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, “wherein the rung brace strap is attached to the pole brace strap or the rung buckle strap by stitching” of claim 5 (the drawings appear to show the rung brace strap attached to the coupling by stitching) 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.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
[0034], line 5, “embodiment” should be replaced with –embodiments—and “directed stitched” should be replaced with –stitched directly--.
[0045], line 1, “in” should be replaced with –is--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 2, “is” should be replaced with –in--.
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 13 recites the limitation "second rung of the ladder" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Amending to, “around the rung of the ladder, wherein the rung is the second rung of the ladder adjacent a first rung of the ladder” would comport with a similar limitation in claim 2. 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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Muhich (US20050072632).
1: A ladder coupling assembly (Fig. 1) comprising: a pole brace strap (15, Figs. 1, [0038]: “nylon strap”), formed of flexible webbing and including a rope guide ring (see the ring at the end of 24 in Fig. 2) structured to guide a rope lifeline (17, 24), and a buckle (18) structured to selectively attach to a corresponding buckle attached to the rope lifeline (intended use), the rope guide ring and buckle disposed proximate a central portion of the pole brace strap (15); and a rung buckle strap (16) coupled to a central portion of the pole brace strap and formed of flexible webbing and structured to wrap around a first rung or a rail of a ladder proximate an upper portion of the ladder and including rung buckles (see adjacent the lead line from call out 16 in Fig. 1) structured to selectively attach to each other to secure the rung buckle strap in a position wrapped around the first rung or rail of the ladder (capable of).
2: The ladder coupling assembly of claim 1, further comprising: a rung brace strap (25, see the dashed line portion below the call out 16 in Fig. 1) formed of flexible webbing and structured to attach to central portions of the pole brace strap (15) and rung buckle strap (16), wherein the rung brace strap is structured to attach to a second rung of the ladder adjacent to the first rung of the ladder.
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.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muhich (US20050072632) in view of Aleksovski (US20230330456).
5: Muhich fails to disclose the ladder coupling assembly of claim 2, wherein the rung brace strap is attached to the pole brace strap or the rung buckle strap by stitching. Alekovski teaches, in the context of fall protection equipment, attaching by stitching. It 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 to have included wherein the rung brace strap is attached to the pole brace strap or the rung buckle strap by stitching in order to incorporate an indicator that the coupling was stressed during use (see abstract of Alekovski: “ fall indicator stitching structured to tear in response to a fall”).
Claims 1, 7, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bugy (EP3656967) in view of Loomis (US6019194) and further in view of Shuch (US20160047167).
Bugy discloses a ladder coupling assembly (see annotated Fig. 9 below) comprising:
a pole brace strap (21) including a rope guide ring (see annotated Fig. 9 below) structured to guide a rope lifeline, the rope guide ring disposed proximate a central portion of the pole brace strap (21); and
a rung buckle strap (9) coupled (see annotated Fig. 9 below) to a central portion of the pole brace strap and structured to wrap around a first rung or a rail of a ladder (7a) proximate an upper portion of the ladder and including rung buckles (Bugy, Fig. 8, 12) to secure the rung buckle strap in a position wrapped around the first rung or rail of the ladder.
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Bugy fails to disclose the pole brace strap formed of flexible webbing and a buckle structured to selectively attach to a corresponding buckle attached to the rope lifeline, the buckle disposed proximate a central portion of the pole brace strap.
Loomis teaches, in the context of tree scaffolding, a pole brace strap formed of flexible webbing (Loomis, 1, Fig. 1) and a buckle (Loomis, 3, 4, Fig. 1) structured to selectively attach to a corresponding buckle (Loomis 9a, 9b, Fig. 1,) attached to the rope lifeline, the buckle disposed proximate a central portion of the pole brace strap (1). It 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 to have included the pole brace strap formed of flexible webbing and a buckle structured to selectively attach to a corresponding buckle attached to the rope lifeline, the buckle disposed proximate a central portion of the pole brace strap in the ladder coupling assembly of Bugy according to the teachings of Loomis in order to take advantage of the strength and abrasion resistance of flexible webbing to engage the tree while using cost-effective and extended length rope for the lifeline.
Bugy in view of Loomis fail to disclose the rung buckle strap being formed of flexible webbing. Shuch teaches, in the context of ladder coupling assemblies, a rung buckle strap (Shuch, 400, 402, and 404, Fig. 13,) being formed of flexible webbing. It 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 to have included the rung buckle strap being formed of flexible webbing in the ladder coupling assembly disclosed by Bugy in view of Loomis according to the teachings of Shuch in order to achieve a lighter and more flexible rung buckle strap.
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7: Bugy in view of Loomis and further in view of Shuch disclose the ladder coupling assembly of claim 1, wherein the pole brace strap is structured to wrap around a portion of a circumference of a pole (Bugy, Fig. 9, 21).
