DETAILED ACTION
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 .
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 6, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by De Graaf (WO2020/111937, represented by US 11,975,789). De Graaf discloses:
With regard to claim 1 - A cargo bicycle, comprising:
a front frame component 21, comprising at least one front wheel 3;
a middle frame component 22, comprising at least two auxiliary wheels (“Preferably, the two-wheeled arrangement of the cargo bike 1 also comprises a retractable support assembly 30 with support wheels 31 to provide stability in the collapsed state II of the collapsible frame 2.” – column 11, lines 29-32) and a steering structure 26;
a rear frame component 9, comprising at least one rear wheel 4;
a telescopic structure connected to the front frame component 21 and the middle frame component 22, and capable of adjusting a horizontal distance between the front frame component and the middle frame component 22 (“In this embodiment, the base part 21 of the collapsible frame 2 is arranged as a sleeve around the telescoping part 22 of the collapsible frame 2, such that the telescoping part 22 is slidable through the base part 21. The telescoping part 22 is slidable relative to the base part 21 along the longitudinal axis 5 between the elongate state I and the collapsed state II, and between the collapsed state II and the elongate state I.” – column 11, lines 12-19); and
a folding device 11 connected to the middle frame component 22 and the rear frame component 9, and capable of adjusting a folding state between the rear frame component 9 and the middle frame component 22 (see Figs. 5 and 6).
With regard to claim 3 - wherein the telescopic structure comprises a telescopic rod and a locking member 10 (“A locking mechanism may be provided that locks the collapsible frame 2 in each of the respective elongate I and collapsed state II.” – column 11, lines 19-21), one end of the telescopic rod 22 being connected to the middle frame component, the other end of the telescopic rod being connected to the front frame component 21, and the locking member being configured to control the telescopic travel of the telescopic rod.
With regard to claim 6 - wherein the auxiliary wheels 31 are ordinary mechanical wheels.
With regard to claim 7 - wherein the middle frame component further comprises an auxiliary wheel bracket 30, and there is a linkage relationship between an extended/retracted state of the auxiliary wheel bracket and a locked/unlocked state of the folding device (“Preferably, the two-wheeled arrangement of the cargo bike 1 also comprises a retractable support assembly 30 with support wheels 31 to provide stability in the collapsed state II of the collapsible frame 2. In this case, the cargo bike 1 in the collapsed state II of the frame may be operated as a pushcart with a steerable front wheel 3.” – column 11, lines 29-34).
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) 2, 4, and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over De Graaf. With regard to claim 2, De Graaf fails to explicitly disclose wherein a telescopic travel of the telescopic structure is greater than 25 cm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to form the vehicle such that a telescopic travel of the telescopic structure is greater than 25 cm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
With regard to claim 4, De Graaf discloses wherein the middle frame component further comprises a body head tube, the folding device further comprises a spindle (see typical and well-known in the art hinge structure 11, Figs. 5 and 6). De Graaf fails to explicitly disclose a center-to-center distance between the spindle and the body head tube is not less than 15 cm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to form the vehicle such that a center-to-center distance between the spindle and the body head tube is not less than 15 cm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
With regard to claim 4, De Graaf discloses wherein the middle frame component comprises two auxiliary wheels 31 arranged on two sides of the cargo bicycle. De Graaf fails to explicitly disclose a center-to-center distance between the two auxiliary wheels being greater than 10 cm. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to form the vehicle such that a center-to-center distance between the two auxiliary wheels being greater than 10 cm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 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. Claim 8 requires that the auxiliary wheel be extended in order for the folding device to be unlocked. This aspect is not taught in the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ehrenreich et al (US 7,249,779) discloses a cargo bicycle that includes telescoping frame members. Bell et al (US 9,428,239) discloses a foldable cargo bicycle having an auxiliary wheel. Lin (US 7,815,208) also discloses a foldable bicycle having an auxiliary wheel.
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/TIMOTHY WILHELM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617 June 25, 2026
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