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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a Non-final Office Action for application number 18/798,214 STAND FOR LASER PROJECTION TOOL filed on 8/8/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 5-8, 12-16 and 19 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention/species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/2/2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 8/8/2024 and 4/18/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by United States Patent Publication No. 2011/0031358 to Fischer.
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow] With regards to claim 9, the publication to Fischer discloses a device having a platform (8); a plurality of legs (1, 2, 3) comprising a first leg (4) and a second leg (5), wherein each leg of the plurality of legs has a first end coupled to the platform
PNG
media_image1.png
320
268
media_image1.png
Greyscale
; a second end opposing the first end (See Figure 1); and a foot (13) coupled to a respective leg at the second end; a longitudinal axis
PNG
media_image1.png
320
268
media_image1.png
Greyscale
extending through the platform, the plurality of legs arranged around the longitudinal axis; and a leg retention device (16, 17) coupled to at least one of the plurality of legs, the leg retention device configured to hold the plurality of legs in a collapsed position. (See 0024, “in which the tripod legs 1, 2, 3 are in a closed position, all arranged close to one another. FIG. 3 indicates that, when the tripod legs 1, 2, 3 are in a closed position, the lock bracket 17 engages behind the locking pins 16, thus connecting the tripod legs 1, 2, 3.”)
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 of this title, 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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Publication No. 2011/0031358 to Fischer and in view of United States Patent Publication No. 2021/0190261 to Warner.
With regards to claim 1, Fischer teaches a platform (8). Fischer does not specifically teach the platform including a mount configured to securely engage a laser projection device.
Warner teaches a stand (100) with a plurality of legs (110), with a platform (120) including a mount (132) configured to securely engage a laser projection device (See 0003, “the center of the hub and upon which may be attached various types of aiming devices or heads such as ball heads, pan heads, or video heads which are used to articulate an attached object such as a camera, gun, flash unit, light, projector, level, laser, etc.”). It would be obvious from the teachings of Warner that the platform of Fischer could contain a mount for a laser to use for holding a laser in place.
With regards to claim 1, Fischer also teaches that the legs are movable between an open position (See Figure 1) and a closed position (See Figure 3), each leg of the plurality of legs, having a first end coupled to the platform; a second end opposing the first end; and a foot coupled to the second end (See Above claim 9); and a plurality of leg retention devices (16, 17), each leg retention device coupled to a respective leg of the plurality of legs and configured to attach to an adjacent leg when the plurality of legs is moved into the closed position such that the plurality of legs is held together in the closed position. (See Above for explanation)
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Publication No. 2011/0031358 to Fischer and in view of United States Patent Publication No. 2017/0370517 to Underwood.
With regards to claim 10, Fischer shows a foot (13) having a foot spike (15) extending along the longitudinal axis. Fischer does not teach the other specifics of the foot, however adding adjustable features to the foot is obvious for stability of the stand.
[AltContent: arrow]Underwood teaches a stand with a foot spike (60, 60’) extending along a longitudinal axis, a recess
PNG
media_image2.png
288
281
media_image2.png
Greyscale
(See Figure 5A) defined within the respective foot, the recess sized to receive the foot spike, a pin (bolt, see 0036) aligned with an axis of rotation, the pin coupled to the foot spike (See Figures 5A); and a knob (52, nut) coupled to the pin, wherein the foot spike is rotatable about the axis of rotation when the knob is rotated between an extended position in which the foot spike extends beyond the second end of the respective leg (See Figure 5B) and a closed position in which the foot spike is located within the recess.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 4 and 11 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 17, 18 and 20 are allowed.
With regards to claim 2, the prior art does not teach wherein each leg retention device has a collar coupled to the respective leg between the first end and the second end of the respective leg; a bar coupled to an inner surface of the collar; and a clip coupled to the inner surface of the collar; wherein the clip is configured to hold the bar of the leg retention device of the adjacent leg.
With regards to claim 11, the prior art does not teach wherein each pin further includes a first opposing end and a second opposing end, wherein the first opposing end of each pin is coupled to a respective knob and the second opposing end of each pin is coupled to a respective clip.
With regards to claim 17, the prior art does not teach a stand for a laser level, having a platform; a plurality of legs movable between an open position and a closed position, each leg of the plurality of legs comprising a first end coupled to the platform and a second end opposing the first end; a longitudinal axis extending through the platform, the plurality of legs arranged around the longitudinal axis; a first leg retention device coupled to a first leg of the plurality of legs, the first leg retention device comprising: a first collar positioned around the first leg; a first bar coupled to an inner surface of the first collar; and a first clip coupled to the inner surface of the first collar; and a second leg retention device coupled to a second leg of the plurality of legs, the second leg retention device comprising: a second collar positioned around the second leg; a second bar coupled to an inner surface of the second collar; and a second clip coupled to the inner surface of the second collar; wherein the first clip is configured to hold the second bar such that the plurality of legs is held in the closed position.
Cited References
PN 11,339,916 to Smith shows a tripod assembly
PN 6,708,831 to Balassi shows a stand clip
PN 4,767,090 to Hartman et al. shows a tripod assembly
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Amy J. Sterling at telephone number 571-272-6823 or to Supervisor Jonathan Liu at 571-272-8227 if the examiner cannot be reached. The examiner can normally be reached (Mon-Fri 8am-5:00pm). The fax machine number for the Technology center is 571-273-8300 (formal amendments), informal amendments or communications 571-273-6823. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application should be directed to the Technology Center receptionist at 571-272-3600.
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://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AMY J. STERLING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631 1/7/26