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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the cargo hooper in claims 3 and 6 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 2, delete “)” in line 12.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the cargo hooper" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the webbing" in 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the plug" in lines 6-7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the cargo hooper" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the webbing" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the plug" in lines 6-7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CAI et al. (U.S. 2020/0376941A1).
Regarding claim 1, CAI et al. disclose a waterproof hard cover (see fig. 1, refer to para 0004 and 0058) comprising a front bar (see annotated fig. 1 below), a first rotating shaft (see annotated fig. 1 below), a second rotating shaft (see annotated fig. 1 below), a rear bar (see annotated fig. 1 below), a side rail system (5, fig. 2), a large plate fixing system (22, 23; fig. 11 and para 0059), a wrench fixing system (22, fig. 11 and para 0059), and a plurality of plate bodies (1), wherein
the front bar (see annotated fig. 1 below), the first rotating shaft (see annotated fig. 1 below), the second rotating shaft (see annotated fig. 1 below) and the rear bar (see annotated fig. 1 below) forming a transversal frame (as shown in fig. 1), the side rail system (5, fig. 2) forming a longitudinal frame (as shown in figs. 1-2), the transversal frame and longitudinal frame forming a cover skeleton (as shown in fig. 1), the plate bodies (1) are connected to the skeleton (as shown in figs. 1-2), the large plate fixing system (22, 23; fig. 11 and para 0059) and the wrench fixing system (22, fig. 11 and para 0059) are connected to the plate bodies (as shown in fig. 11);
the first rotating shaft comprises a first rotating shaft left rod (see annotated fig. 1 below), a first rotating shaft intermediate rod (2) and a first rotating shaft right rod (3), the first rotating shaft left rod is provided with a first rotating shaft left rod concave surface (surface of 9, fig. 4), the first rotating shaft intermediate rod (2) is provided with a first rotating shaft intermediate rod C-groove (13, fig. 5), the first rotating shaft intermediate rod C-groove (13) mates with the first rotating shaft left rod concave surface (9, as shown in fig. 6); and
the first rotating shaft (see annotated fig. 1 below) is connected with an intermediate rotating shaft waterproof rubber strip (6, figs. 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10), the intermediate rotating shaft waterproof rubber strip (6) comprises an intermediate rotating shaft waterproof rubber strip extrusion protrusion (16, fig. 7), an intermediate rotating shaft waterproof rubber strip connecting neck (see annotated fig. 7 below) and an intermediate rotating shaft waterproof rubber insertion strip (see annotated fig. 7 below), the intermediate rotating shaft waterproof rubber strip waterproof extrusion protrusion (16) is connected to the intermediate rotating shaft waterproof rubber insertion strip (6) through the intermediate rotating shaft waterproof rubber strip connecting neck (see annotated fig. 7 below); the intermediate rotating shaft waterproof rubber insertion strip (see annotated fig. 7 below) clamps with the first rotating shaft intermediate rod C-groove (13; see figs. 8-9), the intermediate rotating shaft waterproof rubber strip waterproof extrusion protrusion (16) abuts with the first rotating shaft left rod concave surface (9, as shown in figs. 9-8).
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Regarding claim 2, CAI et al. disclose a waterproof hard cover (see fig. 1, refer to para 0004 and 0058) comprising a front bar (see annotated fig. 1 above), a first rotating shaft (see annotated fig. 1 above), a second rotating shaft (see annotated fig. 1 above), a rear bar (see annotated fig. 1 above), a side rail system (5, fig. 2), a large plate fixing system (22, 23; fig. 11 and para 0059), a wrench fixing system (22, fig. 11 and para 0059), and a plurality of plate bodies (1), wherein
the front bar (see annotated fig. 1 above), the first rotating shaft (see annotated fig. 1 above), the second rotating shaft (see annotated fig. 1 above) and the rear bar (see annotated fig. 1 above) forming a transversal frame (as shown in annotated fig. 1 above), the side rail system (5, fig. 2) forming a longitudinal frame (as shown in annotated fig. 1 above), the transversal frame and the longitudinal frame forming a cover skeleton (as shown in annotated fig. 1 above), the plate bodies (1) are connected to the cover skeleton (as shown in figs. 1-2), the large plate fixing system (22, 23; fig. 11 and para 0059) and the wrench fixing system (22, fig. 11 and para 0059) are connected to the plate bodies (as shown in fig. 11);
the first rotating shaft comprises a first rotating shaft left rod (see annotated fig. 1 above), a first rotating shaft intermediate rod (2) and a first rotating shaft right rod (3), the first rotating shaft left rod is provided with a first rotating shaft left rod concave surface (surface of 9, fig. 4), the first rotating shaft intermediate rod (2) is provided with a first rotating shaft intermediate rod C-groove (13, fig. 5), the first rotating shaft intermediate rod C-groove (13, fig. 5) mates with the first rotating shaft left rod concave surface (9, as shown in fig. 6); and
the first rotating shaft (see annotated fig. 1 above) is connected with an intermediate shaft waterproof rubber strip (6, figs. 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10), the intermediate shaft waterproof rubber strip (6) is bonded with the first rotating shaft intermediate rod C-groove (13; see figs. 8-9), the intermediate shaft waterproof rubber strip (6, figs. 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10)comprises an intermediate shaft waterproof rubber strip waterproof extruded protrusion (16), the intermediate shaft waterproof rubber strip waterproof extruded protrusion (16) abuts with the first rotating shaft left rod concave surface (9, as shown in figs. 9-8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lin (U.S. 2025/0326279A1), Kober (U.S. 12,428,895B2), Muirhead (U.S. 2024/0318480A1), Schmeichel (U.S. 11,642,948B2), Dylewski (U.S. 11,299,021), Facchinello (U.S. 11,267,323B2), Williamson (U.S. 10,189,339B2), Ford (U.S. 2018/0154748A1), and Copp (U.S. 2014/0312646A1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YANICK A AKARAGWE whose telephone number is (469)295-9298. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 7:30-5:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole Coy can be reached at (571) 272-5405. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YANICK A AKARAGWE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3672
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