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
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 Yang (US 2005/0167343 A1).
Claim 1: Yang teaches temporary structure comprising: a junction assembly comprising: a hub (comprised of 10 and 20), a plurality of hinges (21, located on 20), each of the plurality of hinges disposed on the hub (as seen in FIG. 2); and a plurality of brackets (40), each of the brackets attached to a corresponding hinge from the plurality of hinges (as seen in FIG. 1a), each of the plurality of brackets comprising two or more tines positioned on a distal end of said bracket (as seen in FIG. 2), a gap formed between the two or more tines (in which 50/511 is received); a plurality of posts (50), each of the plurality of posts having a post top end (near 10, 20, 40) and a post bottom end (distal end of member 54); and one or more soft panels (seen outlined in the figures there is at least one panel that comprises the tent cover, as seen specifically in FIG. 6, the panel is soft since it is foldable), wherein the one or more soft panels transverses a distance between one of the plurality of posts and another of the plurality of posts (as seen in FIG. 1, the outline of the cover shows the cover as extending between all four posts, with each of the four walls of the cover extending between two adjacent posts as evidenced by the bottom edge of the cover).
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(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US 2005/0167343 A1) alone.
While Yang does not explicitly state the exact dimensions of the brackets, more specifically the gap between the tines, it would have been obvious to change the size of the bracket to accept dimensional lumber since it has generally been recognized that changes in size involve only routine skill in the art. In re Rose, 105 USPQ 137. It is noted that dimensional lumber can be as small as 1”x1” or 1”x2”, and having the tines be spaced apart by an inch or two seems reasonable given the size of most standard portable tents.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US 2005/0167343 A1) in view of Thomason et al. (US 3,244,186).
Yang is silent on the construction of the cover/panel(s); however, does teach the panel(s) transversing all of the posts (50, as seen in the figures). Thomason et al. teaches a temporary structure comprising: a junction assembly (11-13); and a soft panel (1), the soft panel transversing two adjacent posts of a plurality of posts (as seen in FIG. 1), the soft panel is reversibly attachable to the temporary structure (col. 1, lines 10-14). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to include a panel that is reversible, such as that taught by Thomason et al., so that the interior of the structure could be keep warm or cool depending on the desires of the user.
Additionally, it is noted that it would have been obvious to make the cover be comprised of two or more soft panels since making objects separable requires only routine skill in the art. In re Dulberg, 129 USPQ 348. If there were multiple panels each one would have to separately be attachable to the framework.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-12, 14 and 23-25 are allowed.
Claims 2-5 and 16-17 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.
Response to Arguments
It is noted that applicant has amended the claims by incorporating the subject matter of former claim 18, previously indicated as containing allowable subject matter in the office action mailed 1/14/2026, into independent claim 1. The previous indication of allowability for claim 18 has been withdrawn upon further consideration. Accordingly, claim 1 remains rejected over Yang for the reasons set forth in this office action.
Conclusion
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/DNJ/Examiner, Art Unit 3636
/DAVID R DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3636
