DETAILED ACTION
Examiner acknowledges receipt of amendment to application 18/095,846 filed on December 10, 2025. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-5 and 7 are still pending, with claims 1 and 7 being currently amended. Claim 6 is cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-5 and 7 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grout et al. US PGPUB 2021/0376633 in view of Salley US PGPUB 2023/0128719.
Regarding claim 1, Grout discloses a vehicular device charging system [fig. 8] comprising:
a personal electronic device including a battery being positioned within said personal electronic device, said battery being rechargeable [abs.; par. 2; the device is for charging a mobile telephone’s battery];
a tray having a top side and a bottom side [fig. 8, pars. 56-59; upper and lower jaws 106 and 108], said top side removably abutting said personal electronic device [pars. 56-59; the upper jaw can slide up or down to removable abut against the device], said tray including a base wall having a perimeter edge, a perimeter wall being coupled to said perimeter edge and extending upwardly from said base wall [fig. 8-9 & 11; a front panel 102 with perimeter edges coupled to perimeter walls 118 which extend upwardly from the base wall towards the top edge; pars. 56-59];
a battery charger being coupled to said tray and being electrically engageable with said personal electronic device, wherein said battery charger provides electricity to said battery when said electronic device is abutting said base wall [fig. 8; inductive charging assembly 105 charges the device when the device is in the tray abutting against the front panel 102; pars. 56-61]; and
a fastener being coupled to said tray and being configured to be removably fastened to a surface of an interior of a vehicle [par. 55; a mounting bracket is attached to the assembly which fastens the tray to a vehicle interior surface].
Grout does not explicitly disclose said fastener comprising at least one adhesive strip, said fastener being coupled to said bottom side of said tray such that said adhesive strip is in a fixed parallel position to said top side of said tray.
However, Salley discloses a portable device charger [abs.; fig. 1] which can be mounted in a vehicle comprising said fastener comprising at least one adhesive strip, said fastener being coupled to said bottom side of said tray such that said adhesive strip is in a fixed parallel position to said top side of said tray [pars. 44-45; 3c-3d; adhesive strips 66 or 67 are coupled to a bottom side of the tray (fig. 1, tray for charging device; par. 39) in a fixed parallel position to the other side (top side).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Grout to further include said fastener comprising at least one adhesive strip, said fastener being coupled to said bottom side of said tray such that said adhesive strip is in a fixed parallel position to said top side of said tray for the purpose of mounting the charger device in a desired location, as taught by Salley (par. 44).
Regarding claim 2, Grout discloses including a receiver coil being electrically coupled to said battery, said receiver coil being capable of receiving electricity by electromagnetic induction, said receiver coil being positioned within said personal electronic device [par. 46; the mobile device has a receiving coil corresponding to the transmitting coil].
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grout et al. US PGPUB 2021/0376633 in view of Salley US PGPUB 2023/0128719, and further in view of Jin Korean Publication KR 102302100 B1. (It is noted that the Jin citations are taken from the machine translation, until a translation is obtained.)
Regarding claim 3, Grout discloses wherein said perimeter wall includes a first wall, a second wall, and a pair of lateral walls, each lateral wall of said pair of lateral walls being elongated, said perimeter wall being coextensive with said perimeter edge.
The combination of Grout and Salley does not explicitly disclose wherein said perimeter wall includes a first wall, a second wall, and a pair of lateral walls, each lateral wall of said pair of lateral walls being elongated, said perimeter wall being coextensive with said perimeter edge.
However, Jin discloses a wireless charger for a smart device for a vehicle wherein said perimeter wall includes a first wall, a second wall, and a pair of lateral walls, each lateral wall of said pair of lateral walls being elongated, said perimeter wall being coextensive with said perimeter edge [fig. 1, support 160 for the smart device 10; abs.].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Grout and Salley to further include wherein said perimeter wall includes a first wall, a second wall, and a pair of lateral walls, each lateral wall of said pair of lateral walls being elongated, said perimeter wall being coextensive with said perimeter edge for the purpose of supporting the smart device, as taught by Jin (abs.).
Regarding claim 4, Grout discloses wherein said battery charger includes an electrical port for removably receiving a plug of a charging cord from a power source, said port being positioned on said first wall of said tray [par. 55].
