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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yunoue et al. (WO 2011/102042 A1).
Yunoue et al. ‘042 (“Yunoue”) discloses a working vehicle having:
CLAIM 1 a vehicle body (3);
a travel unit (2);
a working unit (4) working by a hydraulic pressure (from 17); and
an electric motor (18) that serves as a drive source for the travel unit or the working unit, wherein the working vehicle comprises:
a first device chamber (10) provided in a front portion of the vehicle body;
a second device chamber (11) provided in a rear portion of the vehicle body;
a first partition (8) that partitions the first device chamber (10) from surroundings inside the vehicle body; and
a second partition (9) that partitions the second device chamber from the surroundings inside the vehicle body,
wherein the first device chamber (10) comprises devices (17, 18) that generate heat and that become relatively high temperature or have relatively high heat resistance, the device including:
a hydraulic pump (17) that supplies hydraulic oil to the travel unit (2) or the working unit (4);
an electric motor (18) that drives the hydraulic pump (17);
and an inverter (19) that controls a driving voltage of the electric motor; and
wherein the second device chamber (11) comprises devices that generate heat and that do not become relatively high temperature or have relatively low heat resistance, the device including:
an on-board charger (inherently) that supplies electric power for driving the electric motor;
a battery pack (31) having a rechargeable battery that stores the electric power supplied from the on-board charger;
a converter (inherently) that converts an output voltage of the battery pack; and
a controller (24), and
wherein the first device chamber (10) and the second device chamber (11) are separately cooled by different fans (30, 40), respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02 January 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Rejection Under 35 U.S.C. §102
Applicant argues Yunoue fails to teach devices that generate heat and become relatively high temperature, as required by claim 1. The examiner contends electric motors (Yunoue, 18) and inverters (Yunoue, 19) of the first device chamber (Yunoue, 10) both generate relatively high heat. Thus, the rejection is maintained.
Applicant further argues Yunoue fails to teach an on-board charger, a converter, and a controller. The examiner has addressed each of the claimed elements in the above rejection. Specifically, Yunoue discloses:
an on-board charger (inherently) that supplies electric power for driving the electric motor;
a converter (inherently) that converts an output voltage of the battery pack; and
a controller (24).
The rejection of claim 1 is maintained.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 TARA MAYO whose telephone number is (571)272-6992. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:30AM-5:00PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Rocca can be reached at 571-272-8971. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TARA MAYO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3671
/tm/
09 March 2026