Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026
Application No. 18/640,587

MOUNTING BAR CONNECTION SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Apr 19, 2024
Priority
Apr 21, 2023 — provisional 63/461,195
Examiner
MILLNER, MONICA E
Art Unit
3634
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Cinelease LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allowance Rate
897 granted / 1157 resolved
+25.5% vs TC avg
Strong +22% interview lift
Without
With
+22.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 11m
Avg Prosecution
28 currently pending
Career history
1186
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.6%
-39.4% vs TC avg
§103
41.4%
+1.4% vs TC avg
§102
26.6%
-13.4% vs TC avg
§112
26.9%
-13.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1157 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . 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) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 10,718,120 to Haney. Regarding claim 1, Haney ‘120 discloses a mounting bar connection system comprising: a receiver assembly comprising: (a) a receiver top plate 102 comprising a top surface, a bottom surface 130, and a plurality of holes passing through the top plate (holes supporting the bolts - Fig. 7; col. 7, lines 37-40 – “… “support rails 132 are attached to the underside surface 130 of the base platform 102 by various conventional means, such as by screws, bolts…”); (b) a receiver bottom plate 132 comprising: (i) a top surface; (ii) a bottom surface; (iii) a plurality of holes configured to line up with the holes of the top plate (holes supporting the bolts - Fig. 7; col. 7, lines 37-40 – “… “support rails 132 are attached to the underside surface 130 of the base platform 102 by various conventional means, such as by screws, bolts…”); and (iv) two side plates 136 extending away from the bottom surface in a parallel plane to each other, the two side plates 136 comprising a plurality of holes that at least partially align with each other; and (c) at least one through bolt configured to pass through at least one hole of the top plate and one hole of the bottom plate and to secure the top plate and the bottom plate to each other (Figs. 7-8; col. 7, lines 37-40 – “… “support rails 132 are attached to the underside surface 130 of the base platform 102 by various conventional means, such as by screws, bolts…”). Regarding claim 2, Haney ‘120 discloses, further comprising at least one throughbolt 138 fitted through at least one hole of each of the side plates 136, wherein the throughbolt is configured to secure the side plates to an upright arm 104. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3-10 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. Claims 11-20 are allowed. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: (claim 3) note the configuration of the receiver assembly relative to the work platform; (claim 4) note the configuration of the upright arm relative to the components of the receiver assembly; (claim 8) note the configuration of the truss mounting bracket relative to the components of the receiver assembly: (claim 11) note the configuration of the receiver top plate, receiver bottom plate, a set of two side plates, a second receiver bottom plate as configured with a bolt connecting the top and two bottom plates of the mounting bar connection system. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and could be used in subsequent office action rejections, as applicable. The list of supports is as follows: US-12084329-B2 OR US-10961099-B2 OR US-10738491-B2 OR US-8678135-B2 OR US-4930598-A OR US-3826334-A OR US-10718120-B1 OR US-20020074371-A1 OR US-20200240141-A1 OR US-20200189892-A1 OR US-20190249418-A1 OR US-20190330034-A1 OR KR-20130038981-A. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONICA E MILLNER whose telephone number is (571)270-7507. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-4:00pm. 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, Terrell McKinnon can be reached at 571-272-4797. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MONICA E MILLNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 19, 2024
Application Filed
Aug 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12745842
Clearance Adjustment Member and Fixing Apparatus Having the Same
1y 7m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12731971
SEGMENTED CABLE TANGENT CLAMP
3y 1m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12727670
SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY
2y 4m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12729808
RAIL CLAMP FOR SOLAR PANEL MODULE
2y 3m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12729809
DECK CLIP AND METHOD OF ATTACHING ACCESSORIES TO STAGE SYSTEMS
2y 3m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+22.2%)
1y 11m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1157 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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