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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 04/10/2026. These drawings are accepted.
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) 1-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuo et al. (US 6,604,621) in view of Dean (4,232,776).
Matsuo et al. show a moving walkway transit system having a treadway 20 that returns. While there is inherently a control system for monitoring the walkway it is not expressly shown. However, shown by Dean in Figure 8 is just such a control system. To use the control system shown by Dean on Matsuo et al. would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as it is understood that there must be such a control system on Matsuo et al in order to control all the variables present.
Re claim 3, both references implement various speed profiles for the different sections.
Re claim 4, both references are composed of a plurality of modules which operate at the same or different speeds.
Re claim 5, Matsuo et al.’s modified system would include the digital display of Dean which is disclosed in column 9, lines 54-57.
Re claim 6, Matsuo et al.’s modified system would include the sensors 159 and 160 of Dean which monitors passenger volume and speeds up and slows down the modules.
Re claim 7, safety stops are part of Dean’s control system.
Re claim 8, the computer 210 tracks and records aspects of the walkway.
Re claim 9, the walkway is operated and monitored by the control system.
Re claim 11, as per claim 3 rejection.
Re claim 12, as per claim 4 rejection.
Re claim 13, as per claim 5 rejection.
Re claim 14, as per claim 6 rejection.
Re claim 15, as per claim 7 rejection.
Re claim 16, as per claim 8 rejection.
Claim(s) 2 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuo et al. in View of Dean as applied to claims 1 and 9 above, and further in view of Matheisl et al. (US 2018/0002143).
Matsuo et al. in view of Dean does not disclose the use of a GPS device. However, disclosed by Matheisl et al. is the use of a GPS device on a transport unit such as a moving walkway (see paragraph [0017]). To include such a GPS device on the modules of Matsuo et al. would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success as it would help keep track of where the various modules are located both during use or storage.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see amendment, filed 04/10/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-6 under Dean and Matheisl et al. have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the rejection set forth above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES R BIDWELL whose telephone number is (571)272-6910. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8 to 4.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gene Crawford, can be reached at telephone number (571)272-6911. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES R BIDWELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3651 06/08/2026
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