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 .
Summary
This is the response to the RCE filed on 01/06/2026.
Claims 1 and 3-13 remain pending in the application.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/06/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the attachment position height" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-7 and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Austin (US 2015/0326175).
Addressing claim 1, Austin discloses a vertical photovoltaic system (figs. 18-22) comprising:
at least one bifacial rectangular photovoltaic module 12 [0082] having the claimed short sides and long sides (fig. 18);
at last two support posts 14 for supporting the photovoltaic module 12, each support post having:
a first portion configured to be secured to at least one such photovoltaic module (figs. 18 and 21;
a second portion configured to be secured to the ground (via the intervening structures, such as the plate 22 and footing 16 as described in paragraph [0072 and 0082]; specifically, paragraph [0072] discloses the foot provides lateral support for the vertical riser as well as creates a point of attachment for contact with the ground); and
at least one securing means (clamp/gasket 24 with the corresponding groove in the post) for securing at least one such posts 14 to the long side of at least one such photovoltaic module (paragraph [0083] discloses the risers 14 are configured to hold the solar module 12 in a portrait position, which implies that that the securing means 24 secures the post 14 to the long side of the photovoltaic module 12);
each photovoltaic module 12 being directed connected, via its two long sides (in portrait orientation as disclosed in paragraph [0083]), to the securing means 24 (as shown in fig. 21) of two consecutive support posts (fig. 18 in reference to the disclosure in paragraph [0083] regarding the portrait position of the photovoltaic module 12);
which comprises no horizontal structural element, connecting two posts, arranged above the short side of the photovoltaic module farthest from the ground (fig. 18 does not show any horizontal structural element arranged on the side of the photovoltaic module farthest from the ground; therefore, when the photovoltaic module is held in the portrait position, there is no horizontal structural element connecting two posts arranged above the short side of the photovoltaic module farthest from the ground as claimed).
Addressing claim 3, paragraph [0082] and fig. 21 show that the clamp/gasket 24 along with the corresponding groove in the post as the structural equivalence to the claimed securing means. The clamp/gasket 24 is inserted into the corresponding groove of the post 14, which means the clamp/gasket 24 are structurally configured to be slid along the length of the post at different positions that correspond to the claimed a plurality of attachment positions. Furthermore, the photovoltaic module 12 is also inserted into in the clamp/gasket 24, which means the photovoltaic module along with the clamp/gasket 24 are structurally configured to be slid or moved along the length of the post to be closer to or farther from the ground according to the attachment position height as claimed. Therefore, it is the Examiner’s position that structurally, the at least one securing means (the clamp/gasket 24 and the corresponding groove in the post 14) of Austin has a plurality of attachment positions configured to position a photovoltaic module closer to or farther from the ground according to the attachment position height as claimed. It is acknowledged that Austin discloses the bottom of photovoltaic module is also engaged with the cross-brace 18 and one would not position the photovoltaic module further from the ground and further from the cross-brace 18 according to the teaching of Austin. However, the matter at hand is whether the limitation of current claim structurally differentiates the claimed system from that of Austin and it is determined that it does not since the claim does not recite any structures associated with the at least one securing means to structurally differentiate the claimed system from that of Austin. Rather, the claim attempts to structurally differentiate the claimed system from that of the prior by function, which is met by the securing means of Austin as discussed above. In other words, the securing means of Austin, i.e. the combination of the clamp/gasket 24 and the corresponding groove in the post 14, is structurally configured to have a plurality of attachment positions configured to position a photovoltaic module closer to or farther away from the ground according to the attachment position height as claimed.
Addressing claim 4, the clamp/gasket 24 described in paragraph [0082] and shown in fig. 21 corresponds to the claimed clip system or gripper.
Addressing claim 5, the cross-sectional view of the post 14 has the claimed shapes.
