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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN202111163716, filed on 9/30/2021.
Continued Examination under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office Action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant’s submission received 9/30/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/30/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103,
Applicant contends that the cited prior art fails to disclose newly amended limitations of independent claim 1, including “wherein the protruding strip portion has a rib served as a protruding structure to protrude from the mounting surface and is arranged above an upper end edge of the frame of the camera device to extend in the vehicle width direction.”
See the rejection below for how the cited art in light of new/existing references reads on the newly amended language as well as the examiner’s interpretation of the cited art in view of the presented claim set.
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 (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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura (US 20180186341 A1) (hereinafter Kimura) in view of Mackey (US 20220221713 A1) (hereinafter Mackey).
Regarding claim 1, Kimura discloses:
A vehicle body rear structure, comprising:
a camera device, disposed at the rear of a vehicle and including a lens and a frame that accommodates the lens; [See Kimura, ¶ 0156 discloses the in-vehicle camera 100 is a camera for confirming, for example, the rear side of the vehicle V and, as shown in FIG. 1C, a lens 101 of the in-vehicle camera 100 is attached to the back door 200A so that it is exposed toward the outside of the back door 200A of the vehicle V; See Kimura, ¶ 0013-0016, discloses a camera bracket that attaches the in-vehicle camera to a body panel of a vehicle in a state in which the lens is exposed toward the outside of the body panel of the vehicle.
an exterior member, having a mounting surface on which the camera device is mounted and a tilted surface tilted from the mounting surface toward a rear upper part of the vehicle; and [See Kimura, Fig. 16 illustrates a garnish (1300); See Kimura, ¶ 0223-0226, 0229-0230 discloses that an in-vehicle camera may be attached to a garnish (as an example of the vehicle body panel) provided outside a body panel constituting the back door via a camera attaching member 1100; See Kimura, annotated Fig. 16 below illustrates a “tilted surface”.]
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Kimura does not appear to explicitly disclose:
a protruding strip portion, disposed at a position further rearward of the vehicle than the camera device and further forward of the vehicle than the tilted surface and extended in a vehicle width direction; and
a side protruding portion, continuously arranged with the protruding strip portion and arranged to face further forward of the vehicle than the lens.
However, Mackey discloses:
a protruding strip portion, disposed at a position further rearward of the vehicle than the camera device and further forward of the vehicle than the tilted surface and extended in a vehicle width direction; and [See Mackey, ¶ 0039, Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a raised lip (or an eyebrow) 241 located at a top exterior edge 144 of the housing opening 143 at an exterior side of a cleaning member housing. It is noted that the raised lip 241 may be positioned at a top of the lens and configured to direct debris (particularly, liquid debris such as rain, snow, ice, etc.) away from the lens; See Mackey, Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the raised lip further rearward than a lens aperture 114 of a camera unit (when the camera would be mounted so as to capture images of a rear of a vehicle). Mackey’s Fig. 2 is illustrated from a perspective by which left-right corresponds to a width direction of a vehicle. Hence, raised lip 241 observably is at least “extended in a vehicle width direction”.]
a side protruding portion, continuously arranged with the protruding strip portion and arranged to face further forward of the vehicle than the lens. [See Mackey, see annotated Fig. 6 below, which illustrates a curved portion which is continuously arranged with the protruding strip portion.]
wherein the protruding strip portion has a rib served as a protruding structure to protrude from the mounting surface and is arranged above an upper end edge of the frame of the camera device to extend in the vehicle width direction. [See Mackey, ¶ 0039 discloses a raised lip (or an eyebrow) 241 located at a top exterior edge 144 of the housing opening 143 at an exterior side of a cleaning member housing. It is noted that the raised lip 241 may be positioned at a top of the lens and configured to direct debris (particularly, liquid debris such as rain, snow, ice, etc.) away from the lens.]
It would have been obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention disclosed by Kimura to add the teachings of Mackey in order to direct debris away from a lens of a vehicular camera unit.
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Regarding claim 2, Kimura in view of Mackey discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Kimura discloses:
wherein the exterior member comprises an appearance surface from which an appearance design is observed from the rear of the vehicle, and the tilted surface is tilted further forward of the vehicle than the appearance surface. [See Kimura, annotated Fig. 16 above illustrates a garnish (1300) as an “appearance design”; See Kimura, ¶ 0223-0226, 0229-0230 discloses that an in-vehicle camera may be attached to a garnish (as an example of the vehicle body panel) provided outside a body panel constituting the back door via a camera attaching member 1100.]
Regarding claim 3, Kimura in view of Mackey discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Kimura discloses:
wherein the side protruding portion covers at least a portion of the camera device. [See Kimura, annotated Fig. 6A illustrates that protruding portion (nozzle 1024) may be included as an ejecting port wherein the ejecting port has a curved profile, and hence “side protruding portions” which are distinguished separately from the nozzle 22 in at least Kimura’s ¶ 0176, 0178.]
