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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ota et al. (US 20220267091 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ota et al. discloses a conveyance system (Fig. 1) comprising: a mounting base (121) with a groove (1211) guided along a guide rail (115) extending in a vertical direction (It can be seen in Fig. 1); and a lifting mechanism (123) configured to raise and lower the mounting base (It can be seen in Fig. 8-9), wherein when a direction of a movement of an item to be carried out from the mounting base is defined as a forward direction (It can be seen in Fig. 7-8) and a direction opposite to the forward direction is defined as a rearward direction (It can be seen in Fig. 14-15), the mounting base is raised and lowered while pressing a side surface on a rear side of the groove against the guide rail (This is a functional language).
However, Ota et al. discuses all the required structure of the claim to perform the mounting base is raised and lowered while pressing a side surface on a rear side of the groove against the guide rail. (See MPEP section 2111.04 and 2114).
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zheng et al. (US 20190352092 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Zheng et al. discloses a conveyance system (Fig. 1), comprising: a mounting base (121) with a groove (See annotated Fig. 1) guided along a guide rail (See annotated Fig. 1) extending in a vertical direction (It can be seen in Fig. 1); and a lifting mechanism (124, 342) configured to raise and lower the mounting base (¶0030, lines 45-47), wherein when a direction of a movement of an item to be carried out from the mounting base is defined as a forward direction (See annotated Fig. 1) and a direction opposite to the forward direction is defined as a rearward direction (See annotated Fig. 1), the mounting base is raised and lowered while pressing a side surface on a rear side of the groove against the guide rail (This is a functional language, it is noted that when 130 moves up or down groove stays in pressed condition with the rail. Also keeping the surface pressed against to riding or sliding surface is not an innovative concept too).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Additional cited prior arts show other conveyance system for transferring goods.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAIMIN G PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-0052. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Saul Rodriguez can be reached at 517-272-7097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAUL RODRIGUEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3652
/JAIMIN G PATEL/Examiner, Art Unit 3652