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 Objections
Claims 1 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 2, it appears that --a-- should be inserted before “vent” for grammatical reasons.
In claim 15, line 12it appears that --the-- should be inserted before “front edge” for grammatical reasons.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 7 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burhans (US 2022/0355869).
With respect to claim 7, Burhans discloses he claimed assembly except for the height of the cover being at a maximum at a non-central point along the width of the main body between the front edge and the rear edge, wherein the height of the cover gradually and continuously increases moving along a width of the main body from the rear edge to the non-central point, wherein the height of the cover gradually and continuously decreases moving along the width of the main body from the non-central point to front edge. Burhans discloses an assembly, comprising:
a cover (as shown in Fig. 2 of Burhans) configured to fit relative to an opening of a motor vehicle,
wherein the opening is able to communicate fluid to an engine of the motor vehicle, wherein the cover is configured to prevent fluid from entering the opening (Burhans, paragraph [0026]),
wherein the cover includes a main body as shown in Fig. 4 of Burhans,
wherein the cover is formed of a rubber material (“silicone,” paragraph [0026]).
While Burhans fails to disclose that the height of the cover is at a maximum at a non-central point along the width of the main body between the front edge and the rear edge, wherein the height of the cover gradually and continuously increases moving along the width of the main body from the rear edge to the non-central point, wherein the height of the cover gradually and continuously decreases moving along the width of the main body from the non-central point to front edge–such a shape is simple matter of aesthetic design choice and does not add any functionality to the claimed invention. Thus, such an aesthetic design choice 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, with a reasonable expectation of success.
With respect to claim 23, Burhans discloses that the cover is formed entirely of a rubber material (“silicone,” Burhans, paragraph [0026]).
Claims 8 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burhans (US 2022/0355869), as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Morrison (US 1,984,077).
With respect to claim 8, Burhans discloses the claimed assembly except for the tab projection from the main body. However, Morrison teaches a similar assembly including a cover 16 having a main body including a tab 30 projecting form the main body (as shown in Fig. 5 of Morrison).
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Morrison with the assembly disclosed by Burhans for the advantage of the tab 30 providing a convenient grasping location for opening and closing the cover.
With respect to claim 21, Burhans discloses the claimed assembly except for the first tab projecting generally upwardly from a location adjacent a first die of the main body and a second tab projecting generally upwardly from a location adjacent a second side of the main body.
However, Morrison teaches a similar assembly including a cover 16 having a main body including a tab 30 projecting generally upwardly from a location of the main body (as shown in Fig. 5 of Morrison). While Morrison only teaches a single tab, it has been held that the mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced (see MPEP§ 2144.04, part VI, B). In this instance, there has been no unexpected result disclosed. The provision of one tab projection from a location adjacent a first side of the main body and a second tab projection from a second location adjacent a second side of the main body simply provides the same function for each tab of providing multiple points for grasping the cover for a user to open the cover.
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Morrison with the assembly disclosed by Burhans in view of Bourgeois et al. for the advantage of the tab 30 providing a convenient grasping location for opening and closing the cover.
Claims 15-16 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 2020colorado (MidEgineCorvetteForum webpage) in view of Burhans (US 2022/0355869) and Lin (CN 101940434).
With respect to claim 15, 2020colorado disclose the claimed method except for the recited shape of the main body, the cover being formed of a rubber material and the first tab and the second tab. 2020Colorado discloses a method, comprising:
covering an opening of a motor vehicle with a cover (5 ½” foam) before washing the motor vehicle (“Sometimes I want to wash the exterior and not get water inside the engine compartment,” 2020colorado, pg. 1) by inserting the cover into the opening in a forward direction substantially parallel to a centerline of the motor vehicle as shown below in the image taken from pg. 5 of 2020colorado:
PNG
media_image1.png
429
981
media_image1.png
Greyscale
wherein the opening is able to communicate fluid into an engine of the motor vehicle (the above mentioned opening of a C8 Corvette is known to be able to communicate fluid into an engine of the motor vehicle), and wherein the cover is configured to prevent fluid from entering the opening from an outside location (as would be inherent in the disclosed method of washing the vehicle without getting water inside the engine compartment),
wherein the cover includes a main body, wherein the main body exhibits a variable height between a front edge and a rear edge of the main body as shown below in the image taken from 2020colorado:
[AltContent: textbox (rear edge)][AltContent: textbox (maximum, non-central point)][AltContent: textbox (main body)][AltContent: textbox (front edge)][AltContent: ][AltContent: ][AltContent: ][AltContent: ]
PNG
media_image2.png
376
536
media_image2.png
Greyscale
wherein the height of the cover is at a maximum at a non-central point along a width of the main body between the front edge and the rear edge (as indicated above), wherein the height of the cover gradually and continuously increases moving along the width of the main body from the rear edge to the non-central point (as shown above), wherein the height of the cover gradually and continuously decreases moving along the width of the main body from the non-central point to front edge (as shown above),
Burhans teaches a similar method wherein a cover includes a main body as shown in Fig. 4 of Burhans, wherein the cover is formed of a rubber material (“silicone,” paragraph [0026]).