Addressing claim 6, the cross member 18 arranged under the short side of a photovoltaic module (in portrait position, [0083]) closest to the installation ground (fig. 18) and having extremities (the opposite ends of the cross member 18); and
at least two connecting means being configured to secure an individual extremity of at least one such cross-member 18 to a post 14 (the brace plate for securing the horizontal brace to the bottom of the vertical risers as described in paragraph [0074] corresponds to the claimed connecting means),
this cross-member being arranged and secured between at least two posts (figs. 18-19).
Addressing claim 7, Austin implicitly discloses that the cross-member has a C or inverted U-shaped cross-sectional profile because paragraph [0075] discloses clamping devise is inserted into the grooves of the horizontal cross brace for attaching the module.
Addressing claim 12, Austin discloses the clamp is inserted into the groove of the post, which requires sliding the clamp into the groove of the post that qualifies the clamp as the claimed sliding link type. Moreover, the photovoltaic module has to be inserted, or slid, into the clamp in order for the photovoltaic module to be connected to the post, which further qualifies the clamp as the claimed sliding link type.
Addressing claim 13, paragraph [0080] discloses the post (risers) and the cross-member (brace) are made of various materials, which qualify as the claimed light-reflecting material because all of the disclosed materials are visible; therefore, they are light reflective.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Austin (US 2015/0326175) in view of Kudo (JP2009021413 with provided machine English translation).
Addressing claims 8 and 10, figs. 18-19 show the cross-member is configured to extend between the posts for supporting the photovoltaic module.
Austin is silent regarding the limitations of current claims.
Kudo discloses a horizontal cross member (32+40) extending between vertical posts 20 for supporting photovoltaic modules; wherein, the cross member (32+40) is configured to at least partially enclose at least one post (the combination of the cross member 32 and bracket 40 encloses the vertical post 20, fig. 8) with the bracket as the structural equivalence to the claimed intermediate attachment portion configured to complete the enclosure around at least one post 20.
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the system of Austin with the known intermediate attachment portion 40 for completing the enclosure around the at least one post as disclosed by Kudo in order to obtain the predictable result of attaching the horizontal crossmember to the vertical posts for supporting photovoltaic modules in the vertical orientation (Rationale B, KSR decision, MPEP 2143).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Austin (US 2015/0326175) in view of Perret (US 2024/0380362).
Addressing claim 9, Austin discloses the cross-member 18 comprises an upper rim in contact with the module (fig. 23). Austin is silent regarding the lower rim configured to hold electrical cables connected to the photovoltaic module.
Perret discloses a system comprising vertically mounted photovoltaic modules supported by vertical posts (fig. 1). The system further comprises cross-member 34 extending between two posts (fig. 1). The cross-member 34 comprises an upper rim in contact with the module and a lower rim 69 configured to hold electrical cables connected to the photovoltaic modules (fig. 2A).
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the cross-member of Austin with the lower rim for holding the electrical cables connected to the photovoltaic modules as disclosed by Perret for guiding and protecting the electrical cables (Perret, [0041]).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Austin (US 2015/0326175) in view of Ota et al. (JP2004257100 with provided machine English translation).
Addressing claim 11, Austin is silent regarding the claimed limitation.
Ota discloses a system comprising vertically mounted photovoltaic modules by vertical posts (fig. 1) and cross-members 2 extending between two posts 1 (fig. 3). The system further comprises at least one connecting means 21 comprises at least one L-shaped intermediate attachment portion 21 (fig. 2). The L-shaped intermediate attachment portion comprising an upper portion 21 parallel to the long sides of the module, and configured to be secured to a post; and a lower portion 211, perpendicular to the upper portion and to the post, and configured to support the cross member 2 (figs. 2-3).
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the system of Austin with the L-shaped intermediate attachment portions disclosed by Ota in order to obtain the predictable result of securing the cross-members between the vertical posts (Rationale B, KSR decision, MPEP 2143).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 4-13 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference and combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BACH T DINH whose telephone number is (571)270-5118. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday 8:00 - 4:30 EST.
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/BACH T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726 01/28/2026