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 .
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.
Claims 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Seymour et al (2025/0314449).
Seymour et al disclose a buttstock hinge assembly comprising all claimed elements including a receiver back plate 12 comprising left and right collar assemblies 36a, 36b; a hinge plate 14; a first hinge assembly 56 securing the hinge plate to the left collar assembly; a second hinge assembly 54 securing the hinge plate to the right collar assembly, and where the back plate 12 is secured to a firearm (paragraph 34, 37).
Claims 12-19 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.
Claims 1-10 and 21-23 are allowed.
In the previous Office Action, claim 20 was inadvertently indicated as being allowable if rewritten in independent form, since Seymour et al clearly discloses the limitations of (now canceled) claim 20. Therefore, claim 11 is not considered allowable, even though the limitations of claim 20 have been incorporated therein.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to J. WOODROW ELDRED whose telephone number is (571)272-6901. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Troy Chambers can be reached at 571-272-6874. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J. Woodrow Eldred/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3641
JWE
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