DETAILED ACTION
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
This Final action is in reply to the application 18207559 amendment filed on 12/05/2025.
Claim 1 is amended
Claim 2 is cancelled
Claims 1 , 3 – 9 are currently pending and have been examined.
Response to Arguments
The examiner states that the applicants amendments with regards to claim 2 specifically with gullwing doors is not persuasive due to a new grounds of rejection necessitated by the applicants amendment. The newly amended claim is now rejected by AUWM that disclose the applicants amended claim limitations that further detail the gull wing door and a member with a width less than a width of the upper edge of the respective door. The dependent claims are still further rejected based upon the independent claims. The applicants arguments are not persuasive.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3 – 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by US PG Pub 20050204587 – Kime et al. hereinafter as KIME in view of NPL: ATE UP WITH MOTORS – Auwm et al hereinafter as AUWM in view of 20220266775 – Mezaael et al. hereinafter as MEZAAEL in view of US PG Pub 20080236275 – Breed et al. hereinafter as BREED in further view of US PG Pub 20140103627 - Deckard et al. hereinafter as DECKARD
Regarding Claim 1:
KIME discloses:
A snow removal assembly for removing snow from a driveway and applying salt to inhibit the formation of ice, said assembly comprising: ( fig. 1 vehicle with plow and a salt applicator / distributor)
a vehicle having a cab and a plurality of wheels, (fig. 1 vehicle 14 with cab 12 a plurality of wheels 26 and 30) said vehicle having a pair of doors each being hingedly attached to said cab(fig. 1 doors attached to cab 12 ); a snow plow being movably attached to said vehicle thereby facilitating said snow plow to push snow from a driveway when said vehicle is driven on the roadway, said snow plow being positionable at a variety of angles on said vehicle thereby facilitating said snow plow to push the snow in a chosen direction on the driveway;(fig. 10 plow can move up and down left or right with plow switch) and a salt spreader being attached to said vehicle, said salt spreader containing granular salt, said salt spreader releasing the granular salt onto the driveway when said salt spreader is turned on to inhibit the formation of ice on the driveway. ( para. 0047 – salt auger and spinner 42 – distribution of salt on roadway 24)
said vehicle has a front end and a rear end,( fig. 1 front end includes plow and front of truck, rear end includes salt spreader and rear truck bed)
PNG
media_image1.png
344
684
media_image1.png
Greyscale
KIME discloses of conventional doors of a vehicle, AUWM discloses of an articulating gull wing doors. (AUWM - First Image, second image and fourth image)
AUWM discloses:
said door pivoting vertically on said cab when said door are positioned in an open position (AUWM - Second Image – wherein the door is positioned open )
said cab has a roof and a windshield and a first entry and a second entry, said roof having a pair of cut outs each being aligned with a respective one of said first entry and said second entry; (AUWM - Second Image – wherein the both doors have roof of cab and windshield for a first entry and a second entry cutout being aligned with each entry )
wherein each of said doors has a hinge being located in a respective one of said cut outs (AUWM - Second Image – door is hinged in the respective cutout )being attached to an upper edge of a respective one of said doors (AUWM - Second Image – door is attached to upper edge of a door ), said member having a width less than a width of said upper edge of said respective one of said doors (Second image – where in the member has less width than the door portion of the gullwing door ) , said member being positioned spaced from forward and rearward ends of the respective one of said doors, (second image, see door) said member being perpendicularly oriented with said respective door such that said respective door lies on a horizontal plane ( second image, see door that is perpendicular oriented such that the door is horizontal ) when said respective door is opened(second image – see horizontal door)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicants invention for KIME’s conventional doors to utilize AUWM’s pivoting vertical gullwing doors as this would allow KIME to allow to a passenger or a driver to have access the interior cabin to improve ease of access and could function as a side impact safety feature.
KIME / AUWM disclose a vehicle, MEZAAEL discloses
a plurality of light emitters, each of said light emitters being attached to said cab of said vehicle wherein each of said light emitters is configured to emit light outwardly from said cab;
a strobe light being attached to said roof of said cab, said strobe light sequentially turning on and off when said strobe light is actuated wherein said strobe light is configured to visually communicate a caution signal;(fig. 1 strobe 115, cab 101)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicants invention for KIME / AUWM’s to utilize MEZAAEL’s plurality of light emitters, each of said light emitters being attached to said cab of said vehicle wherein each of said light emitters is configured to emit light outwardly from said cab, a strobe light being attached to said roof of said cab, said strobe light sequentially turning on and off when said strobe light is actuated wherein said strobe light is configured to visually communicate a caution signal as this would allow KIME to improve the method of deploying a plow and activating the strobe lights at the same time. ( para. 0046)
PNG
media_image2.png
338
456
media_image2.png
Greyscale
KIME / AUWM /MEZAAEL disclose of a cab for a driver, BREED discloses:
vehicle has a console being located adjacent to said driver's seat, said console having a pair of cup holders each being recessed in to said console; (para. 0788 - where in a cupholder)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicants invention for KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL vehicle to include driver seat belt and cup holder in console as disclosed in BREED. Breed teaches that cup holders as part of a center console are a common vehicle accessory known to be provided to a driver (Paragraph 0788).
