This is a Non-Final office action for serial number 18/864, 524.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed November 9, 2024 fails to comply with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609 because WIPO international search report issued on March 15, 2023 does not provide an English translation therefore WIPO search report has not been considered.. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered as to the merits. Applicant is advised that the date of any re-submission of any item of information contained in this information disclosure statement or the submission of any missing element(s) will be the date of submission for purposes of determining compliance with the requirements based on the time of filing the statement, including all certification requirements for statements under 37 CFR 1.97(e). See MPEP § 609.05(a).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claim 10 and 11 are rejected (claims dependent on a rejected claim are rejected based on their dependence unless otherwise specified) 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.
Claim 10 recites “providing n connecting members; fixing an ith connecting member such that a limiting portion of the fixed connecting member is located at a bottom of a second connecting end of the fixed connecting member”, which defines both the limitation “n” and “ith” as the connecting member therefore being indefinite and confusing.
The claims have been rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 for the above reasons. Please note that the Examiner may not have pointed out each and every example of indefiniteness. The applicant is required to review all the claim language to make sure the claimed invention is clear and definite.
All words in a claim must be considered in determining the patentability of theclaim against the prior art. If no reasonably definite meaning can be ascribed to certainterms in the claim, the subject matter does not become obvious, the claim becomesindefinite. In re Wilson, 424F.2d 1382, 1385 (CCPA 1970). The examiner's analysis ofthe claims, in particular claim language within the claims as rejected under 35 USC 112 above, indicates that considerable speculation as to the meaning of the terms employed and assumptions as to the scope of the claims needs to be made, as the examiner does not understand what is exactly being claimed by the applicant. Any rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102 should not be based on such speculations and assumptions. In re Steele, 305 F.2d 859,862 (CCPA 1962); Ex parte Head, 214 USPQ 551 (Bd.App. 1981). Accordingly, the applicant should not assume that any claims not rejected using prior art is considered allowable since the examiner can not clearly determine the limitations of the claim due to indefiniteness. The applicant should be aware that once the claims have been corrected to remove the problems concerning indefiniteness, prior art may be used to reject the claims and the next action made final or if the application is in a final status the amendment after final may not be entered as requiring further search and/or consideration.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Deng 11105461.
Deng discloses:
(Claim 1) A connecting member, comprising: a connecting body; a first connecting end which is connected to an end of the connecting body and is symmetrical with respect to a center line oriented in a first direction; and a second connecting end which is connected to an end of the connecting body away from the first connecting end, wherein a side of the second connecting end in a second direction is provided with a limiting portion, and wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction; in a case where adjacent said connecting members are connected to each other, the first connecting end of one connecting member of the adjacent connecting members is matched with the second connecting end of another connecting member on one side of said one connecting member, the limiting portion of said another connecting member is hung on the first connecting end of said one connecting member, the second connecting end of said one connecting member is matched with the first connecting end of yet another connecting member on the other side of said one connecting member, and the limiting portion of said yet another connecting member supports the first connecting end of said one connecting member.
Claim 2. The connecting member of claim 1, wherein the first connecting end is a plug-in block, the second connecting end is a plug-in slot, the limiting portion is provided on a side of a center line of the plug-in slot oriented in the second direction, and the plug-in block is adapted to be plugged within the plug-in slot.
Claim 3. The connecting member of claim 2, wherein an end of the connecting body extends along a direction away from the connecting body to form the plug-in block, and an end of the connecting body away from the plug-in block is recessed towards an interior of the connecting body to form the plug-in slot, and wherein the limiting portion is provided at any end face of the plug-in slot.
Claim 4. The connecting member of claim 3, wherein the plug-in block has a T-shaped section, and the plug-in slot has a C-shaped section.
Claim 5. The connecting member of claim 2, wherein an end of the connecting body extends along a direction away from the connecting body to form a first sheet-metal member, the first sheet-metal member extends inwards to form the plug-in block, an end of the connecting body away from the plug-in block extends along a direction away from the connecting body to form a second sheet-metal member, the second sheet-metal member forms the plug-in slot along the second direction, and the limiting portion is provided at a bottom of the plug-in slot.
Claim 6. The connecting member of claim 5, wherein the plug-in slot has a U-shaped section, and the plug-in block has a circular section.
Claim 7. A connecting assembly, comprising a plurality of connecting members of claim 1 , wherein the first connecting ends of the connecting members are connected to the respective second connecting ends of their adjacent connecting members.
Claim 8. A hanging apparatus, comprising: the connecting assembly of claim 7; a holding-pole assembly which is connected to a middle connecting member among the plurality of connecting members and is configured for fixing a holding pole; anda plurality of equipment installation members, wherein one of the equipment installation members is mounted on a side of the middle connecting member away from the holding-pole assembly, and the remaining equipment installation members are connected to two sides of the remaining connecting members, respectively, and wherein the equipment installation members are adapted for installation of communication devices.
Claim 9. The hanging apparatus of claim 8, wherein the holding-pole assembly comprises: a first holding-pole member, which comprises a first cambered surface fitting a portion of the holding pole; a second holding-pole member, which is provided apart from the first holding-pole member and comprises a second cambered surface fitting another portion of the holding pole; and an adjustment member, which is connected to both of the first holding-pole member and the second holding-pole member, and is adapted to adjust a distance between the first holding-pole member and the second holding-pole member.
Claim 10. A method of assembling a hanging apparatus, comprising: providing n connecting members; fixing an ith connecting member such that a limiting portion of the fixed connecting member is located at a bottom of a second connecting end of the fixed connecting member; orienting an (i+1)th connecting member such that a limiting portion of the (i+1)th connecting member is located at a bottom of a second connecting end of the (i+1)th connecting member, and inserting a first connecting end of the (i+1)th connecting member downwards into the second connecting end of the ithconnecting member; and orienting an (i+2)th connecting member such that a limiting portion of the (i+2)th connecting member is located at a top of a second connecting end of the (i+2)th connecting member, and inserting the second connecting end of the (i+2)thconnecting member downwards into the first connecting end of the ith connecting member, thus forming a connecting assembly; wherein n > 3, n is a positive integer, 1 i<_n, and i is a positive integer.
Claim 11. (Original) The method of claim 10, wherein fixing the ith connecting member comprises: mounting an equipment installation member (31) to a side of the connecting member; and mounting a holding-pole assembly (12, 13, 14) to a side of the connecting member away from the equipment installation member, and fixing the connecting member to a holding pole with the holding-pole assembly.
[AltContent: textbox (Connecting members (2))][AltContent: textbox (2nd connecting end is a plug-in slot)]
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Connecting body)]
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Limiting portion)][AltContent: textbox (Plug-in slot with U-shape section)][AltContent: textbox (1st connecting end is a plug-in block having a T-shape section)][AltContent: textbox (Plug-in slot has C-shape section)][AltContent: textbox (Limiting portion at the bottom end of each plug-in slot)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow]
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[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Adjustment member (14))][AltContent: textbox (Holding pole)][AltContent: textbox (1st holding pole member (12) with chamfer suree)][AltContent: textbox (2nd holding pole member (13) with chamfer surface, see figure 8)][AltContent: textbox (Equipment installation member (31))][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Middle connecting member)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Plurality of connecting members)][AltContent: arrow]
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art discloses conventional connecting member and mounting assemblies.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIMBERLY T WOOD whose telephone number is (571)272-6826. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thur 9:00am-5:30pm flexible schedule.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached at (571) 272-8227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KIMBERLY T WOOD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631