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 .
This is the second office action for application number 18/938,984, ARTICLE MOUNTING SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE, filed on November 6, 2024. This application is a continuation of application no. 17/380,126 filed July 20, 2021.
Drawings
The drawings were received on July 1, 2026. These drawings are acceptable.
Response to Amendment
The indicated allowability of claims 22 (now canceled) and 24 is withdrawn in view of the previously cited reference(s) to Anderson et al. Rejections based on the previously cited reference(s) follow.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 21, 23-25, and 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 8,550,757 to Anderson et al., hereinafter, Anderson. Anderson discloses a latching system (Figs. 1 and 27-30) configured for use with a vehicle (100) having a frame and a rail (141/2020) supported by the frame, the rail having a longitudinal axis and defining a channel along the longitudinal axis, the latching system comprising: a retainer (1900) configured to couple to the rail, the retainer including, a housing (1960) including, a base (1962) configured to contact a portion of the rail and defining a base opening (Fig. 28) therethrough, and a cover (1920) coupled to the base (via element 1960), a plunger (1930 & 1968) having a plunger body, and a lever (1922) operably coupled to the plunger, wherein the lever is rotatably coupled (Col. 8, lines 4-12) to the housing and is configured to transition between a locked position and an unlocked position; wherein the vehicle includes a bed (110) supported by the frame, and the rail is positioned within the bed; wherein the vehicle includes a plurality of body panels supported by the frame, and the rail is positioned on at least one body panel on the plurality of body panels; further including an article secured to the rail by the retainer, where the article includes at least one of a tool mount, a utensil mount, and a cooler; and wherein the housing is coupled to the rail via one or more fasteners (1940) received through the base.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 26 is 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 28, 30, and 32-35 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANITA M KING whose telephone number is (571)272-6817. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-4:00pm.
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/ANITA M KING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632 August 27, 2026
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