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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species A in the reply filed on December 16, 2025 is acknowledged. Applicant does not present any arguments as to the traversal.
Therefore, the requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 3-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on December 16, 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1, 2, 17, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by PG Publication No. 201180202250 to Miyajima et al.
Regarding Claim 1, Miyajima et al disclose a brake system 1 (see Figures 1 and 2) installable in a vehicle, the brake system 1 comprising: a brake pedal 2 operable by a pedal force of a driver; a sensor 20 capable of detecting a stroke amount of the brake pedal 2; a brake circuit 4,5 configured to apply a hydraulic pressure to a wheel cylinder (8CFR, 8CRR, 8CFL, 8CRL) provided to a wheel of the vehicle to generate a braking force to brake the vehicle (see Figure 1 and paragraphs 0023-0024); a hydraulic pressure generation device 10,11 configured to cause the brake circuit 4,5 to generate a hydraulic pressure required to generate the braking force (see paragraph 0023); and an electronic control device 16 configured to control driving of the hydraulic pressure generation device 10,11 to control the braking force generated by the brake circuit 4,5 based on an output signal from the sensor 20 and a state of the vehicle (via portion 30, as described in paragraphs 0033-0034), wherein the brake pedal 2 is not mechanically connected to the hydraulic pressure generation device 10,11 (see Figure 1), the electronic control device 16 is configured to control the hydraulic pressure generated by the hydraulic pressure generation device 10,11 to execute a braking force control to set the braking force generated by the brake circuit 4,5 to a predetermined braking force, when the stroke amount of the brake pedal 2 is between a predetermined first threshold St1 and a predetermined second threshold St2, which is larger than the first threshold St1 (see Figure 4 and paragraph 0039), and control the hydraulic pressure generated by the hydraulic pressure generation device 10,11 to execute a normal control to set the braking force generated by the brake circuit 4,5 to a braking force according to the stroke amount (see paragraphs 0037-0038), when the stroke amount of the brake pedal 2 is smaller than the first threshold St1 (see paragraph 0038).
Regarding Claim 2, Miyajima et al further disclose that the braking force control is a constant braking force control to set the braking force generated by the brake circuit 4,5 to a constant braking force (see the abstract and paragraphs 0044-0045).
Regarding Claim 17, Miyajima et al further disclose that the first threshold St1 is set to a value smaller than half of an entire range of the stroke amount (see Figure 4).
Regarding Claim 18, Miyajima et al further disclose that the electronic control device 16 is configured to determine whether the stroke amount is between the predetermined first threshold St1 and the predetermined second threshold St2, according to a detection result of the sensor 20 (see paragraph 0039), and control the hydraulic pressure to set the braking force to the predetermined braking force, in response to a determination result that the stroke amount is between the predetermined first threshold St1 and the predetermined second threshold St2 (see Figure 4 and paragraph 0039).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
PG Publication No. 2023/0391299 to Komatsu et al., WO document no. WO 2016006687 to Kaneko et al., and WO document no. WO 2016121920 to Takeya et al. all disclose brake systems similar to applicant’s.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAMELA RODRIGUEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7122. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7 AM - 5 PM.
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PAMELA RODRIGUEZ
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/PAMELA RODRIGUEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 01/12/26