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 Objections
Claims 1-12 objected to because of the following informalities: The claims are replete with minor typos and incorrect grammar, such as seen in claim 5, “The vehicle of Claim 1 wherein said plurality of wheels comprises are arranged whereby”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
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 1-12 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.
Claim 1 includes the limitation, with reference numerals added in brackets for clarification, “whereby when said elevating towing tongue [36] is deployed in a towing configuration by attachment to said tongue attachment structure, said towing vehicle portion [44] is at a greater first distance from a surface on which said off-road vehicle rests than a lesser second distance over which said off-road vehicle frame engagement portion [42] is separated from said surface.” Fig. 3, a marked up version of which can be seen below, shows the opposite of this claimed arrangement, wherein the distance between the off-road vehicle frame engagement portion [42] and said surface is greater than that between said towing vehicle portion [44] and said surface.
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Claim 2 recites the limitation "said second axis intersects said first axis" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pressley (US 4,073,506). Pressley discloses:
With regard to claim 1 - A towable off-road vehicle comprising:
an off-road vehicle frame 12;
a plurality of wheels rotatable interfaced with said off-road vehicle frame (see Fig. 1);
a propulsion power source interfaced with said off-road vehicle frame and configured for imparting force to one or more of said wheels for effecting movement of said off-road vehicle frame over a surface;
a steering assembly interfaced with said off-road vehicle frame and with one or more of said wheels for steering said frame by manipulation of a user of said vehicle (see Fig. 1);
a tongue attachment structure 28 attached to said off-road vehicle frame; and
an elevating towing tongue having:
an off-road vehicle frame engagement portion 44 extending from a first tongue terminus and configured for reversible attachment to said tongue attachment structure 28 of said off-road vehicle frame (see Fig. 2);
an elongate elevational segment 40 attached at a first elevational segment end 44 to said vehicle frame engagement portion; and
a towing vehicle portion 46 extending from a second elevational segment end 42 and configured for reversible attachment to a towing vehicle;
whereby when said elevating towing tongue is deployed in a towing configuration by attachment to said tongue attachment structure 28, said towing vehicle portion is at a greater first distance from a surface on which said off-road vehicle rests than a lesser second distance over which said off-road vehicle frame engagement portion is separated from said surface (see 112 rejection above).
With regard to claim 2 - wherein said an off-road vehicle frame engagement portion 44 of said elevating towing tongue is attached to and oriented relative to said elongate elevational segment 40 whereby said second axis intersects said first axis with an interior angle of between approximately 20º and 50º (32º), and said towing vehicle portion is attached to and oriented relative to said elongate elevational segment whereby said second axis intersects said third axis with an exterior angle of between approximately 130º and 160º (158º).
With regard to claim 5 - wherein said plurality of wheels care arranged whereby: first and second wheels are respectively, rotatably and pivotally engaged to said off-road vehicle frame adjacent to a front end of said off-road vehicle frame and are operably interfaced with said steering assembly; and a third wheel is rotatably engaged to said off-road vehicle frame adjacent to a rear end of said off-road vehicle frame. The reference shows the vehicle as a regular wheeled vehicle.
With regard to claim 6 - wherein said plurality of wheels care arranged whereby: first and second wheels are respectively, rotatably and pivotally engaged to said off-road vehicle frame adjacent to a front end of said off-road vehicle frame and are operably interfaced with said steering assembly; and a third wheel is rotatably engaged to said off-road vehicle frame adjacent to a rear end of said off-road vehicle frame.
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.
Claim(s) 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pressley in view of Morton (US 4,555,214). Pressley fails to explicitly disclose steering locking means for reversibly securing said steering assembly in a fixed configuration for maintaining said one or more of said wheels for steering said frame by manipulation of a user of said vehicle in a fixed orientation. Morton teaches “in the towing mode, the front wheels of the towed vehicle should be directionally secured in a straight manner as is conventionally known in towing operations such as by use of a rope or other locking connection to the steering wheel of the towed vehicle” (column 6, lines 47-51). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the vehicle of Pressley with the teaching of Morton such that the steerable wheels are locked to ensure proper following of the vehicle while it is being towed.
With regard to claims 7 and 8, Pressely discloses wherein said plurality of wheels care arranged whereby: first and second wheels are respectively, rotatably and pivotally engaged to said off-road vehicle frame adjacent to a front end of said off-road vehicle frame and are operably interfaced with said steering assembly; and a third wheel is rotatably engaged to said off-road vehicle frame adjacent to a rear end of said off-road vehicle frame.
Claim(s) 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pressley in view of Rolfe et al (US 8,342,283). Pressley fails to explicitly disclose wherein said plurality of wheels comprises are arranged whereby: first and second wheels are respectively, rotatably engaged to said off-road vehicle frame adjacent to a front end of said off-road vehicle frame; and a third wheel is rotatably and pivotally engaged to said off-road vehicle frame adjacent to a rear end of said off-road vehicle frame and operably interfaced with said steering assembly. Rolfe teaches a three-wheel vehicle having a rear steering system that allows a single rear wheel to be operable coupled with the steering system to steer the vehicle (see Fig. 29). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the vehicle of Pressley with the teaching of Rolfe such that the vehicle is a three-wheeler with rear steering since doing so would require skill known in the art related to changing one known vehicle type with another to achieve predictable results.
Claim(s) 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pressley and Morton, as applied to claims 3 and 4, above, and further in view of Rolfe et al (US 8,342,283). Pressley fails to explicitly disclose wherein said plurality of wheels comprises are arranged whereby: first and second wheels are respectively, rotatably engaged to said off-road vehicle frame adjacent to a front end of said off-road vehicle frame; and a third wheel is rotatably and pivotally engaged to said off-road vehicle frame adjacent to a rear end of said off-road vehicle frame and operably interfaced with said steering assembly. Rolfe teaches a three-wheel vehicle having a rear steering system that allows a single rear wheel to be operable coupled with the steering system to steer the vehicle (see Fig. 29). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the vehicle of Pressley with the teaching of Rolfe such that the vehicle is a three-wheeler with rear steering since doing so would require skill known in the art related to changing one known vehicle type with another to achieve predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Warnock (US 4,592,564) discloses an ATV/ATC vehicle tow bar that attaches at one end to the towing vehicle and at the other to the ATV/ATC while elevating the front of the latter.
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/TIMOTHY WILHELM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617 August 21, 2026
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