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 .
Inventorship
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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)(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, 4, 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Rhode et al 2021/0291901.
Rhode et al teaches the tractor includes an input unit and steered wheels; the control device 120 is configured to execute switching determination processing, tractor steering processing, and trailer steering processing; the switching determination processing is processing of determining whether a reverse assist mode is in an on state or an off state [0041]; the tractor steering processing is processing of steering the tractor in response to an input operation to the input unit in a case in which the reverse assist mode is in the off state; and the trailer steering processing is processing of operating a steered angle of the steered wheels in order to steer the trailer in response to an input operation to the input unit in a case in which the reverse assist mode is in the on state [0041] – [0042], in a state in which power transmission between the input unit and the steered wheels is interrupted.
For claim 4 see [0045].
For claim 11 see 125.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3, 5-10 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.
Tamaizumi et al 12,606,242 teaches a control device for tractor and trailer in reverse mode.
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/HAI H HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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