DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-8, 10-11, 15, 17, 19-20 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Smillie (US 6,062,416).
Regarding claims 1 and 17, Smillie discloses a multi-use storage module 1 that is attachable to a vehicles rear door (no specific structure claimed and holes 84 are capable of being used to secured the module to a vehicle as claimed), comprising: a first sidewall 14, a second sidewall 14, a rear panel 18, a front panel 22/23/48/50/78, and a base 16, wherein each of the first sidewall, the second sidewall, the rear panel, and the front panel is perpendicularly connected to the base (Figure 1); wherein the first sidewall and the second sidewall connect the front panel and the rear panel to each other, thereby forming a perimeter that defines an interior volume for the storage module (Figure 1); a horizontal internal partition 24 within the storage module that is adapted to divide the interior volume of the storage module into an upper compartment 28 with an interior space and a lower compartment 26 with an interior space; a top lid 44 pivotally secured to an upper portion of the rear panel at 46, wherein the top lid is adapted to provide access into the upper compartment or to close off access thereto; a bottom lid 50 pivotally secured to the front panel, wherein the bottom lid is adapted to provide access into the lower compartment or to close off access thereto; and wherein the interior space of the lower compartment comprises a vertical partition 23 adapted to subdivide the lower compartment into a first sub-compartment and a second sub-compartment.
Regarding claim 2, element 12 can be considered a tray or storage drawer to the degree presently claimed.
Regarding claims 3, the ice chest and water deposit tank are not positively recited and required by the claim. Smillie discloses the interior of compartments 28 “is adapted to” fit an ice chest or water tank to the degree presently claimed.
Regarding claim 4, the stove, grill unit and storage drawer are not positively recited and required by the claim. Smillie discloses the sub compartment 26 “is adapted to” fit or house the stove, grill unit, and storage drawer to the degree presently claimed.
Regarding claims 6-8, the stove, tray and lighting assembly are not positively recited/required by the claim and as such, each are considered capable of being located as claimed.
Regarding claims 10 and 11, the front panel and sub compartment 28 includes an opening 66 between the upper compartment and the lower compartment that is adapted to receive a tray or storage drawer to the degree presently claimed.
Regarding claim 15, see Figure 1 showing the rear panel and front panel having a length (noting that how or where the length is being defined is not claimed) that is greater than the length of each of the first and second sidewall (e.g. measuring the length along the “z” plane as would be oriented in Figure 1).
Regarding claim 19, see Figure 2 showing an extended portion (at lead line 46) that extends above the top of insert 76, the extended portion providing an anchoring area for hinge 46 on the lid 44.
Regarding claim 20, holes 84 are capable of receiving one or more hooks to the degree presently claimed.
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) 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smillie in view of Rydell (US 5,700,293).
Regarding claims 12 and 13, Smillie does not disclose a tapered front panel as claimed. However, Rydell teaches a similar module 20 wherein the front panel is formed to taper from a midpoint (adjacent lead line 31 in Figure 1) of the front panel to a base 25/29 of the module. Furthermore, the sidewalls 30/32 reduce in surface with the taper as claimed – see Figure 1. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to make the Smillie module with a similar taper in order to change the shape/size/overall look of the module as needed, e.g. to reduce how much the base of the module extends from the rear panel.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smillie.
Regarding claim 18, Smillie discloses the invention substantially as claimed but does not have a latch or locking mechanism on the lid. Smillie also teaches door 50 having latch members 62/64 to keep the door closed. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to provide similar latch member on the lid of Smillie in order to keep the lid in the closed position.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 9, 14 and 16 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
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.
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/COREY N SKURDAL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734