DETAILED ACTION
This final Office action is in response to the claims filed on January 16, 2026.
Status of claims: claims 11 and 18 are cancelled; claims 1-10, 12-17, 19 and 20 are hereby examined below.
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 8, 14, 17 and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 8, line 7 – shouldn’t “wherein the lower end is spaced apart from the gate by a third distance when the force applied to the lower bumper is less than the first predetermined force and at or above the first predetermined force.” be amended to something along the lines of “wherein the lower end is spaced apart from the gate by a third distance when the force applied to the lower bumper is less than the first predetermined force and a fourth distance less than the third distance when the force applied to the lower bumper is at or above the first predetermined force?” Note – applicant should always check the specification for support for any and all claim amendments.
Claim 14, line 3 – shouldn’t “the lower insert” be amended to “the lower bumper insert”
Claim 17, line 10 – shouldn’t “latch receiver” be amended to “a latch receiver”
Claim 17, line 12 – shouldn’t “the gate-pivot axis” be amended to “a gate-pivot axis”
Claim 17, line 25 – shouldn’t “second end” be amended to “a second end”
Claim 19, line 6 – shouldn’t “gate unit” be amended to “the gate unit”
Claim 19, line 13 – shouldn’t “predetermined force” be amended to “the predetermined force”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 1, 2, and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 10914099 to Gentil in view of US 11072973 to Flannery.
Gentil discloses a gate unit comprising:
a gate mount 14 adapted to mate with a frame bordering a passageway and formed to include a latch receiver 22R, (see FIG. 1A) the gate mount including a first vertical frame, a second vertical frame 14R in spaced apart relation to the first vertical frame and a horizontal frame (below the gate and part of the gate mount – see FIG. 1A) extending between and interconnecting lower ends of the first vertical frame and the second vertical frame,
a gate 16 mounted on the gate mount for pivotable movement about a gate-pivot axis between an opened position opening a passage formed in the gate mount and a closed position closing the passage formed in the gate mount, and
a latch system coupled to the gate, the latch system including an actuator handle 302 configured to pivot about a handle-pivot axis, a handle lock 402 coupled to the actuator handle and configured to slide relative to the actuator handle, and a latch 22 coupled to the actuator handle for movement relative to the gate between a locked configuration in which the latch extends into the latch receiver formed in the gate mount to lock the gate in the closed position so that the gate is blocked from movement about the gate-pivot axis and an unlocked configuration in which the latch is removed from the latch receiver formed in the gate mount to unlock the gate so that the gate is free for movement about the gate-pivot axis to the opened position, (see FIGS. 6-8) and
an installation-indicator unit having an upper force indicator (see green and red in FIGS. 11-14 and annotated figure below) coupled to an upper end of the gate, the installation-indicator unit configured to indicate that the gate mount is installed in the frame bordering the passageway, and
wherein the upper force indicator includes an upper indicator panel (surface on latch with green and red thereon; see FIGS. 11-14), an upper bumper, and an upper bumper insert configured to receive the upper bumper, (see annotated figure below) the upper indicator panel configured to display a third visual representation (see FIG. 12) when a force applied through the upper bumper to the frame bordering the passageway is less than a second predetermined force and a fourth visual representation (see FIG. 13) when the force applied through the upper bumper to the frame bordering the passageway is at least the second predetermined force.
Gentil fails to disclose a lower force indicator.
Flannery teaches of a lower force indicator coupled to a horizontal frame 12 beneath a gate, (see FIG. 1 and FIGS. 13,13A-C) wherein the lower force indicator includes a lower indicator panel 62, a lower bumper 32,30, and a lower bumper insert 28 configured to receive the lower bumper and engage the lower indicator panel, the lower indicator panel configured to display a first visual representation (see FIG. 13) when a force less than a first predetermined force is applied through the lower bumper to the frame bordering the passageway and a second visual representation (see FIG. 13C) when the force applied through the lower bumper to the frame bordering the passageway is at least the first predetermined force.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to place a lower force indicator on the Gentil lower horizontal member near element 14R (see FIG. 1A), as taught by Flannery, with a reasonable expectation of success in order to facilitate installation of the gate unit. (claim 1)
[AltContent: textbox (Upper indicator panel)][AltContent: arrow]
[AltContent: textbox (Upper bumper insert)]
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[AltContent: textbox (Upper bumper)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow]
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Gentil, as applied above, further discloses the horizontal frame is formed to include a lower bumper insert-receiving passageway formed to receive the lower bumper insert therein. (see FIG. 1A) (claim 2)
Gentil, as applied above, further discloses wherein the lower bumper of the lower force indicator and the upper bumper of the upper force indicator directly contact the frame bordering the passageway, (see FIG. 1A of Gentil) and the lower insert is configured to translate relative to the gate mount between an extended position, when the lower indicator panel displays the first visual representation, and a retracted position, when the lower indicator panel displays the second visual representation. (see FIGS. 13 and 13A-13C of Flannery) (claim 6)
Gentil, as applied above, further discloses wherein the upper indicator panel of the upper force indicator is configured to display the third visual representation (see FIG. 12 of Gentil) when the latch is retracted from the latch receiver formed in the gate mount to indicate that the gate is in the opened position and the latch is in the unlocked configuration, and the latch includes a fifth visual representation (see FIGS. 11, 12; note the end of the latch is exposed when the latch is unlocked and not exposed when locked) blocked by the actuator handle when the latch is in the locked configuration and exposed when the latch is in the unlocked configuration. (claim 7)
Gentil, as applied above, further discloses wherein the first vertical frame includes an upper end and a lower end spaced apart from the upper end and coupled to the horizontal frame, wherein the upper end is spaced a first distance from the gate when the force applied to the upper bumper is less than the second predetermined force and a second distance less than the first distance when the force applied the upper bumper is at least the second predetermined force, and wherein the lower end is spaced apart from the gate by a third distance when the force applied to the lower bumper is less than the first predetermined force and at or above the first predetermined force. (see FIG. 1A of Gentil) (claim 8)
Gentil, as applied above, further discloses wherein the lower force indicator further includes a bias member 192 (see FIG. 13) configured to urge the lower indicator panel, the lower bumper, and the lower bumper insert away from a centerline of the gate, and the first predetermined force is provided by the bias member. (claim 9)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 12-17, 19 and 20 are allowed.
Claims 3-5 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed January 16, 2026 regarding claim 1 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 12 of the applicant’s response filed January 16, 2026, the applicant contends
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The examiner respectfully disagrees. First, placement of the Flannery lower indicator panel on the Gentil lower horizontal member near element 14R would, as indicated in the rejection of claim 1 above, facilitate installation of the gate unit since the indicator panel would help indicate whether the lower horizontal member is level. Second, it appears the applicant is incorrectly arguing the references individually, rather than the combination of the references.
On page 12 of the applicant’s response filed January 16, 2026, the applicant contends
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However, the applicant has misread the claim 1 rejection. More specifically, the combination of the Flannery indicator with Gentil does not place the indicator “on 14R of Gentil,” but rather “on the Gentil lower horizontal member near element 14R.”
Conclusion
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 MARCUS MENEZES whose telephone number is (571)272-5225. The examiner can normally be reached on M - F 7:30 -4 PST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Daniel Cahn can be reached on 571-270-5616. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Marcus Menezes/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3634