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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 12, lines 7-9 recites “the inflation of the inflatable camping accessory is achieved exclusively with air contained within the inflatable camping accessory in the absence of (without) introducing any further air into the inflatable camping structure.” However, the inflation of the inflatable camping accessory is achieved with air contained in the inflatable camping structure because there is no air in the deflated camping accessory.
Page 12, line 26 contains a typographical error in reciting “is need” instead of “is needed.”
Page 12, line 29 appears to be incomplete in reciting “of another preferred of a camping assembly” instead of “of another preferred embodiment of a camping assembly.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Fig. 2B contains a leader line without a corresponding reference numeral. 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.
Response to Amendment
The preliminary claim amendment that is present on the filing date of the application does not correctly reflect changes or additional claims. For example, the preliminarily amended claim set contains 27 claims that denotes claims 26-27 as “Currently Amended”; however, the original claims are only claims 1-25. The amended claim set marks claim 1 as “Original”; however, claim 1 (and other claims) in the amended claim set include additional language not present in the original claims 1-25. For purposes of examination, the amended claim set 1-27 are examined.
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 7, 16, 18, 19, and 23 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.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the minimum 10 pressure" in lines 1-2 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 16 recites “the inflatable camping accessory and the inflatable camping accessory comprises….” It is unclear if the second recitation of “inflatable camping accessory” refers to yet another inflatable camping accessory that is different from the inflatable camping accessory first recited in the claim.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the primary camping structure" in lines 2-3 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 19 is rejected as a result of dependency form claim 18.
Claim 23 recites the limitation "the primary camping structure" in lines 3-4 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6, 8-15, 17, 20-22 and 24-27 are allowed.
Claims 7, 16, 18, 19, and 23 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: None of the prior art, alone or in combination absent hindsight, discloses applicant’s invention as recited in independent claims 1. In particular, the prior arts do not disclose an inflatable camping structure in an inflated configuration and an inflatable camping accessory in a deflated configuration and the inflation of the inflatable camping accessory is achieved exclusively with air contained within the inflatable camping structure in the absence of introducing any further air into the inflatable camping structure.
The closest prior art AU2018204104 discloses inflatable components of a tent connected to an annex such that the two can be inflated simultaneously as a unit. Such a structure teaches away from the initial inflation of the tent/camping structure and then the subsequent inflation of the annex/camping accessory exclusively with air contained within the inflatable camping structure in the absence of introducing any further air into the inflatable camping structure. Similarly, WO2014/080391 discloses the inflation of both a tent frame and a mattress via a single valve and does not disclose that a deflated component by air exclusively contained within another inflated component of the camping assembly.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTINE T CAJILIG whose telephone number is (571)272-8143. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Glessner can be reached at 571-272-6754. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTINE T CAJILIG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633
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