Regarding claim 5, Grout discloses further including a transmitter coil being electrically coupled to said electrical port, said transmitter coil being in electrical communication with said receiver coil by electromagnetic induction to provide electricity to said receiver coil when said transmitter coil is positioned proximate to said receiver coil, said transmitter coil being positioned within said base wall [pars. 55-61; a transmitter coil is coupled to the power supply for charging the vehicle].
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grout et al. US PGPUB 2021/0376633 in view of Jin Korean Publication KR 102302100 B1, and further in view of Salley US PGPUB 2023/0128719. (It is noted that the Jin citations are taken from the machine translation, until a translation is obtained.)
Regarding claim 7, Grout discloses a vehicular device charging system [fig. 8] comprising:
a personal electronic device including: a battery being positioned within said personal electronic device, said battery being rechargeable [abs.; par. 2; the device is for charging a mobile telephone’s battery]; and
a receiver coil being electrically coupled to said battery, said receiver coil being capable of receiving electricity by electromagnetic induction, said receiver coil being positioned within said personal electronic device;
a tray having a top side and a bottom side [fig. 8, pars. 56-59; upper and lower jaws 106 and 108], said top side removably abutting said personal electronic device [pars. 56-59; the upper jaw can slide up or down to removable abut against the device], said tray including a base wall having a perimeter edge, a perimeter wall being coupled to said perimeter edge and extending upwardly from said base wall [fig. 8-9 & 11; a front panel 102 with perimeter edges coupled to perimeter walls 118 which extend upwardly from the base wall towards the top edge; pars. 56-59],
a battery charger being coupled to said tray and being electrically engageable with said personal electronic device, wherein said battery charger provides electricity to said battery when said electronic device is abutting said base wall [fig. 8; inductive charging assembly 105 charges the device when the device is in the tray abutting against the front panel 102; pars. 56-61], said battery charger including:
an electrical port for removably receiving a plug of a charging cord from a power source, said port being positioned on said first wall of said tray [par. 55];
a transmitter coil being electrically coupled to said electrical port, said transmitter coil being in electrical communication with said receiver coil by electromagnetic induction to provide electricity to said receiver coil when said transmitter coil is positioned proximate to said receiver coil, said transmitter coil being positioned within said base wall [pars. 55-61; a transmitter coil is coupled to the power supply for charging the vehicle];
a fastener being coupled to said tray and being configured to be removably fastened to a surface of an interior of a vehicle [par. 55; a mounting bracket is attached to the assembly which fastens the tray to a vehicle interior surface].
Grout does not explicitly disclose wherein said perimeter wall includes a first wall, a second wall, and a pair of lateral walls, each lateral wall of said pair of lateral walls being elongated, said perimeter wall being coextensive with said perimeter edge.
However, Jin discloses a wireless charger for a smart device for a vehicle wherein said perimeter wall includes a first wall, a second wall, and a pair of lateral walls, each lateral wall of said pair of lateral walls being elongated, said perimeter wall being coextensive with said perimeter edge [fig. 1, support 160 for the smart device 10; abs.].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Grout to further include wherein said perimeter wall includes a first wall, a second wall, and a pair of lateral walls, each lateral wall of said pair of lateral walls being elongated, said perimeter wall being coextensive with said perimeter edge for the purpose of supporting the smart device, as taught by Jin (abs.).
The combination of Grout and Jin does not explicitly disclose said fastener being coupled to said bottom side of said tray, said fastener comprising at least one adhesive strip.
However, Salley discloses a portable device charger [abs.; fig. 1] which can be mounted in a vehicle comprising said fastener comprising at least one adhesive strip, said fastener being coupled to said bottom side of said tray such that said adhesive strip is in a fixed parallel position to said top side of said tray [pars. 44-45; 3c-3d; adhesive strips 66 or 67 are coupled to a bottom side of the tray (fig. 1, tray for charging device; par. 39) in a fixed parallel position to the other side (top side).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Grout to further include said fastener comprising at least one adhesive strip, said fastener being coupled to said bottom side of said tray such that said adhesive strip is in a fixed parallel position to said top side of said tray for the purpose of mounting the charger device in a desired location, as taught by Salley (par. 44).
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 DAVID V HENZE whose telephone number is (571)272-3317. The examiner can normally be reached M to F, 9am to 7pm.
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/DAVID V HENZE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859