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.
Claims 10 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Van Allman et al. (US 4,979,858).
Claim 10: Van Allman et al. discloses a vertical toothblock pin that is capable of being inserted into a toothed pin slot of a block body, the vertical toothblock pin including a proximal end having a pin head (18 of Figure 1); a distal end having a pin shaft (12,14,16 of Figure 1); and a multifaced pin collar (10 of Figure 2) disposed between the pin head and the pin shaft, the multifaced pin collar having a first pair of substantially parallel sides (54,56 left side of 10 in Figure 3) that includes a first tooth configuration and a second pair of substantially parallel sides (54,56 right side of 10 of Figure 3) of that includes a second tooth configuration, the first tooth configuration and the second tooth configuration dimensioned to be capable of engaging with the toothed pin slot of a vertical toothblock pin to the block body.
The remainder of the limitations recited in claim 10 have been treated as the intended use of the recited apparatus. Since the apparatus of Van Allman et al. of performing the recited intended use and therefore meets the limitations of claim 10.
Claim 16: Van Allman et al. discloses that the multifaced pin collar is capable of being removed from a vertical toothblock pin via disengagement of a first mounting interface of a vertical toothblock pin from a second mounting interface of the multifaced pin collar (as depicted in Figure 2 the apparatus is capable of being removed from a first mounting interface of a vertical toothblock).
The remainder of the limitations recited in claim 10 have been treated as the intended use of the recited apparatus. Since the apparatus of Van Allman et al. of performing the recited intended use and therefore meets the limitations of claim 10.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 and 17-20 are allowed.
Claims 11-15 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Martinsson et al. (US 5,595,378) discloses a clamping jaw with a toothed rack (29a) and block with the teeth (11a) to engage the toothed rack.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON L VAUGHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5704. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday 8:30 - 5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sunil Singh can be reached at (571) 272-3460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON L VAUGHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726