17: Bugy discloses fall protection system (see annotated Fig. 9 above) comprising: a ladder coupling assembly including: a pole brace strap (21) and including a rope guide ring (see annotated Fig. 9 above) structured to guide a rope lifeline, the rope guide ring disposed proximate a central portion of the pole brace strap (21); and a rung buckle strap (9) coupled (see annotated Fig. 9 below) to a central portion of the pole brace strap and structured to wrap around a first rung or a rail (7a) of a ladder proximate an upper portion of the ladder and including rung buckles (Bugy, Fig. 8, 12) structured to selectively attach to each other to secure the rung buckle strap in a position wrapped around the first rung or rail of the ladder.
Bugy fails to disclose the rope lifeline including an attachment portion having a rope buckle disposed at a first end and a buckle structured to selectively attach to the rope buckle. Loomis teaches, in the context of tree scaffolding, the rope lifeline including an attachment portion having a rope buckle (Loomis, Fig. 1, 9a, 9b) disposed at a first end and a buckle (Loomis, Fig. 1, 3, 4) structured to selectively attach to the rope buckle, the rung buckle strap (9) formed of flexible webbing. It 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 to have included the rope lifeline including an attachment portion having a rope buckle disposed at a first end and a buckle structured to selectively attach to the rope buckle, the rung buckle strap formed of flexible webbing in the ladder coupling assembly of Bugy according to the teachings of Loomis in order to take advantage of the strength and abrasion resistance of flexible webbing to engage the tree while using cost-effective and extended length rope for the lifeline.
Bugy in view of Loomis fail to disclose the rung buckle strap being formed of flexible webbing. Shuch teaches, in the context of ladder coupling assemblies, a rung buckle strap (Shuch, Fig. 13, 400, 402, and 404) being formed of flexible webbing. It 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 to have included the rung buckle strap being formed of flexible webbing in the ladder coupling assembly disclosed by Bugy in view of Loomis according to the teachings of Shuch in order to achieve a lighter and more flexible rung buckle strap.
18: Bugy in view of Loomis and further in view of Shuch disclose the fall protection system of claim 17, wherein the pole brace strap is structured such that when the rope buckle is attached to the buckle of the pole brace strap and the rope lifeline is guided through the rope guide ring, the rope lifeline and the pole brace strap form a closed loop (see annotated Fig. 9 above) .
19: Bugy in view of Loomis and further in view of Shuch disclose the fall protection system of claim 18, wherein the rope lifeline is structured to extend through rope guide ring and down to a lower portion of the ladder (see annotated Fig. 9 above).
20: Bugy in view of Loomis and further in view of Shuch disclose the fall protection system of claim 19, wherein the pole brace strap and rope lifeline are structured such that pulling on the rope lifeline from the lower portion of the ladder causes a circumference of the closed loop formed by the rope lifeline and pole brace strap to be reduced (see annotated Fig. 9 above).
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bugy (EP3656967) in view of Loomis (US6019194) in view of Shuch (US20160047167) and further in view of Ballet (ES2345237).
2: Bugy in view of Loomis and further in view of Shuch fail to disclose the ladder coupling assembly of claim 1, further comprising: a rung brace strap formed of flexible webbing and structured to attach to central portions of the pole brace strap and rung buckle strap, wherein the rung brace strap is structured to attach to a second rung of the ladder adjacent to the first rung of the ladder. However, Bugy in view of Loomis and further in view of Shuch disclose the combination of flexible webbing and a ladder coupling assembly and Ballet teaches a rung brace strap (9) structured to attach to central portions of the pole brace strap and rung buckle strap (1, note that the rung brace trap 9 is attached to a central portion of the pole brace strap via the rung buckle strap 1), wherein the rung brace strap is structured to attach to a second rung (see Figs 1 and 2) of the ladder adjacent to the first rung of the ladder. It 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 to have included a rung brace strap formed of flexible webbing and structured to attach to central portions of the pole brace strap and rung buckle strap, wherein the rung brace strap is structured to attach to a second rung of the ladder adjacent to the first rung of the ladder in the ladder coupling assembly disclosed by Bugy in view of Loomis and further in view of Shuch according to the teachings of Ballet in order to further secure the coupling assembly to the ladder.
3: Bugy in view of Loomis in view of Shuch and further in view of Ballet disclose the ladder coupling assembly of claim 2, wherein the rung brace strap includes a rung brace attachment (11), wherein the rung brace strap (9) is structured to wrap around the second rung of the ladder (Ballet, Figs. 1 and 2 – note how the bottom most portion of 9 wraps around the second rung), and wherein the rung brace attachment (11) is structured to secure the rung brace strap in a position wrapped around the second rung of the ladder (Ballet, Fig. 1, 11, and MT [0028]: “The adjustment of the position of said movable element 9 is carried out by means of a pin 11 that slides along a slot 10 provided in said movable element 9. This pin 11 comprises means for locking its sliding movement, such as for example a screw or the like”).
