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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1,2,6,17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fan(US7793899).
[claim 1] Fan teaches a suction mount comprising: a housing(3); a suction cup(2) positioned at a first side of the housing; a lever(5) mechanically coupled to the suction cup and positioned at least in part within the housing(fig 2) and projecting from a second side of the housing(fig 2); and a lock(321,521) couplable to the lever, wherein the lever is moveable relative to the housing between a first position corresponding to an unactuated state of the suction cup(fig 6) and a second position relative to the housing corresponding to an actuated state of the suction cup(fig 4), and wherein the lock is couplable to the lever such that that lever is prohibited from moving away from the second position while the suction cup is in the actuated state.
[claim 2] wherein the lock defines a cavity(between walls 32) that receives a portion of the lever.
[claim 6] wherein the lever includes a base(central portion of 5), a lever arm(52) extending from a first side of the base, and a yoke(51) extending from a second side of the base.
[claim 17] Fan teaches a method of mounting a suction mount(fig 4), comprising: positioning a base assembly(2,3,4) of the suction mount against a mounting surface(fig 4), the base assembly including a housing(3), a suction cup(2) coupled to one side of the housing, and a lever(5) mechanically coupled to the suction cup and positioned at least in part within the housing; pivoting the lever from a first position corresponding to an unactuated state of the suction cup where the suction mount is not attached to the mounting surface(fig 6) and a second position that results in an actuated state of the suction cup where the suction mount is attached to the mounting surface(fig 4), and locking the lever in the second position by coupling a lock body(321) to the lever.
Claim(s) 1-4,10,11,13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tu et al.(US8079557).
[claim 1] Tu teaches a suction mount comprising: a housing(20); a suction cup(30) positioned at a first side of the housing; a lever(60) mechanically coupled to the suction cup and positioned at least in part within the housing(fig 3) and projecting from a second side of the housing(fig 3); and a lock(40) couplable to the lever, wherein the lever is moveable relative to the housing between a first position corresponding to an unactuated state of the suction cup(fig 3) and a second position relative to the housing corresponding to an actuated state of the suction cup(fig 6), and wherein the lock is couplable to the lever such that that lever is prohibited from moving away from the second position while the suction cup is in the actuated state.
[claim 2] wherein the lock defines a cavity(41) that receives a portion of the lever.
[claim 3] wherein the lever comprises external threading(621) that engages internal threading(411) in the cavity of the lock.
[claim 4] wherein the lock comprises a flange(42) sized and positioned to engage a surface of the housing(fig 6) to lock the lever in the second position.
[claim 10] Tu teaches a suction mount system comprising: a housing(20); a suction cup(30) positioned at one side of the housing; a lever(60) mechanically coupled to the suction cup and positioned at least in part within the housing(fig 3); and a sleeve(40) couplable to the lever, wherein movement of the lever from an unactuated position(fig 3) to an actuated position(fig 6) draws a central portion of the suction cup away from a mounting surface to generate a vacuum, and wherein coupling the sleeve to the lever prevents the lever from moving away from the actuated position.
[claim 11] wherein the sleeve includes a flange(42) that engages the housing when coupled to the lever(fig 6) to rigidly fix the sleeve and the lever relative to the housing.
[claim 13] wherein the lever includes a lever arm(62) comprising external threading(621) that engages internal threading(411) in a cavity(41) of the sleeve to couple the sleeve to the lever.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5,7-9,12,14-16,18-20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: With respect to claims 5,14 and 20, the prior art teaches a suction mount, suction mount system or method of mounting a suction mount as defined in claims 1,10 and 17, as detailed above with the lever including a lever arm, however the prior art does not teach a suction mount, system or method, wherein the lever arm is angled with respect to a central axis of the mount in the first position and aligned with the axis in the second position as recited in claims 5,14 and 20.
With regards to claims 7-9,15,16, the prior art teaches a suction mount and system as defined in claims 6 and 10 as detailed above, however the prior art does not teach the use of first and second cut-outs in the housing for receiving portions of the lever, as recited in claims 7 and 15.
With regards to claim 12, the prior art teaches a suction mount system as defined in claim 10, as detailed above, however the prior art does not teach that the sleeve forms a hook for hanging items.
With regards to claims 18 and 19, the prior art teaches a method as defined in claim 17 as detailed above, however the prior art does not teach that the lever and lock body comprise engaging threading, or that the lock body includes a flat flange to engage a surface of the housing as recited in claims 18 and 19.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US20150108134, US20190369664, US12503062.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADLEY H DUCKWORTH whose telephone number is (571)272-2304. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Terrell McKinnon can be reached at 5712724979. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRADLEY DUCKWORTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
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