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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Howle in US Patent 6311708.
Regarding Claim 1, Howle teaches a rollator, comprising: a front wheel bracket (6/8); a rear wheel bracket (12/14); at least one seat assembly (2), configured for a user to ride on; and a connection mechanism (22/26/32) connected between the front wheel bracket and rear wheel bracket, configured for the seat assembly to be detachably connected; wherein the seat assembly is capable of flipping around the connection mechanism to drive the front wheel bracket to move towards the rear wheel bracket and be folded onto the rear wheel bracket (Fig. 5); the connection mechanism comprises a first connection rod (22), a second connection rod (26), and an installation plate (32); the first connection rod is hinged on the front wheel bracket (at 24); one end of the second connection rod is hinged on the rear wheel bracket (at 24) and the other end thereof is hinged on the first connection rod (at 28); the installation plate is provided on the first connection rod and configured to connect the seat assembly; the first connection rod is driven to flip forward around the front wheel bracket by the seat assembly, and the second connection rod is driven to reverse backward to fold the front wheel bracket onto the rear wheel bracket by the seat assembly, the first connection rod abuts against the rear wheel bracket after being folded (Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 2, Howle teaches (see Fig. 4) that a length of the first connection rod is longer than a length of the second connection rod.
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Howle, as applied to Claim 1 above in view of VanAusdall in US Patent 10292893.
Howle teaches a first roller (36) is attached to the rear wheel frame body, but is silent on the use of a hinge to mount the roller. VanAusdall teaches a rollator including a rear wheel bracket (110) comprising a rear wheel frame body (150), a first roller (118) hinged (at 116) on the rear wheel frame body, a connection kit (126/194) sleeved on the rear wheel frame body and configured for a front wheel bracket (136) to be hinged and a handlebar assembly (218) configured to be inserted forward (Fig. 11) or backward (Fig. 8) on the connection kit. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Howle by using a hinged roller and reversible handlebar as taught by VanAusdall in order to allow the device to fold more compactly and allow the user to use the device from either side.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Howle as applied to Claim 1 above in view of Willis in US Publication 2008/0111349. Howle is silent on the use of a foot pedal. Willis teaches a front wheel bracket (308’) provided with a foot pedal (342) configured for the user to step on. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Howle by adding a foot pedal to the front wheel bracket as taught by Willis in order to allow the user to rest their feet off the ground.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7, 9, and 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Robb, Owens, Bradshaw et al., Che, Fellingham et al., Wu, Morris et al., and Andersen teach rollators.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NOAH C. HAWK whose telephone number is (571)272-1480. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5:30pm.
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NOAH C. HAWK
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3636
/Noah Chandler Hawk/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636