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 .
This non-final Office action is in response to Applicant’s patent application number 18/704,940 filed on 4/26/2024
Currently, claims 1-10 are pending and examined.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/26/2024 is being considered by the examiner.
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, the controller 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Re claim 1, line 6; a citation “the height” does not have a proper antecedent basis. Correction is required. Claim 2 depending upon the rejected claim 1 is also rejected.
Re claim 2, line 2; a citation “a trolley” is confusing and indefinite because it’s unclear whether the same as “a trolley” cited in claim 1, line 3? Clarification is required.
Re claim 3, line 6; a citation “the lifting and lowering” does not have a proper antecedent basis. Correction is required. Claims 4-8 depending upon the rejected claim 3 are also rejected.
Re claim 4, lines 2, 4; a phrase “which” renders the claim indefinite and confusing because it’s unclear whether “which” referring to which structure? Correction is required. Claim 10, line 2; having the same issues as mentioned is also rejected.
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.
As best understood, claim(s) 1-2 and 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US No. 5,326,316 to Hashimoto et al. (‘Hashimoto’).
Re claim 1: Hashimoto discloses a docking method of a modular cleanroom comprising: loading a first modular cleanroom 1 on a trolley 19, wherein said trolley 19 moves next to a second modular cleanroom 1; leveling said first modular cleanroom 1 on said trolley 19 by a first leveling member 20; adjusting the height of said first modular cleanroom 1 to be consistent with that of said second modular cleanroom 1 on said trolley 19 by said first leveling member 20; docking said first modular cleanroom 1 with said second modular cleanroom 1; and lowering said second leveling member 20, wherein said first modular cleanroom 1 is supported on the ground (see Fig. 6).
Re claim 2: wherein said step of loading a first modular cleanroom 1 on a trolley 19 comprises: raising the first leveling member 20; after said trolley 19 is driven under said first modular cleanroom 1, lowering said first leveling member 20 until said first modular cleanroom 1 is supported on said trolley 19; and raising the second leveling member 20.
Re claim 9: Hashimoto discloses a cleanroom system comprising a first modular cleanroom 1, a second modular cleanroom 1 (Fig. 6), and a trolley 19; wherein said first modular cleanroom 1 is provided with a leveling device and said leveling device comprises: a leveling plate 10 (Fig. 11) and a second leveling member 20 provided at said leveling plate (Fig. 11), said second leveling member 20 being used for leveling said leveling plate; wherein said trolley 19 is provided with a supporting platform (i.e. near 10 points to), a first leveling member 20 is provided at said supporting platform (i.e. near 10), and said first leveling member 20 is configured for leveling the first modular cleanroom 1 supported on said trolley 19.
Re claim 10: wherein said first leveling member 20 includes at least three first levelers (i.e. wherein 20 points to, (Fig. 2 show four levelers, 2 in front and 2 in rear portions), each of which is uniformly arranged in the circumferential direction of said supporting platform (i.e. wherein 10 points to).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: no prior art discloses combination structures of a leveling device, including a controller communicatively connected with said first leveling member for controlling the lifting and lowering of said first leveling member. Claims 4-8 depending upon the allowable claim 3 are also allowable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (see attached PTO-892).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to CHI Q. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6847. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7AM-5PM or email: chi.nguyen@uspto.gov. If attempt to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached at (571) 270-3238. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pairdirect.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866) 217-9197.
/CHI Q NGUYEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635
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