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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a non-final First Office Action on the Merits in application 18/884,514, filed 9/13/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending and examined.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 1, “it” should be changed to “the top beam mounting assembly”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 9-10 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 claim 9, line 7, “the mounting wall surface” has no antecedent basis and should be changed to “a mounting wall surface” to overcome the rejection.
In claim 10, line 2, “makes rectilinear slide” is not clear and should be changed to “rectilinearly slides” to overcome the rejection.
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.
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 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Luo(CN112190110; cited on PTO 892).
Luo discloses an electric drilling-free mounting device(no drilling is required thereby being considered “drilling-free”) for mounting a curtain(curtain rod therefore for use to mount a curtain meeting the claim limitation), wherein the device comprises a housing(1, see Figs. 1-3); an end of the housing is connected with an end cover(15, see Fig. 6) and a chamber(inside 1, see Fig. 3) is disposed inside the housing(see Figs. 3 and 4); a power component(motor 5, see para. [0038] and Fig. 4), a pressing assembly(4, 6, 11, 12, see para. [0038]) and an elastic adjusting assembly(13, 14, see Figs. 3 and 5) are sequentially mounted inside the chamber(see Figs. 3 and 4, sequentially from left to right or right to left with the motor in the middle) in a direction from an end away from the end cover to the end cover; the power component/motor(5) is fixedly disposed inside the chamber(see Fig. 4), and a power output end of the power component(5) is in transmission connection with the pressing assembly(the motor drives the pressing assembly and is therefore considered in transmission connection meeting the claim limitation); one end of the elastic adjusting assembly(13, 14) is abutted against the pressing assembly(12) and the other end is abutted against the end cover(15, see Figs. 5 and 6); the end of the elastic adjusting assembly abutted against the end cover(15) is partially penetrated through the end cover(13 extends partially into 15 meeting the claim limitation, see Fig. 5) and exposed outside the housing(the end of the adjusting assembly is exposed meeting the claim limitation, see Fig. 3) for pre-positioning; the elastic adjusting assembly has an elastic telescoping travel, and the power component drives the pressing assembly to press or release the elastic adjusting assembly(see para. [0038]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 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.
Claims 9-10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
No prior art of record shows a device having a housing with an end cover, power component, pressing assembly and elastic adjusting assembly with the interaction of the elements and the pressing assembly having a screw rod and slide block, as in claim 2, or a top beam assembly with a top beam with sealing covers and an ejection block on one of the sealing covers used with a device having a housing with an end cover, power component, pressing assembly and elastic adjusting assembly with the interaction of the elements, the ejection block connected to the elastic adjusting assembly exposed outside of the housing to abut against a support surface, as in claim 9, nor any motivation to do so.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BETH A. AUBREY whose telephone number is (571)272-1851. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a-4:30p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Glessner can be reached at 571-272-6754. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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BETH A. AUBREY
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3633
/Beth A Aubrey/
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