4: Bugy in view of Loomis in view of Shuch and further in view of Ballet disclose the ladder coupling assembly of claim 2, wherein the rung brace strap (Ballet, Figs. 1 and 2, 9) extends is a first direction (substantially vertical) and the pole brace strap (Bugy, Fig. 9, 21) and rung buckle strap (Bugy, Fig. 9, 9) extend in directions perpendicular (substantially horizontal) to the first direction.
Claims 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bugy (EP3656967) in view of Loomis (US6019194) in view of Ballet (ES2345237) and further in view of Shuch (US20160047167).
12: Bugy discloses a ladder coupling assembly (see annotated Fig. 9 above) comprising: a pole brace strap (21) including a rope guide ring (see annotated Fig. 9 above) structured to guide a rope lifeline, the rope guide ring disposed proximate a central portion of the pole brace strap (21).
Bugy fails to disclose the pole brace strap being formed of flexible webbing and a buckle structured to selectively attach to a corresponding buckle attached to the rope lifeline, the buckle being disposed proximate a central portion of the pole brace strap and a rung brace strap formed of flexible webbing and structured to attach to a central portion of the pole brace strap, wherein the rung brace strap is structured to attach to a rung of the ladder. Loomis teaches, in the context of tree scaffolding, a pole brace strap formed of flexible webbing (Loomis, Fig. 1, 1) and a buckle (Loomis, Fig. 1, 3, 4) structured to selectively attach to a corresponding buckle (Loomis Fig. 1, 9a, 9b) attached to the rope lifeline, the buckle disposed proximate a central portion of the pole brace strap (1). It 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 to have included the pole brace strap formed of flexible webbing and a buckle structured to selectively attach to a corresponding buckle attached to the rope lifeline, the buckle disposed proximate a central portion of the pole brace strap in the ladder coupling assembly of Bugy according to the teachings of Loomis in order to take advantage of the strength and abrasion resistance of flexible webbing to engage the tree while using cost-effective and extended length rope for the lifeline.
Bugy in view of Loomis fail to disclose a rung brace strap formed of flexible webbing and structured to attach to a central portion of the pole brace strap, wherein the rung brace strap is structured to attach to a rung of the ladder.
Ballet teaches a rung brace strap (9) structured to attach to central portions of the pole brace strap wherein the rung brace strap is structured to attach to a rung of the ladder (see Figs 1 and 2). It 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 to have included a rung brace strap structured to attach to central portions of the pole brace strap wherein the rung brace strap is structured to attach to a rung of the ladder in the ladder coupling assembly disclosed by Bugy in view of Loomis according to the teachings of Ballet in order to secure the coupling assembly to the ladder.
Bugby in view of Loomis and further in view of Ballet fail to disclose the rung brace strap being formed of flexible webbing. Shuch teaches, in the context of ladder coupling assemblies, a rung brace strap (Shuch, Fig. 13, 400, 402, and 404) being formed of flexible webbing. It 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 to have included the rung brace strap being formed of flexible webbing in the ladder coupling assembly disclosed by Bugy in view of Loomis and further in view of Ballet according to the teachings of Shuch in order to achieve a lighter and more flexible rung brace strap.
13: Bugy in view of Loomis in view of Ballet and further in view of Shuch disclose the ladder coupling assembly of claim 12, wherein the rung brace strap includes a rung brace attachment (11), wherein the rung brace strap (9) is structured to wrap around the second rung of the ladder (Ballet, Figs. 1 and 2 – note how the bottom most portion of 9 wraps around the second rung), and wherein the rung brace attachment (11) is structured to secure the rung brace strap in a position wrapped around the second rung of the ladder (Ballet, Fig. 1, 11, and MT [0028]: “The adjustment of the position of said movable element 9 is carried out by means of a pin 11 that slides along a slot 10 provided in said movable element 9. This pin 11 comprises means for locking its sliding movement, such as for example a screw or the like”).
14: Bugy in view of Loomis in view of Ballet and further in view of Shuch disclose the ladder coupling assembly of claim 12, wherein the rung brace strap (Ballet, Figs. 1 and 2, 9) extends is a first direction (substantially vertical) and the pole brace strap (Bugy, Fig. 9, 21) and rung buckle strap (Bugy, Fig. 9, 9) extend in directions perpendicular (substantially horizontal) to the first direction.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 8-11, and 15-16 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Broberg (US 20080169155) provides further teaching of flexible webbing in combination with a rope in the context of a pulley system for a tree stand.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ben Pezzlo whose telephone number is (571)272-9656. The examiner can normally be reached M to Th 7 to 5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel Cahn can be reached at (571) 270-5616. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BAP/ Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/COLLEEN M CHAVCHAVADZE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3634
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