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Burhans with the method disclosed by 2020colorado for the advantage of a main body that is formed of a solid block that doesn’t require any folding skill by a user.
Lin teaches a similar cover wherein the cover includes a first tab 21 projecting generally upwardly from a location adjacent a first side of the main body, and the cover further includes a second tab 21 projecting generally upwardly from a location adjacent a second side of the main body opposite the first side (as shown in Fig. 1 of Lin).It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Morrison with the assembly disclosed by 2020colorado in view of Burhans for the advantage of the two tabs which provide convenient grasping locations for lifting and placement of the cover.
With respect to claim 16, 2020colorado discloses that the claimed method includes washing the motor vehicle after covering the opening of the motor vehicle with the cover (inherent in "I want to wash the exterior and not get water inside the engine compartment," 2020colorado, pg. 1).
With respect to claim 22, 2020colorado discloses that the opening is a first opening and the cover is a first cover (as indicated in the above image), and wherein the method further comprises:
covering a second opening of the motor vehicle (one of the "2 side vents") with a second cover, wherein the second opening is able to communicate fluid to the engine (the C8 Corvette is known to have side vents that communicate fluid to the engine) as shown below in the image taken from pg. 6 of 2020colorado:
[AltContent: textbox (second opening)][AltContent: textbox (third opening)][AltContent: textbox (first opening)][AltContent: ][AltContent: ][AltContent: ]
PNG
media_image3.png
637
592
media_image3.png
Greyscale
covering a third opening of the motor vehicle with a third cover (as shown in the first above Figure), wherein the third opening is able to communicate fluid to the engine (as is known in the C8 Corvette and shown above); and
wherein covering the second and third openings includes moving the second and third covers in a substantially vertical direction (placing the covers into the depth of the second and third openings would require at least a certain amount of movement in a substantially vertical direction).
Claims 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burhans (US 2022/0355869) in view of Morrison (US 1,984,077), as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Altadonna, Jr. (US 2014/0367433).
With respect to claim 24, Burhans in view of Morrison disclose the claimed assembly except for the tab being integrally formed with the main body. However, Altadonna, Jr. teaches a similar cover 14 including a main body and a tab 32 integrally formed with the main body (Altadonna, Jr., paragraph [0090]; Fig. 9).
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Altadonna, Jr. with the assembly disclosed by Burhans in view of Morrison for the simplicity of single-piece manufacturing.
With respect to claim 25, Burhans discloses that the cover is formed entirely of a rubber material (“silicone,” Burhans, paragraph [0026]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3, 5, 9, 11, 13-14, and 26-27 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/22/2026, regarding claims 7-8, 15, 16, and 21-25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive of any error in the above rejection.
Applicant argues that the rejection of claim 7 under 103 in view of Burhans is improper. Specifically Applicant argues that the following language from claim 7 does not merely describe an aesthetic/non-functional limitation:
Wherein the cover includes a main body, wherein the main body exhibits a variable height between a front edge and a rear edge of the main body, wherein the height of the cover is at a maximum at a non-central point along the a width of the main body between the front edge and the rear edge, wherein the height of the cover gradually and continuously increases moving along the width of the main body from the rear edge to the non- central point, wherein the height of the cover gradually and continuously decreases moving along the width of the main body from the non-central point to front edge.
Applicant indicates that the above limitations are more than aesthetic design choice because “the top surface 74 contacts a bottom of the rear glass panel 44 adjacent point 80 and the bottom surface 72 contacts a top of the body panel 62 adjacent point 80 (paragraph [0049] of Applicant’s specification). While Applicant has disclosed the language regarding the top surface 74 and the bottom surface 72, it is noted that this language is not recited in the claim. Additionally, it is not clear how this disclosed language relates to the above cited language from claim 7. In other words, the language cited from paragraph [0049] of the specification may be true without requiring the cited language from claim 7. The disclosure is silent on any particular purpose or function of the shape of the main body recited in claim 7. Thus, it appears to be a simple aesthetic design choice. It would be improper to allow a claim limitation that is simply an arbitrary shape change with no recited improvement over the prior art.
Similar arguments apply to claims 15-16 and 22-23.
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 DANIEL J COLILLA whose telephone number is (571)272-2157. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 - 4:00.
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, Amy Weisberg can be reached at 571-270-5500. 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.
/Daniel J Colilla/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612