DETAILED ACTION
This non-final Office action is in response to the claims filed on April 17, 2025.
Status of claims: claims 7-10 are withdrawn; claims 1-6 are hereby examined below.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed August 7, 2025 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-6 pertaining to Group I in the reply filed on July 7, 2026 is acknowledged. Thus, claims 7-10 have been withdrawn.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1-3 and 5 – shouldn’t “depending” from “depending leg portions” be deleted?
Claims 2-6, line 1 – shouldn’t “A tower” be replaced with “The tower” for antecedent issues?
Claim 2, line 2 – shouldn’t “said depending leg portions” be amended to “said pair of depending leg portions”?
Claim 3, line 2 – shouldn’t “respective of said depending leg portions” be amended to “respective pair of depending leg portions”?
Claim 5, lines 1-2 – shouldn’t “said depending leg portions” be amended to “said pair of depending leg portions”?
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because: “a top portion” recited in the claims isn’t identified in the figures.
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 § 103
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 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 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.
Claims 1-4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 3486579 to Blomgren in view of US 2255270 to Pimm.
Blomgren discloses a tower assembly for use in a platform system, said tower assembly comprising:
a plurality of tower units 10 stacked one on top of the other, (see figures below) each of the tower units having an inverted generally U-shaped configuration with a top portion and pair of depending leg portions. (see annotated figures below)
Blomgren fails to disclose adjacent tower units being interconnected via a pair of removable side brackets.
Pimm teaches of leg portions P,P’ of a tower assembly being interconnected via a removable side bracket S, S’, C. (see FIG. 1)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to interconnect adjacent tower assemblies of Blomgren with a pair of removable side brackets, as taught by Pimm with a reasonable expectation of success in order to “insure a strong and stable structure” (see lines 10 and 11 of Pimm) and further strengthen the connection between leg portions of adjacent tower assemblies. (claim 1)
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Blomgren, as applied above, further discloses wherein each of said tower units comprises at least one cross-support extending between said depending leg portions. (see figures above) (claim 2)
Blomgren, as applied above, further discloses first and second removable base fittings 26 attached to respective of said depending leg portions of a lowermost tower unit of said plurality of tower units. (see figures above) (claim 3)
Blomgren, as applied above, further discloses a separate top piece 19 located above the top portion of an uppermost tower unit of said plurality of tower units. (see figures above) (claim 4)
Blomgren, as applied above, further discloses wherein said plurality of tower units comprises at least three of said tower units.(see figures above) (claim 6)
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blomgren in view of Pimm, as applied to claim 1 above, in further view of US 5385215 to Williams et al. (hereinafter “Williams”).
Blomgren, as applied above, fails to disclose wherein said top portion and said depending leg portions of said tower units are formed of rectangular tubing.
Williams teaches of a similar device with rectangular tubing. (see FIG. 1)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the shape of the Blomgren top portion and depending leg portions into rectangular tubing, as taught by Williams with a reasonable expectation of success for aesthetic reasons, to provide a flat surface for objects to be placed thereon, such as floor boards, as well as since a change in form or shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art, absent any showing of unexpected results. In re Dailey et al., 149 USPQ 47. (claim 5)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS MENEZES whose telephone number is (571)272-5225. The examiner can normally be reached on M - F 7:30 -4 PST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Daniel Cahn can be reached on 571-270-5616. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Marcus Menezes/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3634
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