DETAILED ACTION
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) 1-3, 7, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McLemore et al. (US 6,857,545) in view of Walker et al. (US 2016/0068111) and Ward (US 2023/0278654).
Regarding claims 1-3, 7 and 20, McLemore discloses a bicycle rack 20 substantially as claimed, including: a hitch mount device 70; a frame structure 22 including a first beam portion 30, a second beam portion 32, and a lateral portion 28 spanning between the first and second beam portions and fixed to the hitch mount device; at least two bicycle support assemblies 24/26, each assembly spanning between the first and second beam portion and including first and second wheel supports 44/46 and 48/50 disposed at opposite ends of the support assemblies. McLemore does not disclose the bicycle support assemblies being telescopic with an outer tray and inner tray slidably received in the outer tray and wherein the inner and outer tray are independently securable to the beam portions (“frame structure” as in claim 1) in plurality/continuous range of positions.
Walker discloses a bicycle support assembly 10 having an outer tray 20 with wheel retaining device 28, and an inner tray 30 with a second wheel retaining device 62, wherein the inner tray is telescopically received in the outer tray in order to vary the relative position between the wheel retainers (paragraph 0043). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to form the bicycle support assembly of McLemore with inner and outer members as taught by Walker in order to allow the length of the support to be adjusted to the size of the bicycle. McLemore modified by Walker does not disclose the trays are securable to the frame in a plurality/continuous range of positions.
Ward teaches that is known to secure bicycle trays 10/12 to frame members 70/72 with fasteners 74/76 received in adjustment slots (Figure 5) thereby enabling the trays to be secured in a plurality/continuous range of positions. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to secure the modified trays of the McLemore/Walker device with slots and fasteners as taught by Ward in order to allow quick assembly and adjustment of the device to the size of the bicycle.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 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 8-13, 15-19 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see reply filed 1/8/26, with respect to the prior rejection and specifically the Foley reference have been fully considered and are persuasive. The prior rejection has been withdrawn and the new grounds of rejection appears above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to COREY NELSON SKURDAL whose telephone number is (571)272-9588. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-4pm EST.
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, Nathan Newhouse can be reached at 571-272-4544. 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.
/COREY N SKURDAL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734