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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a Non-final Office Action for application number 19/248,886 SERVICE LINE MOUNTING DEVICE WITH PUSH-IN RATCHET filed on 6/25/2025. Claims 1-16 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 4/2/2026 and 8/25/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1, 4-8 and 11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by United States Patent No. 8,141,826 to Gallardo et al.
[AltContent: arrow] With regards to claim 1, the patent to Gallardo et al. discloses a device (10) having a main unit (12); and a sliding unit (14), the main unit and the sliding unit are configured to delimit, in an assembled state, a through-opening
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for one or more service lines (22), the main unit has a first leg element (left 16) and a second leg element (right 16), with first and second leg element connected by a base element (12, 24a, 24b) the sliding unit is configured to slide along the first leg element and along the second leg element in order to adjust a size of the through-opening in a transverse direction, with the transverse direction running transverse to a through direction of the through-opening, the base element comprises an attachment interface (50, 52) configured to attach the base element to another structure (11), and both leg elements comprise a respective ratchet structure (26) for a ratcheting interaction of the respective leg with corresponding ratchet counterparts of the sliding unit.
With regards to claim 4, Gallardo et al. teaches wherein in the through direction, the ratchet structures of the different leg elements are offset with respect to each other (See Figure 9C)
With regards to claim 5, Gallardo et al. teaches wherein in a cross-section transverse to the transverse direction, the ratchet structures of the different leg elements are arranged point-symmetrically with respect to an axis running along the transverse direction. (See Figure 9C)
With regards to claim 6, Gallardo et al. teaches wherein the ratchet counterparts (66) of the sliding unit are arranged in respective sections of the sliding unit which protrude, in a third direction, from a neighboring outer surface of the sliding unit, which neighboring outer surfaces are running transverse to the third direction, the third direction runs transverse to the transverse direction and the through direction, and a width of the sliding unit measured in the third direction is at least essentially identical at the positions of the different ratchet counterparts of the sliding unit. (See Figure 1C)
With regards to claim 7, Gallardo et al. teaches wherein, in the assembled state, an extension of the service line mounting device in a third direction is defined by the sliding unit. (See Figure 1C)
With regards to claim 8, Gallardo et al. teaches a foot structure (44, 28a, 28b, 30) configured for attachment to or attached to the base element through the attachment interface, the foot structure has a clip-in mount with an at least essentially rectangular cross-section hindering a rotation of the foot structure around an axis running along the transverse direction. (See Figure 3C)
With regards to claim 11, Gallardo et al. teaches wherein at least one of: the ratcheting interaction of the sliding unit with the leg elements is configured for a releasable fixation (50); the attachment interface of the base element and the foot structure is configured for a releasable fixation; or the clip-in mount of the foot structure is configured for a releasable fixation. (See Col. 8, lines 39-43 “the tabs 50 act as resilient leaf springs to resiliently urge the projections 52 into the openings 54. Manually disengaging the tabs and projections allows sliding the bracket along the cross-member 11 for positioning.”)
With regards to claim 12, Gallardo et al. teaches wherein the releasable fixation (50) is a tool-free release. (See Col. 8 (citation above), “manually disengaging tabs”)
With regards to claim 13, Gallardo et al. teachers wherein the foot structure is made of plastic. (See Col. 9, lines 28-32, “The parts are advantageously integrally molded of an elastomer, which reduces costs. A nylon plastic is believed suitable.”)
With regards to claim 14, Gallardo et al. teaches wherein the plastic is injection-molded plastic. (See Col. 9, lines 28-32)
With regards to claim 15, Gallardo et al. teaches wherein at least one of the main unit or the sliding unit is made of plastic. (See Col. 8, lines 10-15, “The cross-member is preferably made of mild steel that is painted, coated or electroplated to resist corrosion, but any metal, or even a suitably strong plastic is believed suitable”)
With regards to claim 16, Gallardo et al. teaches wherein the plastic is injection-molded plastic. (See Col. 9, lines 28-32)
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 of this title, 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 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent No. 8,141,826 to Gallardo et al.
With regards to claims 2 and 3, Gallardo et al. does not specifically teach that
wherein in the through direction, the ratchet structures on each of the leg elements extends to less than 40% (Claim 3) or 50% (Claim 2) of the respective leg element. The amount of extending over the leg is a design choice which is obvious to optimize.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 10 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.
With regards to claim 9, the prior art does not teach wherein the foot structure is configured to be slidable along a guiding rail along a first direction, and the attachment interface is configured for attachment of the foot structure to the base element by sliding the base element onto the foot structure in a second direction, the second direction running transverse to the first direction.
Cited References
PN 6,126,122 to Ismert teaches bracket
PN 6,463,631 to Noda teaches a ratchet bracket
PN 7,498,511 to Brown teaches a ratchet bracket
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Amy J. Sterling at telephone number 571-272-6823 or to Supervisor Jonathan Liu at 571-272-8227 if the examiner cannot be reached. The examiner can normally be reached (Mon-Fri 8am-5:00pm). The fax machine number for the Technology center is 571-273-8300 (formal amendments), informal amendments or communications 571-273-6823. Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application should be directed to the Technology Center receptionist at 571-272-3600.
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/AMY J. STERLING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631 9/15/26
