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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Applicants are respectfully reminded that they and other individuals, as set forth in 37 CFR 1.56, have a duty to bring to the attention of the Office any material prior art or other information cited or brought to their attention in any related foreign application. See MPEP 2001.06(a).
The individuals covered by 37 CFR 1.56 have a duty to bring to the attention of the examiner, or other Office official involved with the examination of a particular application, information within their knowledge as to other copending United States applications which are “material to patentability” of the application in question. The individuals covered by 37 CFR 1.56 cannot assume that the examiner of a particular application is necessarily aware of other applications which are “material to patentability” of the application in question, but must instead bring such other applications to the attention of the examiner. See Dayco Prod., Inc. v. Total Containment, Inc., 329 F.3d 1358, 1365-69, 66 USPQ2d 1801, 1806-08 (Fed. Cir. 2003). For example, if a particular inventor has different applications pending in which similar subject matter but patentably indistinct claims are present that fact must be disclosed to the examiner of each of the involved applications. Similarly, the prior art references from one application must be made of record in another subsequent application if such prior art references are “material to patentability” of the subsequent application. See Dayco Prod., 329 F.3d at 1369, 66 USPQ2d at 1808. See MPEP 2001.06(b).
Election/Restrictions
It is noted that the claims as presented are directed to a product and method of forming the product. As currently presented, the method is the assembly of the product and its examination in conjunction with the product does not represent a serious burden at this time; therefore, no restriction is required. However, if subsequent amendments to the claims result in diverging subject matter and searches between the claimed inventions, the examiner reserves the right to restrict at that time.
Drawings
New corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in this application because the drawings provided by Applicant are not decipherable. For example in figure 1b, Applicant has provided:
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Applicant is advised to employ the services of a competent patent draftsperson outside the Office, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office no longer prepares new drawings. The corrected drawings are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The requirement for corrected drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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.
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) 1-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Abel (US 20020130491 A1).
Abel discloses:
1. An article of manufacture (figs 1-5) comprising: a set of rod receptacles, a rod receptacle of the set having a hollow extending along an axis (34 with hollow inside, capturing portion of 22/32), the set being configured either to be removably affixed to a back of a waste container or as a part monolithically integrated with the back of the waste container such as to have a corresponding axis of the rod receptacle of the set to extend along the back and transversely to an axle carrying wheels of the waste container (capable of performing the above intended use, such as being configured for the above; Applicant has not positively claimed the above elements such as a container); and a handle member including a rod dimensioned to be inserted into the rod receptacle of the set (adjacent 22), and a handle member bar that is substantially transverse to the rod (horizontal portion such as in fig 4), wherein a given rod receptacle is configured to have the rod secured in the hollow (such as in fig 4).
2. An article of manufacture according to claim 1, wherein, when the set includes first and second rods receptacles, the handle member includes respectively corresponding first and second rods, and wherein the handle member bar is configured to connect said first and second rods with one another (as in fig 4).
3. An article of manufacture according to claim 2, wherein the handle member bar has an adjustable length (adjustable as described for example in abstract).
4. An article of manufacture according to claim 3, wherein, when the set of rod receptacles is configured to be separable from the waste container, the set is structured to include a rigid bar having first and second receptacles at ends thereof, and a harness dimensioned to removably affix the rigid bar to the back of the waste container while encircling a body of the waste container with said harness below an edge of the opening of the waste container (capable of performing the above intended use, such as structured to include a rigid bar, harness, etc.; Applicant has not positively claimed the above elements such as container, bar, harness, etc.).
5. An article of manufacture according to claim 4, wherein the harness includes an auxiliary harness component configured to form a loop about an axle of a lid of the container (capable of performing the above intended use; Applicant has not positively claimed the above element).
6. An article of manufacture according to claim 1, wherein, when the set of rod receptacles is configured to be separable from the waste container, the set is structured to include a rigid bar having first and second receptacles at ends thereof, and a harness dimensioned to removably affix the rigid bar to the back of the waste container while encircling a body of the waste container with said harness below an edge of the opening of the waste container (capable of performing the above intended use, such as structured to include a rigid bar, harness, etc.; Applicant has not positively claimed the above elements such as container, bar, harness, etc.).
7. An article of manufacture according to claim 6, wherein, when the set of rod receptacles includes multiple rod receptacles and when the handle member includes multiple rods and when the handle member bar has an adjustable length, the rigid bar is configured to have a variable length (as in fig 4 adjacent elements 36/32, and capable of performing the above intended use) .
8. An article of manufacture according to claim 6, wherein the harness includes an auxiliary harness component configured to form a loop about an axle of a lid of the container (capable of performing the above intended use; Applicant has not positively claimed the above element).
9. An article of manufacture according to claim 1, wherein the set includes first and second receptacles (as in fig 4), wherein that article is dimensioned such that, when cooperated with the back of the waste container (capable of performing the above intended use): (i) a separation between the first and second receptacles along an axis of rotation of a lid of the container is no larger than a width of the container, and (ii) wherein, when the waste container includes inner structural ribs, which support a second axle employed to rotatably connect a lid of the container with a body of the container, each of such inner structural ribs is between first and second planes, the first plane being substantially perpendicular to the second axle and containing a first axis of the first receptacle, the second plane being substantially parallel to the first plane and containing a second axis of the second receptacle (capable of performing the above intended use such as providing a container with the above features and relationships to the positively subject matter).
In order to expedite prosecution for Applicant, the Office notes that the prior art discloses the above and further Official Notice is taken, that it is old and conventional to provide a waste container, harness, rigid bar, etc. with all of the above features in claims 1-9. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made in view of the Official Notice to provide a waste container, harness, rigid bar, etc. with all of the above features in order to assist the user in using the device such as by ensuring that the device remains in place as desired.
Re claims 10-19, as discussed above, the applied prior art teaches the product as claimed. To the extent that the claimed product performs the claimed method, the prior art product performs the method steps, as claimed. In order to expedite prosecution for Applicant, the Office notes that the prior art discloses the above and further Official Notice is taken, that it is old and conventional to provide a waste container, harness, rigid bar, wheels, axles, lever, ribs, lid, lid axle, etc. with all of the above features in claims 10-19. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made in view of the Official Notice to provide a waste container, harness, rigid bar, wheels, axles, lever, ribs, lid, lid axle, etc. with all of the features of claims 10-19 in order to assist the user in using the device such as by ensuring that the device remains in place as desired.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW D PERREAULT whose telephone number is (571)270-5427. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:00am-5:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Stashick can be reached at (571)272-4561. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW D PERREAULT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3735