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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Figs. 14-18 are photographs in which the detail can’t be seen and it is not clear what the element numbers are point too. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim(s) 16 & 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Albrecht (DE 102017121596).
Regarding claim 16, Albrecht discloses a device for ejecting a movable furniture part, the device comprising: a housing (13) including a guideway (29); a carriage (14) movable between a retracted position (Fig. 3) and an ejected position (Fig. 5) relative to the housing; a bearing element (shown in Fig. 2 between lever 23 and spring 21) movable relative to the housing; an engaging lever (23) pivotably mounted on the bearing element, the engaging lever including a guide element (29) received in the guideway such that the guide element is displaced along the guideway when the bearing element is moved relative to the housing; and a spring element (21) coupled between the bearing element and the carriage such that movement of the carriage from the retracted position to the ejected position reduces a pretension of the spring element (Figs. 3 & 5); wherein the pretension of the spring element is increased by a movement of the bearing element in a first adjustment direction (M2) and is reduced by a movement of the bearing element in a second adjustment direction (M1).
Regarding claim 18, Albrecht discloses a device wherein: the guideway is a closed-loop guide including a tensioning portion and a return portion; the bearing element is displaced along the tensioning portion when the bearing element is moved in the first adjustment direction; and the bearing element is displaced along the return portion when the bearing element is moved in the second adjustment direction (Fig. 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17 & 19-31 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 because it gives a general state of the art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL J ROHRHOFF whose telephone number is (571)270-7624. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:00.
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, Dan Troy can be reached at 571-270-3742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL J ROHRHOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3637
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