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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 filed on November 12, 2025 has been entered.
Claims 1, 3-7, 9-17, and 19-20 remain pending in the application.
Applicant’s amendments have overcome the Claim Objection for claim 3 and the 35 USC § 112 Claim Rejection for claim 4 previously set forth in the Final Office Action mailed May 1, 2025.
Regarding the Applicant’s claim 1 arguments about the teachings of Yokota et al., US 12195098 B2, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. The use of broadly claimed common electrical connections without accompanying detailed structure allows for the broadest reasonable interpretation of the limitations in question. The newly amended “connected to one another by at least one of a common electrical wire and a common electrical trace” without additional detailed structure still allows for the broadest reasonable interpretation of the limitations. Yokota teaches the first (SW1) and second switches (SW2) are controlled by control unit (7) which would provide them a common electrical connection and Leonardi et al., US 11542731 B2, teaches wires and traces are equivalent electrical interconnections (col 13, lines 48-65) such it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application that Yokota’s switches which are operated by the same control unit must be electrically connected to one another by at least one of a common electrical wire and a common electrical trace.
Claim Objections
Claims 3, 9, 13, 14, and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 3, line 2, the limitation “at least one common electrical wire and the common electrical trace” is recited. The initial limitation was recited in claim 1 as “at least one of a common electrical wire and a common electrical trace” in an alternative limitation. For purposes of examination, the Examiner will interpret the claim to read “at least one of the common electrical write and the common electrical trace” to maintain the alternative limitation.
Regarding claim 9, the claim pends from the cancelled claim 8. See Allowable Subject Matter below.
Regarding claim 13, the claim pends from the cancelled claim 8. See Allowable Subject Matter below.
Regarding claim 14, the claim pends from the cancelled claim 8. See Allowable Subject Matter below.
Regarding claim 19, the claim pends from the cancelled claim 18. See 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection for claim 15 below.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 3, it is unclear, therefore indefinite, how the first and second switches are electrically connected to one another by only the at least one of the common electrical wire and the common electrical trace (see claim interpretation under claim 3 Claim Objection). Instant figure 4 depicts and instant specification paragraph [0035] discusses first switch 144 and second switch 146 connected with common trace 150 but also connected by, at least, second trace 152 which connects to first pin 156 and first trace 148 which connects to third pin 160, wherein both pins 156 and 160 are electrically connected to and controlled by controller 114, which constitutes another electrical connection through a wire or trace.
Regarding claim 15, lines 13-16, it is unclear, therefore indefinite, how the apparatus performs the amended operating steps. The newly amended claim 15 contains the February 26, 2025 claim set limitations of claim 18, previously noted as allowable subject matter. In the May 1, 2025 Final Rejection, it was noted claim 18 would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitation of the base claim (i.e. claim 15) and any intervening claims (i.e. claims 16-17). The limitations from intervening claims 16-17 are not included in the newly amended claim 15. It is the Examiner’s best understanding of the instant invention that the method of operating the closure assembly as claimed in the February 26, 2025 amendment requires the base claim 15 method steps followed sequentially with the method steps of claims 16 and 17 before the method steps of claim 18. Only the allowable subject matter of claim 18 was added to base claim 15.
Claims 16, 17, 19, and 20 are rejected because they pend from claim 15. Note: Claim 19 is objected to because it pends from the cancelled claim 18.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokota et al., US 12195098 B2 (hereinafter Yokota).
Regarding claim 1, Yokota teaches a latch assembly (latch device 12) for use in a vehicle (pick-up truck 1), the latch assembly configured to be fixed to a vehicle body (side wall 3) of the vehicle or a closure of the vehicle (Fig 1 depicts 12 fixed to tail gate closure 10), the latch assembly comprising:
a catch (claw 210; ratchet 230; col 4, lines 9-23);
a pawl (pawl 220);
a controller (control unit 7); and
circuitry electrically connected to the controller (col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2 discusses the general structure and operation of the controller, labeling 7 an ECU which is known in the art to denote electronic control unit) and including,
a first switch (first switch SW1) operable between a closed state, in which the first switch is configured to send first signals to the controller, and an open state (col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2; col 8, line 61-col 9, line 6),
a second switch (second switch SW2) operable between a closed state, in which the second switch is configured to send second signals to the controller, and an open state (col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2; col 8, line 61-col 9, line 6),
wherein the controller configured to,
responsive to receiving the first signals and not receiving the second signals, collectively indicative of the pawl and the catch each moving from an open position (Fig 13(a) depicts a fully open position) towards a secondary position indicative of a first closed position (Fig 13(c) depicts a half latched first closed position; Fig 13(b) depicts latch movement toward secondary position 13(c) and SW1 switched on and SW2 switched off),
initiate a cinching sequence (Fig 13(d) depicts the start of the cinch sequence with SW1 switched on and SW2 switched off), in which the catch is configured to move from the secondary position to a primary position indicative of a second closed position (Fig 13(f) depicts the fully latched second closed position; col 9, line 53-col 10, line 27 discusses the cinch process with SW1 switched on and SW2 switched off),
wherein the first and second switches are electrically connected to one another by at least one of a common electrical wire and a common electrical trace (col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2 discusses both SW1 and SW2 sending information to 7, resulting in 7 being shared by SW1 and SW2, thereby meeting the Merriam-Webster definition 2a of common and the broadest reasonable interpretation of the term, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill the art before the effective filing date of the instant application that, since the switches communicate with the electronic control unit of the latch, the ECU 7 would be a common connection between the switches as well as the other electrical and electronic components of the latch assembly which it controls such as the arithmetic processing unit, electric driving unit, motors, and memory circuit; and those common connections would be made by known in the art electrical connections, such as wires or traces, as taught by Leonardi, US 11542731 B2; col 13, lines 48-65).
