Regarding claim 9, Hill shows a laser leveling device (100) wherein the three outlet domes each have a surface normal and the operating unit comprises at least one operating surface arranged at least partially on a plane spanned by the surface normal of the three outlet domes (See Figure 5).
With respect to claim 10, Hill teaches a laser leveling device (100) wherein the operating unit (152) comprises three operating elements (i.e. power button, batteries, circuit and processor; Column 10, lines 27 - 39) each of which is associated with one line projection device of the three line projection devices (i.e. the operating elements activate each component).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 4 is allowable because the prior art fails to teach or suggest a laser leveling device wherein each of the at least two outlet domes has a surface normal, and the operating unit is arranged on the housing relative to a plane spanned by surface normal of two outlet domes of the at least two outlet domes, and the operating element has an operating element surface normal that is arranged relative to the plane spanned by the surface normal of the outlet domes in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references are considered relevant but fail to teach the combination as claimed:
Gould (US 12,392,608) discloses a laser level comprising at least one laser emitting device (112, 116), a housing (120) and operating unit within the housing but fails to teach the combination as claimed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL whose telephone number is (571)272-2244. The examiner can normally be reached Mon -Thu, 8:00am - 6:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Laura E Martin can be reached at 571-272-2160. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2855
February 21, 2026
/YARITZA GUADALUPE-MCCALL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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