DETAILED ACTION
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because
Third to last line, “hanging” should be replaced with –hangs--
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 1 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sotirkys (US20100212709).
1. A tarp set mountable to a flip-up back door at a rear portion of a vehicle, the tarp set comprising: a side pole (40, Fig. 1) mountable to an inner surface of the back door when the back door is open and extending in a left-right direction of the vehicle ([0022]: “The magnetic hold bar 40 permits the protective cover rear 12 to be magnetically attached to a vehicle hood, roof, trunk or other metallic surface”); a ridge pole (55, Fig. 1) extending from the back door in a rear direction of the vehicle ([0025]: “The tailgate sunshade 1 is further comprised of one central pole 55 comprised of three collapsible, tent-type rods 56 elastically interconnected, end to end by means of a stretchable line 57. The central pole 55 is inserted into the central sleeve 22 and secured to the central pocket section center pocket 26 at one end and at the other end into the central pocket 23”); and a tarp (10, Fig. 1) connectable to both ends of the side pole and to a rear end (23) of the ridge pole and hanging down on both sides (28) of the ridge pole.
6. The tarp set of claim 1, further comprising a frame (16, 16’) for supporting the tarp, wherein a center of the frame is connectable to the ridge pole ([0025]: “The central pole 55 is inserted into the central sleeve 22 and secured to the central pocket section center pocket 26 at one end and at the other end into the central pocket 23”) and both ends of the frame contact a ground (60, Figs. 1 and 3A, [0028]: “The tailgate sunshade 1 is further comprised of two footings 60, each comprised of a hollow, annular disk”).
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.
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sotirkys (US20100212709) in view of Hinz (DE19823006).
2. Sotirkys fails to disclose the tarp set of claim 1, wherein the side pole includes a center pole fixable to the back door and a pair of end poles detachably attachable to respective ends of the center pole, and an entirety of the center pole is located within an outline of the back door. Hinz teaches in the context of tarp sets wherein a pole (12) includes a center pole fixable to the back door (3) and a pair of end poles detachably attachable to respective ends of the center pole, and an entirety of the pole is located within an outline of the back door (Hinz MT [0008]: “When not in use, the support poles 12 can be disassembled into suitable lengths or pushed together and carried in holding devices 14 on the inside of the tailgate 3, so that they are always readily available when needed”). It 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 to have included wherein the side pole includes a center pole fixable to the back door and a pair of end poles detachably attachable to respective ends of the center pole, and an entirety of the center pole is located within an outline of the back door in the tarp set of Sotirkys according to the teachings of Hinz in order to render the tarp set more stowable.
3. Sotrikys in view of Hinz disclose the tarp set of claim 2, further comprising a holder (14) for holding the end poles detached from the center pole along the center pole (note the multiple holders 14 on the inside of the back door of Hinz, also note MT Hinz claim 5: “the support rods (12) can be carried in holding devices (14) on the inside of the tailgate (3)”).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sotirkys (US20100212709) in view of Tsukiji (JP2017201110).
4. Sotirkys fails to disclose the tarp set of claim 1, further comprising a striker bracket mounted on the ridge pole, wherein the striker bracket is engageable with a latch located on the back door. Tsukiji teaches in the context of tarp sets a striker bracket (7) wherein the striker bracket is engageable with a latch (2) located on the back door (1). It 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 to have included a striker bracket mounted on the ridge pole, wherein the striker bracket is engageable with a latch located on the back door in the tarp set of Sotirkys according to the teachings of Tsukiji in order to use the weight of the tent as leverage to further secure the tarp set to the vehicle (see MT Description Tsukiji [0009]: “The weight of the car door tent support fixing device 7 of the present invention causes the lock fitting 3 to act as a fulcrum, generating a lever principle”).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sotirkys (US20100212709) in view of Tsukiji (JP2017201110) and further in view of Searle (FR2319516).
5. Sotirkys in view of Tsukiji fail to disclose the tarp set of claim 4, further comprising a rotary joint for rotatable connection of the ridge pole to the side pole, wherein the striker bracket engages the latch when the ridge pole is rotated towards the latch. Searle teaches in the context of tarp sets a rotary joint (Fig. 2) for rotatable connection of a ridge pole (12, Fig. 1) to a side pole (13, see MT Description Searle pg. 4 last full paragraph: “A pivot axis 5 is fixed to the door 2 by means of a bracket 6 and engages in a slot 7 made at the end of the arm of the U-shaped part 4. To bring the part 4 into the raised position, it is first moved in the direction of the arrow 8, and it slides on the axis 5, then it can be rotated and raised to its raised position”). It 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 to have included a rotary joint for rotatable connection of the ridge pole to the side pole, wherein the striker bracket engages the latch when the ridge pole is rotated towards the latch in the tarp set of Sotirkys in view of Tsukiji according to the teachings of Searle in order to allow a user to put up the tent faster and in a more intuitive manner.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ben Pezzlo whose telephone number is (571)272-9656. The examiner can normally be reached M to Th 7 to 5.
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/BAP/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/DANIEL P CAHN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3634
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