Regarding claim 3, Yokota teaches the latch assembly of claim 1, wherein the first and second switches (SW1; SW2) are electrically connected to one another by only the at least one common electrical wire and the common electrical trace (see claim interpretation under claim 3 Claim Objection; col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2 discusses 7 as the overall control unit communicating with the switches and other system electrical or electronic components so it serves the one common electrical wire or trace connection for the entire latch assembly).
Regarding claim 4, Yokota teaches the latch assembly of claim 1, wherein the pawl (220) and the first switch (SW1) are arranged such that when the pawl is in the open position (Fig 13(a) depicts the fully open latch position), the pawl is engaged with the first switch so that the first switch is in the closed state (Fig 13(a) depicts SW1 engaged with 220 and SW1 in a closed state or on state).
Regarding claim 5, Yokota teaches the latch assembly of claim 1, wherein the vehicle body (3) includes a striker (striker 5; col 3, lines 43-55) and the latch assembly (12) is fixed to the closure (Fig 1), and in the first closed position (Fig 13(c) depicts a half latched first closed position), the catch (210; 230) engages the striker to hold the closure in the first closed position, in which the closure is partially closed (col 3, lines 43-55).
Regarding claim 6, Yokota teaches the latch assembly of claim 1, wherein the closure (10) is a tailgate (col 3, lines 32-42; Fig 1) and the vehicle body (3) includes a truck bed configured to be closed by the tailgate (col 3, lines 22-31 discusses the truck bed as the loading space surrounded by rear wall 2 and 3 closed by 10).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the Claim Objections and rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Regarding claim 15, the Examiner notes that the instant method step limitations are considered obvious over the prior art in view of rejections of the structural limitations previously set forth. When the method steps essentially set forth the provision and use of an apparatus, as intended by its structure, then such method steps are considered obvious when the structure of the apparatus has been demonstrated as obvious by the prior art. Therefore, Yokota discloses a method of operating a closure assembly (Fig 1 depicts the closure assembly to be the latch assemblies 12 and those vehicle components with which engaged to close a tail gate closure 10) including a latch (12) and a closure (10), the method comprising: receiving, by a controller (control unit 7), first signals from a first switch (first switch SW1), the first switch operable between an open state and a closed state, in which the first switch sends the first signals to the controller (col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2; col 8, line 61-col 9, line 6; Figs 13(x) depict the on/off state of the switch), not receiving, by the controller, second signals from a second switch (second switch SW2) operable between an open state and a closed state, in which the second switch sends the second signals to the controller (col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2; col 8, line 61-col 9, line 6; Figs 13(x) depict the on/off state of the switch); and performing, by the controller, a cinching operation (movement from Fig 13(d) to Fig 13(f) depicts the cinching operation; col 9, line 53-col 10, line 27), wherein the receiving step and the not receiving step (Fig 5) are collectively indicative of a pawl (pawl 220) and a catch (claw 210; ratchet 230; col 4, lines 9-23) of the latch each moving from an open position (Fig 13(a) depicts a fully open position) to a secondary position indicative of the closure being in a first closed position (Fig 13(c) depicts a half latched first closed position; Fig 13(b) depicts latch movement toward secondary position 13(c) and SW1 switched on and SW2 switched off); while Yokota further discloses wherein the performing step includes moving the pawl and the catch so that second switch changes states, one of ordinary skill in the art would not have found it obvious to modify Yokota as claimed in intervening claims 16 and 17 and further claimed in the instant application wherein the performing step includes moving the pawl and the catch so that second switch changes from the open state, to the closed state, and to the open state indicative of at least one of the pawl and the catch being in a primary closed position in which the closure is in a second closed position as claimed without the use of impermissible hindsight and/or destroying the reference.
