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
Claims 4-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Invention and Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 12/10/2025.
Applicant’s election of Invention I, Species I in the reply filed on 12/10/2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: On page 4, line 11 “body art” should be “body part”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-3 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Budaker et al. (DE 103 10 505 A1; Machine Translation of Description ‘MTD’) in view of Kiforiuk et al. (US 2014/0174222).
With respect to claims 1-3 and 11-13, Budaker et al. discloses a steering rack (MTD paragraph 20) comprising: a body part (fig. 1) having ends (fig. 1), each end of the body part (10) of the steering rack (MTD paragraph 20) connectable to a respective wheel (MTD paragraph 20); and a threaded part (fig. 2; MTD paragraph 21) provided on the body part (10) of the steering rack and having screw gear teeth configured to be engageable with a ball nut (11) configured to be rotatable by a motor (6). (Figs. 1-2, MTD paragraphs 18-28.) Budaker et al. is silent regarding an over ball diameter. Kiforiuk et al. teaches of an over ball diameter of a first area (area around 15) of the screw gear teeth (11) positioned relatively adjacent to a center (15) of the threaded part of the steering rack (10) is different/greater than (paragraph 24, “the centre 15 has a larger core diameter than at the ends 12, 13”) and gradually changes/increases (fig. 2) from an over ball diameter of a second area (area around 12 and 13) of the screw gear teeth (11) positioned relatively adjacent to ends (12, 13) of the threaded part of the steering rack (10). (Figs. 1-3, paragraphs 18-32.) It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the steering rack structure as described in Kiforiuk et al. into the invention of Budaker et al. with a reasonable expectation of success so that rattling noises can be avoided for certain steering positions. (Paragraph 5.) Regarding the limitation of “a frictional force between the screw gear teeth and the ball nut in the first area is greater than a frictional force between the screw gear teeth and the ball nut in the second area/gradually increases from the ends of the threaded part of the steering rack to the center of the threaded part of the steering rack” is functional language. “[Apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does.” Hewlett-Packard Co.v.Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990) (emphasis in original). A claim containing a “recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus” if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987.) Budaker et al., as modified, discloses the structural limitation of the claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The references cited on the PTO-892 form disclose similar features of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES A ENGLISH whose telephone number is (571)270-7014. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Saturday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason Shanske can be reached at 571-270-5985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES A ENGLISH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614