DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 19 “provide” should be “provided”. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-11, 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsu et al. (US 12,049,277) in view of Bayerle et al. (US 6,565,139).
Regarding claims 1-3, 5-7, 14-20, Hsu (Figure 10) discloses a passenger liner 51 connected to a cargo frame 527 substantially as claimed, including: a front wall, a rear wall, first and second foot wells 5127A/5127B each having exterior and interior sidewalls, and bottom walls (see Figure 9A-9C), a connection member 5160A/5160B/5150/5140, and fasteners 521/51a/51b/51c/51d. Hsu does not disclose the exterior side walls 516A/516B being removably connected to each foot well. Bayerle teaches a related protective cover 14 for a vehicle wherein the exterior side walls 50 are removably connected to the adjacent upper and end walls of the cover by a zipper 52. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to removably connect the exterior side walls of Hsu to each foot well in order to provide quick and easy access to the space within each foot well.
Regarding claim 4, Hsu discloses various fasteners for securing the connection member to the interior side walls (col. 12 lines 56-col. 13 line 2) but does not specifically disclose a zipper. However, Hsu discloses the use of a zipper for other connections on the device – see 65a/65d, 65b/65c. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to use a zipper to secure the connection member, e.g. replacing one fastener for an alternate fastener that is well known and available in the art.
Regarding claim 8, see Figure 3 of Hsu showing the passengers sitting on a flat seat and col. 16 lines 34-44.
Regarding claim 9, see Hsu col. 16 lines 11-27.
Regarding claims 10-11, to the degree presently claimed, Hsu discloses extensions 4 and 5 extending from the front and rear walls and being secured over the front and rear frame members via fasteners 705.
Regarding claim 13, see fasteners 505 securing each foot well to the frame.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsu et al. in view of Bayerle et al., as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Giondi (US 3,396,885).
Regarding claim 12, modified Hsu discloses the invention substantially as claimed but does not disclose a cover with an elastic perimeter. Giondi discloses a similar passenger liner 11 for a cargo frame 1 wherein a cover 27 with an elastic perimeter 49 is used to cover the top of the liner. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to provide Hsu with a similar cover in order to quickly cover/protect the interior area of the liner.
Conclusion
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/COREY N SKURDAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734
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