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 .
Response to Amendment
The response filed on May 11, 2026 is acknowledged.
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) 17-21 and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vaishnav et al. (US20190184942. Vaishnav hereinafter).
With respect to claim 17, Vaishnav discloses a vehicle (Figs. 1-9) comprising: an environment sensor (30) including: a cap (34 and 40) including an intake portion (enclave for 52 and air intake of 68 (not shown)) facing a front of the vehicle to receive a traveling wind of the vehicle (Fig. 2) and one or more holes (enclave for 52) facing a sensing surface (58 and 32) of the environment sensor, wherein the cap (34) is mounted on an upper portion of the environment sensor (52); a nozzle assembly (of 36, 94) disposed in the environmental sensor, wherein the nozzle assembly includes an inlet (connecting 88. Fig. 5) configured to (capable of) communicate with the intake portion and a plurality of radial passages branching (two 9, separated by 96) and extending from the inlet, the plurality of radial passages each having a nozzle (36 and 94) facing the sensing surface and communicating with a first part (from 36 and 94) of the one or more holes; and an air cleaning system (of 78 and 80) including a compressor (68) configured to (capable of) intake air and generate compressed air and one or more air nozzles (78 and 80) being in fluid communication with the compressor and configured to (capable of) discharge the compressed air via a second part (from 78 and 80) of one or more holes.
With respect to claim 18, Vaishnav discloses the vehicle of claim 17, wherein a passage (from air intake of 68 (not shown) to 78 and 80) of fluid flow is formed from the intake portion to the sensing surface in the environmental sensor (Figs. 5 and 9).
With respect to claim 19, Vaishnav discloses the vehicle of claim 18, wherein the passage of fluid flow comprises: a distal (inlet end) portion being an inlet (air intake of 68 (not shown)) for the traveling wind of the vehicle and provided in the intake portion; and the (air) nozzles of the plurality of radial passages (72) being an outlet for a fluid passing through the passage of fluid flow.
With respect to claim 20, Vaishnav discloses the vehicle of claim 19, wherein the (air) nozzles (78 and 80) of the plurality of radial passages are spaced apart from each other within a predetermined range in a portion of the environmental sensor facing the front of the vehicle.
With respect to claim 21, Vaishnav discloses the vehicle of claim 18, wherein the intake portion has a cross-sectional area (at 68) gradually decreasing toward an inner side of the environmental sensor (100 to 70).
With respect to claim 23, Vaishnav discloses the vehicle of claim 18, wherein the environmental sensor is a lidar sensor mounted on a roof of the vehicle [0001], [0027], [0029]- [0031] and Figs. 1 and 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 22 is 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
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHEE-CHONG LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-1916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am -5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur O. Hall can be reached at (571)270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHEE-CHONG LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752 June 19, 2026
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