DETAILED ACTION
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 1-6, 8-10, and 21-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taurasi et al., US Patent Application Publication 2014/0091581A1.
Regarding claim 1, Taurasi provides the great major of the claimed invention, including a latch for a closure panel of a vehicle comprising a housing; a ratchet 24 pivotally mounted the housing for moving between an open position and a primary position; a pawl 44 pivotally mounted on the housing, the pawl biased towards the ratchet for holding the ratchet in a secondary position and in the primary position (see [0033]), the secondary position located between the open position and the primary position; and a position sensor 140.
Regarding claim 1, Taurasi provide this claimed invention except clear explicit teaching of a sensor for detecting the position of the rachet, including the primary and secondary positions of the rachet, as claimed. However, the examiner servers Official Notice that the use of sensors in such latching arrangement for determining the operational states of various components of the device, including pawl and rachet position, is a well-known concept in the art, for providing means of monitoring the status of the latching or locking device. It would have been obvious at the time the invention was made for one having ordinary skill in the art o have modified the device in this way for the purpose of providing means of monitoring the status of the latching or locking device, as well known in the art.
Claims 2-6, 8-10, and 21-30 are rejected with the same or similar reasoning of the prior Office Action.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7, as best understood, would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the 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 and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Applicant's arguments filed 3-17-26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the broadest reasonable interpretation of the examiner with respect to the sensor is inappropriate for an anticipatory rejection. However, without conceding this point, the examiner has modified the art rejection to a 103-rejection based on common well-known structure in the art. Thus, the rejection is considered proper and maintained.
Conclusion
This action is non-final.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARK A WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)272-7064. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christine Mills can be reached at (571) 272-8322. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARK A WILLIAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3675
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