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Regarding claim 4, Kimura in view of Mackey discloses all the limitations of claim 3.
Kimura discloses:
wherein the camera device comprises a lens, and the side protruding portion is arranged to face further forward of the vehicle than the lens to be continuous with the protruding strip portion. [See Kimura, annotated Fig. 7 below illustrates a lens of the camera device, and that the side protruding portion (24) is arranged to face further forward than the lens component.]
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Regarding claim 10, Kimura in view of Mackey discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Kimura discloses:
further comprising:
a bracket, wherein the camera device is mounted on the exterior member via the bracket, and the protruding strip portion is disposed on the bracket. [See Kimura, Fig. 16 illustrates a garnish (1300); See Kimura, ¶ 0223-0226, 0229-0230 discloses that an in-vehicle camera may be attached to a garnish (as an example of the vehicle body panel) provided outside a body panel constituting the back door via a camera attaching member 1100; See Kimura, annotated Fig. 16 below illustrates a “tilted surface”.]
Regarding claim 11, Kimura in view of Mackey discloses all the limitations of claim 10.
Kimura discloses:
wherein the protruding strip portion is at least formed at a vehicle rear side end portion of the bracket, and a groove-shaped gap is formed between the vehicle rear side end portion of the bracket and the exterior member. [See Kimura, ¶ 0223-0226, 0229-0230 discloses as shown in FIG. 16, in an opening portion 1302 of the garnish 1300, a constant gap S is formed between the garnish 1300, and the in-vehicle camera 1100 and the camera attaching member 1110 attached to the garnish 1300. The ejecting portion 1022C of the nozzle 1022 protrudes to the outside of the vehicle from the opening portion 1302 of the garnish 1300 through the gap S.]
Regarding claim 12, Kimura discloses:
A vehicle body rear structure, comprising:
a camera device, disposed at the rear of a vehicle and including a lens and a frame that accommodates the lens; [See Kimura, ¶ 0156 discloses the in-vehicle camera 100 is a camera for confirming, for example, the rear side of the vehicle V and, as shown in FIG. 1C, a lens 101 of the in-vehicle camera 100 is attached to the back door 200A so that it is exposed toward the outside of the back door 200A of the vehicle V; See Kimura, ¶ 0013-0016, discloses a camera bracket that attaches the in-vehicle camera to a body panel of a vehicle in a state in which the lens is exposed toward the outside of the body panel of the vehicle. ]
an exterior member, having a mounting surface on which the camera device is mounted and a tilted surface tilted from the mounting surface toward a rear upper part of the vehicle; and [See Kimura, Fig. 16 illustrates a garnish (1300); See Kimura, ¶ 0223-0226, 0229-0230 discloses that an in-vehicle camera may be attached to a garnish (as an example of the vehicle body panel) provided outside a body panel constituting the back door via a camera attaching member 1100; See Kimura, annotated Fig. 16 below illustrates a “tilted surface”.]
Mackey discloses:
a protruding strip portion, disposed at a position further rearward of the vehicle than the camera device and further forward of the vehicle than the tilted surface, [See Mackey, ¶ 0039, Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a raised lip (or an eyebrow) 241 located at a top exterior edge 144 of the housing opening 143 at an exterior side of a cleaning member housing. It is noted that the raised lip 241 may be positioned at a top of the lens and configured to direct debris (particularly, liquid debris such as rain, snow, ice, etc.) away from the lens; See Mackey, Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the raised lip further rearward than a lens aperture 114 of a camera unit (when the camera would be mounted so as to capture images of a rear of a vehicle). Mackey’s Fig. 2 is illustrated from a perspective by which left-right corresponds to a width direction of a vehicle. Hence, raised lip 241 observably is at least “extended in a vehicle width direction”.]
wherein the protruding strip portion is formed on the mounting surface, and [See Mackey, ¶ 0038-0040 discloses a cleaning member housing (140) on which the raised lip or “protruding strip portion” is formed.]
the protruding strip portion has a rib served as a protruding structure to protrude from the mounting surface and is arranged above an upper end edge of the frame of the camera device to extend in the vehicle width direction. [See Mackey, ¶ 0039 discloses a raised lip (or an eyebrow) 241 located at a top exterior edge 144 of the housing opening 143 at an exterior side of a cleaning member housing. It is noted that the raised lip 241 may be positioned at a top of the lens and configured to direct debris (particularly, liquid debris such as rain, snow, ice, etc.) away from the lens.]
It would have been obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention disclosed by Kimura to add the teachings of Mackey in order to direct debris away from a lens of a vehicular camera unit.
