Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
This is a first office action on the merits for application serial number 18/839,012 filed 8/15/25 as a national stage entry of PCT/EP2023/054053. Claims 13-32 are pending. Claims 1-12 have been canceled by preliminary amendment. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/15/25 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
The drawings filed 8/15/25 are approved.
Claims 21 and 25 are objected to because of the following informalities: each claim includes a hyphenated word as a typo. Appropriate correction is required.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In each of claims 19 and 21 “the second diverting element” lacks antecedent basis. The second diverting element isn’t introduced until claim 18 and claim 19 depends from claim 17.
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 13-26 and 29-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent 3,351,078 to Kleiman.
Kleiman provides a cartop camper or “tent” comprised of parallel upper 12 and lower section 11 formed of rigid or “solid” materials (col.2, lns 30-3.2) with a flexible fabric/canvas ember therebetween having windows 16 and door opening 17 therein.
Cable or “traction member” 21 is configured to be pulled transverse to the vehicle roof by a user standing on the ground via crank 19 to move the sections towards and away from one another. Pulley 35 provides a first diverting element and roller 30 a second diverting element.
With respect to claim 15, the downward direction is considered “arbitrary”.
With respect to claim 23, cable 21 is rolled up on drum 20.
With respect to claim 24 a cable is considered to meet “a rope”.
Claims 13-16, 22, 24-26 and 28-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent 4,366,979 to Pillot.
Pillot provides shelter or “tent” for the roof an automobile (col. 1, ln.8) comprised of two sections (upper shell 5 and lower shell 4) configured to move relative to one another via pretension elements 18 configured to hold the sections a predetermined distance apart in the open state and a pulling or “traction member” 26 configured to pulled by a user standing next to the vehicle on the ground in a direction transverse the vehicle roof.
With respect to claim 15, the downward direction is considered “arbitrary”, alternatively the device would still closed if the pulling member were pulled off center from directly downward.
With respect to claims 22 and 24, as element 26 is shown as a hanging cable or rope it is consider flexible.
With respect to claims 25 and 26 the shells 4/5 are disclosed as resin with glass fibers which is considered a solid material forming delimiting surfaces and the fabric 10 is a foldable material.
With respect to claim 28, see return members 18 disclosed as air, spring or hydraulic jacks at lines 52-59 of column 4.
Claim 27 is 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
It is not clear that tension means 33 in WO 2011/159220 cited as D1 in the parent PCT application written opinion mailed June 7, 2023 is may be pulled by a user standing on ground next to the vehicle.
Note paragraph (34) of U.S. 10,829,028 to Delgadillo Jr.
(34) In certain embodiments, the pop-up camper may include a lid. That is, a lid may be hinged to the rim wall, disposed onto the rim wall, and enclose the plurality of walls. For example, the lid may include at least one hinge (e.g., full hinge, pivot hinge, scissor hinge) to rotate the lid on the pop-up camper. The lid may be configured to rotate between an open lid position and a closed lid position. In the open lid position, the lid may be rotated away from the plurality of walls. In the closed lid position, the lid may secure to the rim wall and/or the plurality of walls. A camper may grapple a strap disposed on the lid to rotate the lid into the closed lid position and secure the lid in place on the pop-up camper. In this manner, the lid may include an adjustable latch that locks the lid into place. In some instances, the lid may include an actuating mechanism that extends between the lid and the plurality of walls. The actuating mechanism may be configured to assist in rotating the lid to the open lid position. That is, the actuating mechanism may be a gas spring configured to apply force in an opposing direction from the plurality of walls, thus assisting in rotating the lid to the open lid position.
The fold assist straps 150-153 of U.S. Patent 11,346,123 to Park.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT CANFIELD whose telephone number is (571)272-6840. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6, some Saturdays.
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ROBERT CANFIELD
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3636
/Robert Canfield/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636
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