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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, claims 21-27 and 36-40, in the reply filed on 8/10/2026 is acknowledged.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the first sentence is not a grammatically correct sentence. 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 21 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Baillargeon et al. (US 20120217091), hereinafter Baillargeon.
Regarding claim 21, Baillargeon teaches of (figs. 3-4) a lanyard attachment assembly for detecting an attachment of a lanyard device (system 139 attaches a lanyard 156; ¶0019, the system monitors a lanyard connection detector for detecting proper attachment of at least one lanyard to the operator) at a utility platform (work platform or basket 152) of an aerial device (fig. 3, ¶0066, aerialift boom application as seen in fig. 3), the lanyard attachment assembly comprising:
at least one fixed element (annotated fig. 1 below, housing of system 139 is a fixed element) operable to receive the lanyard device (seen in fig. 3);
a moveable element (figs. 4 and 5B, anyone of: moving portion of strain gage or spring 141 or moving portions of magnetic switch 181; or, figs. 6-7, spring plunger 172) that is displaced when the lanyard device is attached to the at least one fixed element (¶0069, the system 139 may be simply a strain gage or spring 141 and switch 181 that closes sending a signal when a load pulled in any direction on the anchor point 164 is detected; fig. 7, ¶0075, a spring plunger 172 is aligned below the anchor point 164 providing a base for a snap hook 162 or other attachment feature of a safety lanyard 156 to rest and compress the plunger 172); and
an attachment sensor (fig. 5B, ¶0070, anyone of: Hull effect sensor 185; figs. 6-7, load sensor as an option as described in para. 0070 or detector switch 174) that determines a state of the lanyard device responsive to detecting a position of the moveable element (as described in paras. 0071-0073 as it pertains to figs. 6, 7; a spring plunger 172 is aligned below the anchor point 164 providing a base for a snap hook 162 or other attachment feature of a safety lanyard 156 to rest and compress the plunger 172, thereby closing against a detector switch 174. The detector switch 174 sends a signal to the controller 178 that the detector switch 174 is activated indicating the safety lanyard 156 is secured to the anchor point 164.),
wherein the lanyard attachment assembly is in a first state when the lanyard device is not attached to the lanyard attachment assembly (figs. 5A-6, lanyard 156 can be not attached) and the lanyard attachment assembly is in a second state when the lanyard device is attached to the lanyard attachment assembly (figs. 3-4, and 7, lanyard 156 is attached).
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Annotated fig. 1: Fig. 4 of Baillargeon
Regarding claim 26, Baillargeon teaches of claim 21, and wherein the first state is associated with an open position of the moveable element (¶0069 and 0075, when the lanyard device is not attached, the spring 141 or magnetic switch 181 are not activated by being in an open position, or spring plunger 172 is retracted or in an open position) and the second state is associated with a closed position of the moveable element (¶0069, 0071-0075, when the lanyard device is attached, the spring 141 or magnetic switch 181 is activated by being in a closed position, or spring plunger 172 is compressed or is in a closed position).
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 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baillargeon in view of Reimbold et al. (US 3830336), hereinafter Reimbold.
Regarding claim 27, Baillargeon teaches of claim 21, but does not appear to teach of wherein the moveable element comprises a spring steel material.
Reimbold teaches of wherein the moveable element comprises a spring steel material (fig. 2, the spring assembly 64 is fabricated from spring steel).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Baillargeon to incorporate the teachings of Reimbold of wherein the moveable element comprises a spring steel material in order to use a material that is known to have high yield strength.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 22-25 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.
Claim 36-40 are allowed.
Conclusion
The cited references made of record in the contemporaneously filed PTO-892 form and not relied upon in the instant office action are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, and may have one or more of the elements in Applicant’s disclosure and at least claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZOE TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8530. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am-6pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kimberly Berona can be reached at 571-272-6909. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZOE TAM TRAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3647
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