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 .
The following correspondence is a non-final Office Action for application no. 19/194,243, for a DEVICE FOR ATTACHING TO A PLATE-SHAPED OBJECT, filed on 4/30/2025. Claims 1-15 are pending.
Priority
Applicant is advised of possible benefits under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) and (f), wherein an application for patent filed in the United States may be entitled to claim priority to an application filed in a foreign country.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 elastic element being compressible by moving the partial bodies away from each other. 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.
In addition to Replacement Sheets containing the corrected drawing figure(s), applicant is required to submit a marked-up copy of each Replacement Sheet including annotations indicating the changes made to the previous version. The marked-up copy must be clearly labeled as “Annotated Sheets” and must be presented in the amendment or remarks section that explains the change(s) to the drawings. See 37 CFR 1.121(d)(1). Failure to timely submit the proposed drawing and marked-up copy will result in the abandonment of the application.
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 13-15 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 13 recites the limitation "the devices" (plural) therein. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 14 is rejected for the same reason as dependent on claim 13.
Claim 14 recites the limitation "the plat-shaped" therein. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 15 recites the limitations "the devices" (plural) and “the plate-shaped objects” (plural) therein. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
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) 1-3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jasmin et al. (U.S. Pat. 11,296,648).
Regarding claim 1, Jasmin teaches a device for attaching to a plate-shaped object, the device comprising: a basic body which has a recess open at least toward one side for receiving a partial region of the plate-shaped object; and the basic body including a first partial body and a second partial body, the first partial body and the second partial body are mounted on each other so as to be movable relative to each other (up/down), and the recess is formed between the first and second partial bodies.
[AltContent: textbox (1st partial body)][AltContent: textbox (2nd partial body)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Basic body)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Partial region)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Plate shaped object)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (recess)]
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Regarding claim 2, Jasmin teaches the device of claim 1, further comprising an elastic element (73), and the two partial bodies are elastically preloaded (via member 49) toward each other by the elastic element in order to clamp the plate-shaped object in the recess.
Regarding claim 3, Jasmin teaches the device of claim 2, wherein the elastic element is a helical spring.
Regarding claim 5, Jasmin teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the recess is shaped for receiving a corner region of the plate-shaped object.
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, 5, 9-10 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sreedhar et al. (U.S. Pat. 12,643,723).
Regarding claim 1, Sreedhar teaches a device for attaching to a plate-shaped object, the device comprising: a basic body which has a recess open at least toward one side for receiving a partial region of the plate-shaped object; and the basic body including a first partial body and a second partial body, the first partial body and the second partial body are mounted on each other so as to be movable relative to each other (up/down), and the recess is formed between the first and second partial bodies.
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[AltContent: textbox (Strap receptacle)][AltContent: arrow]
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Regarding claim 5, Sreedhar teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the recess is shaped for receiving a corner region of the plate-shaped object.
Regarding claim 9, Sreedhar teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the first partial body has a first guide element and the second partial body has a second guide element for guiding the partial bodies toward each other and away from each other during a relative movement.
Regarding claim 10, Sreedhar teaches the device of claim 1, wherein the first partial body has a first form- fitting element on a side facing away from the recess and the second partial body has a second form-fitting element on a side facing away from the recess.
Regarding claim 12, Sreedhar teaches the device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first partial body or the second partial body has a strap receptacle for attaching a tensioning strap (strap can be placed in the receptacle in a horizontal manner as wrapped around the devices).
Regarding claim 13, as best understood, Sreedhar teaches a stack, comprising: at least two plate-shaped objects stacked on top of one another, the plate-shaped objects are each received in recesses of the devices as claimed in claim 1; and the plate-shaped objects are stacked on top of one another via the devices, and respectively adjacent ones of the at least two plate-shaped objects in the stack are spaced from one another by the devices (Fig. 9A).
Regarding claim 14, as best understood, Sreedhar teaches the stack of claim 13, wherein at least one of longitudinal edges or corner regions of the plate-shaped objects are received in the recesses of the devices.
Regarding claim 15, as best understood, Sreedhar teaches ta method of stacking plate-shaped objects, the method comprising: providing a plurality of the devices as claimed in claim 1; placing the plate-shaped objects such that longitudinal edges and/or corner regions thereof are received in the recesses of the devices; stacking the plate-shaped objects on top of one another to form a stack such that respectively adjacent ones of the devices in the stack rest on one another and the respectively adjacent plate-shaped objects in the stack are spaced from one another (Fig. 9A).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6-8 and 11 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. USP 10832937, 8109393, 2738564, USPat 2006/0005875, 2014/0367305 (plate holding devices)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NKEISHA J. SMITH whose telephone number is (571)272-5781. The examiner can normally be reached Normal hours: M/Th 7-4; T 9-5; W 7-3; F 7-4.
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, Terrell McKinnon can be reached at 571-272-4797. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NKEISHA SMITH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632 June 19, 2026
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