Claim(s) 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura in view of Mackey in view of Zhao et al. (US 20170036647 A1) (hereinafter Zhao).
Regarding claim 5, Kimura in view of Mackey discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Kimura discloses:
further comprising:
a nozzle, disposed at a position further rearward of the vehicle than the camera device and configured for ejecting liquid toward the camera device, [See Kimura, annotated Fig. 16 provided above illustrates a nozzle unit (1002) positioned further rearward than the camera device; See Kimura, ¶ 0002, 0004 discloses the routine and conventional solution of implementing a tank in which cleaning liquid is stored and a unit for injecting the cleaning liquid are mounted inside a body panel of a vehicle. Then, a dedicated nozzle bracket is attached to the body panel of the vehicle, and the cleaning liquid is injected onto the lens exposed toward the outside of the vehicle via the nozzle bracket.
Kimura in view of Mackey does not appear to explicitly disclose:
wherein the nozzle and the camera device are arranged not to overlap in a vehicle width direction, the nozzle and the protruding strip portion are arranged side by side in the vehicle width direction, and the protruding strip portion is arranged to be closer to the camera device side than the nozzle.
However, Zhao discloses:
wherein the nozzle and the camera device are arranged not to overlap in a vehicle width direction, the nozzle and the protruding strip portion are arranged side by side in the vehicle width direction, and the protruding strip portion is arranged to be closer to the camera device side than the nozzle. [See Zhao, Fig. 3 illustrates a nozzle (120) and lens elements 102, 104 not overlapping in a horizontal/vehicle width direction – rather, the nozzle and a “protruding strip”; See Zhao, Fig. 5 illustrates “protruding strip” surrounding lens elements, and thus being closer to the camera device than the nozzle (120).]
It would have been obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention disclosed by Kimura in view of Mackey to add the teachings of Zhao in order to controllably direct a spray onto the lenses of at least two sensors such as video cameras when mounted in a location that is exposed to environments that can cause accumulation of dirt or other debris that impairs their usefulness by a vehicle user.
Regarding claim 6, Kimura in view of Mackey in view of Zhao discloses all the limitations of claim 5.
Kimura discloses:
further comprising:
an extension portion, located between the protruding strip portion and the nozzle and extending from an end of the protruding strip portion adjacent to the nozzle toward the camera device. [See Kimura, ¶ 0232, Figs. 18a-18d illustrates the ejecting portion 1022C is composed of an inner member 1025, an outer member 1026, and a connecting portion 1027. The inner member 1025 constitutes one wall facing the lens 1101 in a state in which the nozzle unit 1002 is attached to the garnish 1300. The inner member 1025 has a projection 1025a protruding toward the outer member 1026. The outer member 1026 is disposed on the side opposite to the lens 1101 across the inner member 1025 and constitutes the other wall directly extending from the extending portion 1022B of the nozzle 1022. The outer member 1026 has a groove portion 1026a for receiving the projection 1025a of the inner member 1025.
Regarding claim 7, Kimura in view of Mackey in view of Zhao discloses all the limitations of claim 6.
Kimura discloses:
wherein the extension portion is arranged not to overlap an ejection range of the liquid from the nozzle. [See Kimura, Figs. 18a-18d illustrates extending portion 1022b functioning to communicate a connection portion 1022a and an ejection portion with each other, thus the extension portion does not overlap an ejection range of liquid/air from a nozzle.]
Regarding claim 8, Kimura in view of Mackey in view of Zhao discloses all the limitations of claim 5.
Kimura discloses:
further comprising:
a side protruding portion, continuously arranged with the protruding strip portion and located on a side of the camera device opposite to the nozzle, wherein the side protruding portion covers at least a portion of the camera device. [See Kimura, annotated Fig. 6A illustrates that protruding portion (nozzle 1024) may be included as an ejecting port wherein the ejecting port has a curved profile, and hence “side protruding portions” which are distinguished separately from the nozzle 22 in at least Kimura’s ¶ 0176, 0178.]
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Regarding claim 9, Kimura in view of Mackey in view of Zhao discloses all the limitations of claim 5.
Kimura discloses:
further comprising: a bracket, wherein the camera device is mounted on the exterior member via the bracket, and the nozzle is disposed on the bracket. [See Kimura, Fig. 16 illustrates a garnish (1300); See Kimura, ¶ 0223-0226, 0229-0230 discloses that an in-vehicle camera may be attached to a garnish (as an example of the vehicle body panel) provided outside a body panel constituting the back door via a camera attaching member 1100; See Kimura, annotated Fig. 16 below illustrates a “tilted surface”.]
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK E DEMOSKY whose telephone number is (571)272-8799. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7-4 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jamie Atala can be reached on 5712727384. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PATRICK E DEMOSKY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2486