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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species I (Fig1-1N) in the reply filed on 08/04/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there is no search burden on the Examiner. This is not found persuasive because the different species have different components that require different search strategies, and the species are not obvious variants of each other. It is not obvious to replace a key cylinder with a combination lock and have the lock (key cylinder or combination lock) to be on differing axes. Maintaining the restriction does not necessitate that different prior arts be used to rejection the potential divisional applications because 1) the entire prior art is not always used as the reference in a rejection (i.e., an individual embodiment amongst many can be referred to instead of every embodiment in the prior art.) and 2) the same interpretation of the prior art is not always applied in every instance it is used. For example, a parent application may be rejected with one interpretation of the prior art, and the divisional can be rejected with a differing interpretation of the same prior art. Choosing the same prior art does not negate the search strategies and efforts made prior to finalizing said prior art, which for species that are not obvious variants, are a search burden. Applicant elected Species I with traverse, stating that Claims 1-2,5-6 are directed to Species I. However, claim 5 is drawn to a nonelected species, therefore it will not be examined despite Applicant’s suggestion.
Claims 1-2,6 will be examined.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pan et al. US 20220235586 (hereinafter referred to as Pan).
Regarding claim 1, Pan discloses a lockset, comprising:
a housing (100), extending along an X-axis (annotated figure), and comprising a front end (annotated figure) and a rear end (annotated figure) and opposite to each other;
a hook(200), arranged in the housing and rotatable relative to the housing, wherein the hook comprises a front end portion (annotated figure) that partially extends out of the front end;
a driving device(300), wherein a portion of the driving device is arranged in the housing, and a portion thereof extends out of the housing from the rear end or between the rear end and the front end, and the driving device is rotatable relative to the X-axis to change an extent to which the front end portions are opened relative to the X-axis; and
a lock body (400), arranged on a side of the driving device, wherein when the lock body is closed, the lock body limits rotation of the driving device. (annotated figure)
Regarding claim 2, Pan discloses the lockset according to claim 1, wherein the hook comprises a rear end portion (annotated figure) extending in a direction opposite to the front end portion;
the driving device comprises:
a force application member(annotated figure), comprising a force bearing portion (annotated figure) extending out of the housing from the rear end and a force application portion (annotated figure) arranged inside the housing, wherein the force bearing portion and the force application portion are connected and rotatable associatively relative to the housing;
a driving member (annotated figure), arranged in the housing and rotatable associatively with the force application member, wherein the driving member has a driving member inner wall (annotated figure), a distance between the driving member inner wall and the X-axis varies along a circumferential direction(annotated figure), and the rear end portion is arranged in the driving member and abuts against (rear end portion abuts against cone surface of the driving member inner wall) the driving member inner wall; and
the lock body comprises an engagement member(annotated figure) that is movable along a direction perpendicular to the X-axis, and when the lock body is closed, an end of the engagement member is engaged with a driving member surface (annotated figure) of the driving member to limit the rotation of the driving device.
Regarding claim 6, Pan discloses the lockset according to claim 2, wherein the lock body is a combination lock, and the engagement member comprises a lock shaft rod (see annotated figure).
Annotated Figures (US 20220235586)
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749
914
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570
569
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1000
1404
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Art is related to locksets.
Related but not relied upon prior art: US 12385290, US 12503885, US 12054968.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARIA F. AHMAD whose telephone number is (571)270-1334. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5:30 pm.
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, Christine M. Mills can be reached at (571) 272-8322. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/F.F.A./
Examiner
Art Unit 3675
/CHRISTINE M MILLS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3675