KIME / AUWM /MEZAAEL / BREED disclose of a vehicle with seat belts within the cab, DECKARD discloses:
said vehicle having a driver's seat being positioned within said cab;
said driver's seat includes a safety harness comprising a pair of lap belts and a pair of shoulder belts, said lap belts and said shoulder belts being matable to each other to form a criss-cross pattern for securing a driver to said driver's seat; (Fig. 64 and 65 discloses of driver seat 5 point safety harness that has lap and should belts that criss-cross for securing the driver 1452,1460, 1478, 1466, 1450, 1456)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicants invention for KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL / BREED vehicle to include driver seat belt to utilize the driver seat including a safety harness comprising a pair of lap belts and a pair of shoulder belts, said lap belts and said shoulder belts being matable to each other to form a criss cross pattern for securing a driver to said driver seat as taught by DECKARD. DECKARD multiple seat belt configurations to secure passengers and drivers into vehicles(Fig. 63, 64, 65 and 66 and para. 0195, 0203, 0211).
Regarding Claim 3:
KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL / BREED / DECKARD discloses claim 2:
MEZAAEL discloses the light emitters in claim 2
MEZAAEL discloses
3. The assembly according to claim 2, wherein respective ones of said light emitters is positioned on said roof of said cab at point located over said windshield wherein said light emitters over said windshield is configured to illuminate an area in front of said vehicle, (fig. 1 Light emitters over said windshield 107)respective ones of said light emitters being positioned on said roof of said cab at a point located at a rear side of said cab wherein each of said light emitters on said rear side are configured to illuminate an area behind said vehicle, ( fig. 1 - spotlight 105)each of said light emitters being electrically coupled to a power source comprising an electrical system of said vehicle. (fig. 1 107 lights shinning over the front of vehicle.)
Regarding Claim 4:
KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL / BREED / DECKARD discloses claim 1:
KIME disclose:
The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said snow plow has a lower edge, an upper edge and an outer surface extending between said lower edge and said upper edge, said outer surface having a front side and a back side, said front side being concavely arcuate between said lower edge and said upper edge thereby enhancing the snow to travel upwardly along the snow plow when said snow plow pushes the snow, said front side having a curve positioned adjacent to said upper edge which has a radius of curvature being less than a radius of curvature of said front side between said curve and said lower edge such that said upper edge is directed downwardly toward said lower edge such that said curve inhibits the snow from passing over said snow plow when said snow plow pushes the snow, (fig. 1 – wherein the snow plow has a lower edge and an upper edge outer surface with a front side and a back side, wherein the curve is sharper towards the top vs the bottom of the plow)
said snow plow including a pivot extending away from said back side of said outer surface, said pivot being centrally positioned along a width of said snow plow. ( para. 0051 – plow blade that can move side to side and up and down, wherein centrally positioned along a width wherein the elements are connected laterally inward from the edges)
PNG
media_image1.png
344
684
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 5:
KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL / BREED / DECKARD discloses claim 4:
KIME discloses
5. The assembly according to claim 4, further comprising a plow motor being disposed on a front end of said vehicle, said plow motor engaging said pivot on said back side of said outer surface of said snow plow, said plow motor rotating in a first direction or a second direction, said plow motor having an axis of rotation being perpendicularly oriented with said pivot, said snow plow being angled to the left on said vehicle when said plow motor rotates in said first direction, said snow plow being angled to the right on said vehicle when said plow motor rotates in said second direction, said plow motor being electrically coupled to said power source comprising said electrical system of said vehicle. (para. 0072 – plow is activated by a switch and motor hydraulic pump assembly 104 and fig. 1, can angle plow up and down , left and right)
Regarding Claim 6:
KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL / BREED / DECKARD discloses claim 1:
KIME disclose:
6. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein: said salt spreader includes a hopper and a chute being in fluid communication with said hopper and a dispensing nozzle being in fluid communication with said chute; said salt spreader includes an auger being rotatably disposed within said chute, ( para. 0047 – chute and auger) said auger extending between said hopper and said dispensing nozzle, said auger urging salt downwardly through said chute and outwardly through said dispensing nozzle when said auger is turned on;( para. 0048 – nozzle) said salt spreader includes an auger motor being positioned within said salt spreader, said auger motor having an output shaft engaging a lower end of said auger, said output shaft being perpendicularly oriented with said auger, said output shaft rotating in a first direction when said auger motor is turned on thereby rotating said auger; and said auger motor being electrically coupled to a power source comprising an electrical system of said vehicle. ( para. 0047 , 0049 - - auger motor and spinner)
