DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
A response to the first office action and amendment were received on 07 August 2026.
Claims 1-20 are still pending; no claims have been cancelled or amended.
Arguments filed 07 August 2026 have overcome the previous 35 USC 12 rejections.
Arguments directed to the rejection of Claims 1-20 have been received and acknowledged below.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 07 August 2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of 11,673,459 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
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.
Claim(s) 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dylewski (US 2017/0240033).
Regarding claim 13, Dylewski discloses a tonneau cover comprised of a bulkhead panel assembly 18; a plurality of cover panel sections 12, 14, 16 pivotally coupled to each other; wherein one or more of the plurality of cover panel sections are foldable onto the bulkhead panel assembly (Fig. 19); an intermediate panel (Fig. 11, numeral 32 near numeral 50) located between cover panel sections of the plurality of cover panel sections; wherein the intermediate panel includes at least one channel 50; and wherein the at least one channel is located over the bulkhead panel assembly when the one or more of the plurality of cover panel sections are folded onto the bulkhead panel assembly (intermediate panel 50 is above the bulkhead 18 when folded as in Fig. 19).
Regarding Claim 14, Dylewski further discloses that the bulkhead panel 18 assembly includes a front frame, a central panel, and a hinge frame (see annotated Fig. 33 below).
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Regarding Claim 15, the front frame is configured to extend over a cargo box and is configured to be located adjacent a cab section of a pickup truck (Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 16, the central panel is configured to extend over a cargo box and is located between the front frame and the hinge frame (see annotated Fig. 33 above).
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) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dylewski as applied to claim 14 above, and further in view of Facchinello (US 2019/0092149).
Regarding Claim 17, Dylewski does not appear to disclose how the bulkhead is formed. Facchinello discloses a cover for a truck bed, wherein the panels of the cover are made from an extrusion (paragraph 0042), and the rails and frame are additionally made from extrusions (paragraph 0048). Before the effective filing date of the present application, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use the extrusion process of Facchinello to create the rails and panels of Dylewski in order to have a cost effective, well-known and used process to form a reasonably priced end product.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 and 18-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In the previous office action, claims 1-12 were indicated as being allowable if the 35 USC 112 rejection was corrected. After consideration of the arguments, the Examiner finds that the rejection has been overcome and claims 1-12 are allowable.
Claims 18-20 were previously only rejected under a non-statutory double patenting rejection. A proper terminal disclaimer has overcome that rejection, and as such, claims 18-20 now stand allowable.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07 August 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that in the previous rejection, the use of numeral 50 to identify the intermediate panel was incorrect as it refers to a device under the panel, and not intermediate to it. The previous rejection merely cited the use of numeral 50 as a position identifier in Fig. 11, and not as the panel itself. Numeral 50 refers to the channel within the intermediate panel, and not the panel itself (the rejection merely stated near numeral 50, not that 50 was the intermediate panel). The rejection has been sustained, but has been additionally clarified to ensure there is no ambiguous indication of the intermediate panel.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON S DANIELS whose telephone number is (571)270-1167. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amy Weisberg can be reached at 571-270-5500. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON S DANIELS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612
