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 .
This is a second non-final action
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 2/22/2026, with respect to Drawing objection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The drawing objection of has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 2/22/2026, with respect to amendments made to independent claim 1, have been fully considered and are persuasive. See new rejection below.
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) 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang US 11047157 B1 (please see attached numbered paragraphs version of the description for paragraph reference numbers), in view of Barb US 0246936 A.
Regarding Claim 1, Liang teaches: A counterbalance door latch (10) comprising: an axle (53) arranged in a latch recess (axle 53 is arranged in latch recess as described in P0094), the axle having an upper side (54, shown in Fig 2) and a lower side (49); a latch arranged on the axle (80 is the latch arranged on axle 53), the latch having two positions, a recessed position (Fig 12a) in which the latch is fully recessed with no part protruding from the latch recess (shown in Fig 12a), and a latched position (Fig 12) in which the latch is rotated around the axle so that a portion of the latch protrudes from the latch recess (shown in Fig 12) to prevent a door (P0081) from sliding from a closed position (P0081), wherein an upper portion of the latch (Fig 2, upper portion of latch is the part of latch 80 that is located to the right of axle 53 in Fig 2, angle is seen in the Figure) is angled relative to a lower portion of the latch (Fig 2, lower portion of the latch is the part of latch 80 located to the left of axle 53, angle is seen in the Figure), to form a counterbalance latch (Fig 2: part of latch 80 located to the right of axle 53 that is the upper latch, and part of latch 80 located to the left of axle 53 that is the lower latch). Liang does not explicitly teach: wherein an upper portion of the latch is angled relative to a lower portion of the latch, to form a counterbalance latch wherein when in the fully recessed position a center of gravity of the latch is behind the axle and when in the latched position the center of gravity of the latch is in front of the axle. However, based on the Fig 12 and Fig 12A, it appears that in the fully recessed position a center of gravity of the latch is behind the axle (Fig 12A, it is the position of the Examiner that with the latch oriented so that 54 is facing upwards, the center of gravity would be to the right or behind axle 53 as the majority of the latch 80, and therefore the majority of the weight, is located above and to the right of axle 53) and when in the latched position the center of gravity of the latch is in front of the axle (Fig 12, it is the position of the Examiner that with the latch oriented so that 54 is facing upwards, the center of gravity would be to the left or in front of axle 53 as the majority of the latch 80, and therefore the majority of the weight, is located above and to the left of axle 53). Barb teaches that it is known in the art to have a latch (Barb: Fig 1: B) arranged on an axle (Barb: Fig 1: C) wherein an upper portion (Barb: Fig 1: c) of the latch is angled relative to a lower portion (Barb: Fig 3: d) of the latch (Barb: shown in Fig 4, upper portion c is angled out relative to lower portion d), to form a counterbalance latch (Barb: Fig 4, c and d are formed together to form counterbalance latch B) wherein when in a fully recessed position (Barb: Fig 3) a center of gravity of the latch is behind the axle (Barb: Page 1 L43-47) and when in a latched position (Barb: Fig 1) the center of gravity of the latch is in front of the axle (Barb: based on Page 1 L43-47, it is the position of the Examiner that when in the latched position shown in Fig 1, the center of gravity of the latch is to the left of axle C). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liang, so that the latch is weighted as in Barb, resulting in the latch being easier to change positions, thereby increasing ease of use.
Regarding Claim 2, Liang teaches: The counterbalance door latch of claim 1, wherein the latch, when in the fully recessed position, has more of its body arranged above the axle than below the axle. (Liang: Fig 2 shows that the majority of the body of latch 80 is to the right of axle 53, rather than to the left of the axle. This corresponds to the top and bottom of the axle respectively, see rejection of claim 1 above, and therefore the majority of the body of latch 80 lies above the axle than below the axle 53). Liang is silent on wherein the latch, when in the fully recessed position, has more of its weight arranged above the axle than below the axle. Liang Fig 2 shows that the majority of the body of latch 80 is to the right of axle 53, rather than to the left of the axle. This corresponds to the top and bottom of the axle respectively, see rejection of claim 1 above, and therefore the majority of the body of latch 80 lies above the axle than below the axle 53. It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liang, so that more of the weight is located above the axle (to the right) than below the axle (to the left) since the majority of the body is located above the axle, resulting in the latch being easier to pivot between positions, thereby increasing ease of use.
Regarding Claim 3, Liang teaches: The counterbalance door latch of claim 2 wherein about 2/3 of the latch weight is above the axle and 1/3 is below the axle (Liang: Fig 2 shows approximately 2/3 of the body, and therefore the weight of the latch, located to the right, and therefore above, axle 53. Therefore the remaining 1/3 of the latch body, and therefore weight, are located to the left, and therefore below, axle 53.).
Regarding Claim 4, Liang teaches: The counterbalance door latch of claim 3 wherein the latch is moved from the fully recessed position to the latched position by pushing the lower portion of the latch (Liang: P0095, pushing on 42 on the left side of the latch in Fig 2, this is the lower portion) towards a back of the latch recess until the upper portion of the latch falls forward (Liang: P0095) under the force of gravity (Liang: P0059, gravity applies to the latch as it moves from the fully recessed position to the latched position).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER F CALLAHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5847. The examiner can normally be reached Mon through Thur 7:30am-5:30pm.
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/C.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3675
/CHRISTINE M MILLS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3675
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