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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3- 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by D1 WO 2018/052057 A 1.
Regarding claims 1, 4, 5 D1 teaches
- A vehicle-mounted structure comprising (cf. pars. 92-96, figs. 8, 12):
- an exterior member (fig. 12, bumper 70) mounted on a vehicle;
- an electromagnetic wave transmission cover (fig. 12, case 80) including
- a cover portion (fig. 12, 90) attached to the exterior member and exposed to an outside of the vehicle, and
- a housing (fig. 12, 100) integrated with the cover portion and arranged on a back surface side of the cover portion; and
- an electromagnetic wave device (fig. 12, near-infrared sensor 40) located on the back surface side of the cover portion and accommodated in thehousing, wherein:
- the cover portion has a mounting region (fig. 12, position of half-mirror layer 64) for mounting
a functional member,
- a first joining region (fig. 12, open end 92) to be joined to the housing, and
- a second joining region (fig. 12, joining surface of the cover 90 at the attachment hole 71 of the bumper 70) to be joined to the exterior member; and
- the first joining region (92) and the second joining region (joining surface of the cover 90 at the attachment hole 71 of the bumper 70) are provided on an outer peripheral side of the mounting region (64)
avoiding the mounting region (positions of half-mirror layer 64, open end 92, and joining surface of the cover 90 at the attachment hole 71 of the bumper 70).
Claim 3: D1 (cf. 92-96, figs. 8, 12) furthermore discloses all features of claim 3:
- wherein the second joining region (joining surface of the cover 90 at the
attachment hole 71 of the bumper 70) is provided on the outer peripheral side of
the first joining region (92) (positions of open end 92, and joining surface of
the cover 90 at the attachment hole 71 of the bumper 70 in fig. 12).
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, 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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 in view of D2 US 2020/348397 .
Regarding claim 2 D1 teaches
wherein:
the functional member has an element (par. 109, fig. 12, heating wires); and
but does not teach while D2 teaches
(paragraphs 4, 23, 52, 57 - 60; figures 1, 4, 5) discloses a vehicle-mounted
lidar device. It discloses (cf. pars. 52, 57 and figs. 4, 5) a cover for the lidar
device (lid part 8), a heating element (9) formed of two parts (91, 92), and the
above identified differing features of claim 2 with respect to D1
- an electric contact (cf. pars. 57-60 and figs. 4, 5, electrodes LD1 and LD2) of
the functional member (9) is provided on the mounting region (position of
heating element 9 inside the cover 8),
- an outer peripheral side of the first joining region avoiding the first joining
region (the position of the outer peripheral side of the heating element (9) is
avoiding the joining region between the housing part and the cover (8) (which is
interpreted here as first joining region) indicated by the holes on the rim of the
cover in fig. 4 and the protrusions of the frame body (82) in fig. 5),
- or an outer peripheral side of the second joining region avoiding the second
joining region.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 with teaching by D2 in order to avoid freezing or ice accumulation on the window.
Conclusion
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/HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645