Regarding claims 16, 17, 19, and 20, they are allowable because they pend from claim 15 (see claim objections above regarding claim pendency).
Claims 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are allowed.
Regarding claim 7, Yokota teaches a closure assembly (Fig 1 depicts the closure assembly to be the latch assemblies 12 and those vehicle components with which engaged to close a tail gate closure) for use in a motor vehicle (pick-up truck 1) provided with a body (Fig 1) and a closure element (tail gate 10) configured to move with respect to the body between an open position (Fig 13(a) depicts the fully open latch position; NOTE: Figs 13(x) are used to depicts the position of 10 based on the state of latch 12 as it is known and associated in the art), a first closed position (Fig 13(c) depicts the half latched position), and a second closed position (Fig 13(f) depicts the fully latched position; col 3, lines 32-42; col 4, lines 9-23), the closure assembly comprising: a latch assembly (12) configured to be fixed to the body or the closure element (Fig 1 depicts 12 fixed to tail gate closure 10): a catch (claw 210; ratchet 230; col 4, lines 9-23), a pawl (pawl 220), wherein the catch and the pawl are collectively configured to move between an open position (Fig 13(a) depicts the fully open latch position), a secondary position (Fig 13(c) depicts the half latched position), and a primary position (Fig 13(f) depicts the fully latched position; col 3, lines 32-42; col 4, lines 9-23), wherein the pawl and the catch are collectively configured to cooperate with one another in at least one of the secondary position and the primary position (col 5, lines 36-56), a first switch (first switch SW1) operable between a closed state and an open state and configured to detect positions of at least one of the catch and the pawl (col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2; col 8, line 61-col 9, line 6); a second switch (second switch SW2) operable between a closed state and an open state, and configured to detect positions of the other of the at least one of the catch and the pawl (col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2; col 8, line 61-col 9, line 6), wherein the first and second switches are electrically connected to one another by a common electrical connection (col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2 discusses both SW1 and SW2 sending information to 7, resulting in 7 being shared by SW1 and SW2, thereby meeting the Merriam-Webster definition 2a of common and the broadest reasonable interpretation of the term, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill the art that, since the switches communicate with the electronic control unit of the latch, the ECU 7 would be a common connection between the switches as well as the other electrical and electronic components of the latch assembly which it controls such as the arithmetic processing unit, electric driving unit, motors, and memory circuit); and a controller (control unit 7) electrically connected to the first and second switch, wherein the controller is configured to, responsive to one of the first and second switches being in the closed state (col 3, line 56-col 4, line 2 discusses the general structure and operation of the controller, labeling 7 an ECU which is known in the art to denote electronic control unit), collectively indicative of the pawl and the catch each moving from the open position towards the secondary position (Fig 13(a) depicts a fully open position; Fig 13(c) depicts a half latched first closed position; Fig 13(b) depicts latch movement toward secondary position 13(c) and SW1 switched on and SW2 switched off), initiate a cinching sequence (Fig 13(d) depicts the start of the cinch sequence with SW1 switched on and SW2 switched off), in which the catch is configured to move from the secondary position to a primary position indicative of the second closed position (Fig 13(f) depicts the fully latched second closed position; col 9, line 53-col 10, line 27 discusses the cinch process with SW1 switched on and SW2 switched off); and while Yokota’s switches are capable of detecting a number of positions of multiple components, Yokota’s switch 2 is configured to detect a number of positions of the catch, one of ordinary skill in the art would not have found it obvious to modify Yokota as claimed in the instant application wherein the second switch is configured to detect a number of positions of the pawl including the open position, the first closed position, and the second closed position, wherein the secondary position of the pawl is indicative of the first closed position of the closure element, in which the closure element is at least partially closed, as claimed without the use of impermissible hindsight and/or destroying the reference.
Claims 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are allowed because they pend from claim 7 (see claim objections above regarding claim pendency).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following patents are cited to further show the state of the art for apparatus with electronic and electrical connections.
Long et al., US 10553059 B1, teaches dynamic power management for electronic locksets and the equivalence of wire and PCB trace connections.
Kincaid, US 9624694 B2, teaches a tamper detection mechanism for an electronic lock device and the equivalence of wire and trace electrical conductive elements.
Baumgarte, US 11232659 B2, teaches tamper detection in a stationary credential reader device and the equivalence of wire and PCB trace connections.
Wernlund et al., US 10317247 B1, teaches a fenestration unit monitoring apparatus with tethers and methods and the equivalence of wire and PCB trace electrical conductors.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN A TULLIA whose telephone number is (571)272-6434. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 ET.
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, Kristina Fulton can be reached on (571)272-7376. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/STEVEN A TULLIA/Examiner, Art Unit 3675