Regarding Claim 7:
KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL / BREED / DECKARD discloses claim 1:
KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL/ DECKARD disclose of vehicle components, BREED discloses:
The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising: a tool box being attached to said cab of said vehicle, said tool box including a lid being hingedly disposed on said tool box for opening and closing said tool box, said tool box being positioned on a first lateral side of said cab, said tool box being located behind a respective one of said doors; and a fire extinguisher being removably attached to said cab of said vehicle, said fire extinguisher being positioned on a second lateral side of said cab, said fire extinguisher being located behind a respective one of said doors. ( para. 0039 - where in a tool box based on broadest reasonable interpretation is interpreted to be compartment to store things, such that a glove box can be used as a tool box. Para. 00583 - And an extinguisher can be located within any location of the cab.)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicants invention for KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL/ DECKARD vehicle to include vehicle components and also include vehicle components that include a tool box and a fire extinguisher as disclosed in BREED. Doing so merely constitutes the substitution of one known vehicle functions for another to produce an alternate tool box (MPEP 2143, subsection I, B).
Regarding Claim 8:
KIME discloses, as detailed above, a control panel for a user in the cab to adjust operations of different systems, but fails to disclose the additional camera and electrical control details, BREED discloses:
The assembly according to claim 1, further comprising: a display being positioned within said cab of said vehicle(para. 0598 – display), said display being positioned in a conspicuous location in said vehicle thereby enhancing visibility of said display for a driver(para. 0598 – display), said display being electrically coupled to said power source comprising said electrical system of said vehicle;( para. 0748 – electrical and wires) and a rear view camera being disposed on said rear end of said vehicle thereby facilitating said rear view camera to capture imagery of the area behind said vehicle, said rear view camera being electrically coupled to said display thereby facilitating said display to display imagery captured by said rear view camera wherein said rear view camera is configured to facilitate the driver to see behind said vehicle when the vehicle is backing. ( para. 0836 - exterior monitoring detecting objects around the vehicle)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicants invention for KIME / GREENE / MEZAAEL vehicle to include vehicle components and also include vehicle components display and rear view camera as disclosed in BREED. Doing so merely constitutes the substitution of one known vehicle functions for another to produce the predictable result of an alternate display and rear view camera(MPEP 2143, subsection I, B).
Claim(s) 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by US PG Pub 20050204587 – Kime et al. hereinafter as KIME in view of NPL: ATE UP WITH MOTORS – Auwm et al .hereinafter as AUWM in view of 20220266775 – Mezaael et al. hereinafter as MEZAAEL in view of US PG Pub 20080236275 – Breed et al. hereinafter as BREED in further view of US PG Pub 20140103627 - Deckard et al. hereinafter as DECKARD in further view of US PG Pub 20180265007 – Good et al. hereinafter as GOOD
Regarding Claim 9:
KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL / BREED / DECKARD discloses limitations above:
KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL / BREED / DECKARD disclose of a plow vehicle, GOOD discloses of a tow hitch for a vehicle.
a tow hitch being coupled to and extending rearwardly from said rear end of said vehicle, said tow hitch including a ball for engaging a trailer hitch of a trailer for towing the trailer with said vehicle. (para. 0025 – hitch ball mount tow)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicants invention for KIME / AUWM / MEZAAEL / BREED / DECKARD vehicle to carry implements such as a plow and accessories to utilize a tow hitch including a ball for engaging a trailer hitch of a trailer for towing the trailer with said vehicle disclosed in GOOD. Doing so merely constitutes the substitution of one known vehicle functions for another to produce the predictable result of Vehicle components(MPEP 2143, subsection I, B). This would allow GOOD to improve the ability carry accessory( para. 0009)
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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PG Pub 20230121910 – DIEPHUIS - side door entry for a vehicle
US4378658 – DELOREAN – mounting a vehicle door for a DeLorean
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALFRED H TSUI whose telephone number is (571)272-9511. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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, Chris Sebesta can be reached on 5712720547. 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.
/A.H.T/Examiner, Art Unit 3671
/CHRISTOPHER J SEBESTA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3671