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 .
Applicant's arguments filed 11/21/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive for the reason(s) stated below.
3. 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.
4. Claim(s) 1, 4 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Quist et al (2002/0044065) in view of Nam et al (US 2022/0210529) or Wilson et al
(US 2017/0266929).
Quist discloses an accessory control system for a vehicle comprising an universal bracket (18, 20) with or without a single pivot/ball joint or a two pivot/ball joint (see paragraph 0033) that is configured for mounting to an interior portion (i.e., element 22 ) of a vehicle (see Fig. 3), and a rearview mirror assembly (10) having a display (28) and touch screen (26) have a plurality of selector elements/buttons (see figures 1-4) and a processor/control (30); wherein the touch screen inherently includes a control panel assembly (i.e., a printed circuit board with associated circuitry thereon to activate or deactivate one or more of the plurality of selector element functions/modules, when the one of more of the plurality of selector elements/buttons is selected/touched) connected with the rearview mirror assembly (see figures 1-4), the control panel assembly having a control panel (the printed circuit board), a plurality of switch modules (the circuitry associated with the plurality of selector elements/buttons) communicated with a plurality of corresponding accessory modules (the plurality of selector elements functions); wherein the processor/control (30) inherently receives instructions and sends the instructions to the control panel that causes the control panel to activate the switch modules (the selector element circuitry), in response to the activation of the switch modules (the selector element buttons), activating the accessory modules (the plurality of selector element functions), wherein the display and touch screen is connected with the processor and the display and touch screen obtains and sends the instructions to the processor (see Fig. 6) and wherein the control panel is connected with the switch modules and the control panel is wirelessly connected with the processor of the rearview mirror assembly (see paragraphs 0040-0041), note figures 1-6 along with the associated description thereof, except for a protection screen selectively coupled on the rearview mirror assembly.
Nam et al and Wilson et al each teach it is well known to use and employ a protection member/shield/screen selectively coupled onto a display and/or screen of a display assembly in the same field of endeavor for the purpose of protecting the display or screen from damage.
Therefore, it would have obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the display and/or touch screen of Quist et al to include a protection member/shield/screen, as taught by Nam et al or Wilson et al, in order to similarly protect the display and/or screen of the rearview mirror assembly from damage.
5, Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Quist et al (2002/0044065) in view of Nam et al (US 2022/0210529) or Wilson et al
(US 2017/0266929) as applied to claims 1, 4 and 8 above, and further in view of Kramer et al (2008/0077882).
Quist et al in view of Nam et al (US 2022/0210529) or Wilson et al
(US 2017/0266929) discloses all of the subject matter claimed, note the above explanation, except for explicitly stating that the control panel assembly comprises a first Bluetooth module wirelessly connected with a second Bluetooth module of the rearview mirror assembly.
Kramer et al teaches it is well known to use a plurality of Bluetooth modules in the same field of endeavor for the purpose of providing wireless communications between a transmitter and a receiver (see figures 1-6 along with the associated description thereof).
Therefore, it would have obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the control panel of the touch screen of Quist et al in view of Nam et al (US 2022/0210529) or Wilson et al (US 2017/0266929) to include a first Bluetooth module wirelessly connected with a second Bluetooth module of the display of the rearview mirror assembly in order to similarly transmit and receive information between the above mentioned components.
6. U.S. Patent 1,717,072, U.S. 1,926,979 and U.S. Patent 2,070,434 each teach it is well known to use a protective, antiglare shield coupled to a rearview mirror assembly and are cited as interest.
7. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICKY D SHAFER whose telephone number is (571)272-2320. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 11:00-7:30.
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, Stephone B. Allen can be reached at (571) 272-2434. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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RDS
December 26, 2025
/RICKY D SHAFER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872