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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 9/2/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 is objected to because it is dependent on cancelled claim 3. This Office action will assume claim 20 is dependent on claim 1. Appropriate correction is required.
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 carrying device is movable relative to the support section in a direction perpendicular to the straight direction 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 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 1, 4-17, and 19-20 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 1 recites the carrying device “is rotatable relative to the support section in a vertical direction,” which is unclear. How does the carrying device rotate in a vertical direction? Is the axis of rotation oriented vertically?
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the circumferential edge". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 4 recites “a circumferential edge”, it is unclear if this is the same or new limitation as that recited in claim 1.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4-11 and 14-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DE 202022106806 U (herein DE’806). DE’806 discloses:
Re claim 1, a carrying apparatus (fig. 1) for lifting and/or carrying motor vehicles, having a first connecting device (2,8) configured to be connected to a support arm (20) of a lifting platform and/or received by the support arm, and having a receiving device (4) formed by the connecting device and having a carrying device (6) received by the receiving device for carrying the motor vehicle, wherein the connecting device forms a support section (8,42) for supporting the carrying device, wherein the carrying device is movable along a straight direction (V direction shown in fig. 5b) relative to the receiving device and a suspension device (44) is provided which urges the carrying device into a first position (biased upward as shown in fig. 5b) of the carrying device relative to a receiving direction, wherein the carrying device is movable relative to the support section in a direction perpendicular to the straight direction and/or is rotatable relative to the support section in a vertical direction (6 is rotatable via rod 62), wherein the carrying device is placed loosely on the support section (transition between fig. 6b and 7b shows the loosely engagement that allows 62 to slide up and down within 42), wherein the carrying device is movable and/or rotatable essentially freely (transition between fig. 6b and 7b shows the loosely engagement that allows 62 to slide up and down within 42) within a surface formed by the circumferential edge (circumferential edge of 42 surrounding 62).
Re claim 2, a carrying apparatus (fig. 1) for lifting and/or carrying motor vehicles, having a first connecting device (2,8) configured to be connected to a support arm (20) of a lifting platform and having a receiving device (4) arranged rigidly on the connecting device (fig. 3) and having a carrying device (6) received by the receiving device for carrying the motor vehicle, wherein the receiving device forms a support section (8,42) for supporting the carrying device, wherein the carrying device is movable along a straight direction (V direction shown in fig. 5b) relative to the receiving device and a suspension device (44) is provided which urges the carrying device into a first position (biased upward as shown in fig. 5b) of the carrying device relative to a receiving direction, wherein the carrying device is movable relative to the support section in a direction perpendicular to the straight direction and/or is rotatable relative to the support section in a vertical direction (6 is rotatable via rod 62), wherein the carrying device is placed loosely on the support section (transition between fig. 6b and 7b shows the loosely engagement that allows 62 to slide up and down within 42), wherein the carrying device is movable and/or rotatable essentially freely (transition between fig. 6b and 7b shows the loosely engagement that allows 62 to slide up and down within 42) within a surface formed by the circumferential edge (circumferential edge of 42 surrounding 62).
Re claim 4, wherein the support section forms a support surface (top surface of 8) within which the carrying device is movable relative to the support section (6 is able to move vertically as shown in the transition between figs. 6b and fig. 7b) and/or the support section forms a circumferential edge which limits the movement of the carrying device relative to the support surface within which the carrying device is movable relative to the support section.
Re claim 5, wherein the receiving device is a recess (46) arranged in the connecting device, which recess preferably extends in the straight direction (fig. 3).
Re claim 6, wherein the carrying device is movable along the straight direction relative to the connecting device between two end positions and preferably a maximum movement path of the carrying device relative to the receiving device is greater than 10 mm and/or a maximum movement path of the carrying device relative to the receiving device is less than 200 mm (claim 2).
Re claim 7, wherein the carrying apparatus has an adapter device (68) which makes it possible to arrange different contact bodies (64) on the carrying device.
Re claims 8, 16, wherein the carrying device comprises a rod-like body (62) is made of a metal (pg 4 par 10 of the English translation) and/or in that a contact body is made of a plastic.
Re claims 9, 17, 19, wherein a device (the channel formed on 64a) is formed on the contact body for engaging in regions of a vehicle.
Re claims 10, 18, 20, wherein the suspension device is selected from the group consisting of a coil spring (44 is shown as a coil spring), a pneumatic spring and a magnetic spring.
Re claim 11, wherein a recess (46) extending in the straight direction is arranged in the receiving device and the suspension device comprises a spring device (44 is shown as a coil spring) that is arranged within this recess.
Re claim 14, wherein the carrying apparatus has at least one sensor device which is configured for determining a force exerted on the carrying apparatus (pg 2 par 7 of the English translation, a sensor device is described).
Re claim 15, a lifting platform (abstract) for lifting motor vehicles, having several support arms which are configured for lifting the vehicle (first paragraph in the Description on pg 1 of the English translation), wherein a carrying device as claimed in claim 1 (see claim 1) is arranged on at least one support arm.
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) 12 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE 202022106806 U (herein DE’806). DE’806 discloses the carrying apparatus (as cited above). DE’806 does not disclose:
Re claim 12, wherein the recess in the straight direction has a length which is greater than 2 cm.
Re claim 13, wherein the recess in a direction perpendicular to the straight direction has a diameter which is greater than 1 cm.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the clamed invention to employ the claimed dimensional range of the recess to ensure a proper fit of the carrying device while maintaining structural integrity to support the vehicle, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/2/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On pages 7-8 of the Remarks, Applicant argues DE’806 does not disclose the carrying device having the claimed perpendicular movement and that the carrying device is not loosely mounted. The carrying device is permanently within receiving device 4 and secured by securing means 12. The support device (it is believed that Applicant meant to say carrying device) can not move freely horizontally. Examiner respectfully disagrees. The rejection above meets the claim limitation “or is rotatable relative to the support section in a vertical direction” in that DE’806 carrying device 6 is rotatable via rod 62 relative to support section 8,42. The claim limitation “movable relative to the support section in a vertical direction” is listed in the alternatives therefore was not mapped to the prior art. In any case, the rotation of the carrying device 6 about its longitudinal axis would be construed as movement relative to the support section in a direction perpendicular to the straight direction, where the straight direction is parallel to the longitudinal axis of carrying device 6. The figures do not show any structure that would prevent 6 from rotating or moving vertically relative to 42. 6 is therefore construed as loosely mounted to 42. Securing means 12 is mounted to element 2 and does not engage with the 6.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINH D TRUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-3014. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Hodge can be reached at (571) 272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Minh Truong/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654
