DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the applicant’s reply filed on February 13, 2026. Claims 1-2 and 4-10 are pending and addressed below.
Response to Amendment
In response to the applicant’s amendment to the abstract, the objection to the Specification has been withdrawn.
Claim 1 has been amended. Claim 3 is cancelled. Claims 1 and 3-10 are pending and addressed below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-3 and 4-10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on February 13, 2026 has been considered by the Examiner.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cha Dong et al., Korean Patent No. KR 101756031 (hereinafter Cha Dong) (all citations are to the English translation dated 10/16/ 2025) in view of Bauer et al., German Patent No. DE 102018114519 A1 (hereinafter Bauer) (all citations are to the English translation dated 2026).
Claim 1: Cha Dong discloses a spoiler system (spoiler system 400) for a vehicle (abstract), the system comprising:
an active rear spoiler (upper panel 262) (Fig 4, pg 3);
a controller (controller 300) configured to control the active rear spoiler (controller 300 controls the spoiler device 400 and receives information related to the vehicle speed, pg 5); and
a channel (space between upper panel 262 and lower panel 264) and an additional active spoiler (lower panel 264) for arranging on a tail of a vehicle (see Fig 4),
wherein the additional active spoiler (264) is arranged below the active rear spoiler (as shown in Fig 4 lower panel 264 is below upper panel 262),
wherein the channel is arranged between the active rear spoiler (262) and the additional active spoiler (264) (channel is the space between upper panel 262 and lower panel 264), and wherein the controller (300) is further configured to control the additional active spoiler (spoiler device 400 described above, including upper panel 262 and lower panel 264 is driven under the control of the controller 300, pg 5), and
wherein the controller (300) is configured to control the active rear spoiler (262) and the additional active spoiler (264) such that the active rear spoiler (262) and the additional active spoiler (264) form parallel walls of the channel (as shown in Fig 4, pg 5);
wherein the active rear spoiler (262) is connected to a motor (drive motor 240) for turning the active rear spoiler (262), the additional active rear spoiler (264) is connected to the motor (240) for turning the additional active rear spoiler (264) (upper panel 262 and lower panel 264 are rotated during operation of the drive motor 240, pg 3)
and at least one signal line connects the controller to the motor (flap device 200 controlled by the controller 300, pg 2, operation motor 420 is driven under the control of the controller 300, pg 4
Cha Dong fails to discloses wherein the active rear spoiler is connected to a first motor for turning the active rear spoiler, the additional active rear spoiler is connected to a second motor for turning the additional active rear spoiler and at least one signal line.
Bauer discloses a vehicle (motor vehicle 14) wherein the active rear spoiler (16/17) is connected to a first motor (motor M1) for turning the active rear spoiler (moved by motor M1), the additional active rear spoiler (18) is connected to a second motor (motor M2) for turning the additional active rear spoiler (18) and at least one signal line (motors are moved continuously and electrically, pg 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the motor of the spoiler system of Cha Dong to include a first and second motor connected to the controller by at least one signal line as disclosed by Bauer, as applying the known technique of a first and second motor connected to the controller would have yielded the predictable results of allowing the active rear spoiler and the additional active rear spoiler to be controlled independently (Bauer, Fig 2, pg 3).
Claim 2: Cha Dong, as modified by Bauer, discloses wherein the controller (Cha Dong, 300) is configured to control the active rear spoiler (Cha Dong, upper panel 262) and the additional active spoiler (Cha Dong, lower panel 264) simultaneously (Bauer, the movement of the wing device 16 and the movement of the spoiler device 18 be coupled, Fig 2, pg 3).
Claim 4: Cha Dong, as modified by Bauer, discloses wherein the active rear spoiler (Cha Dong, 262) is a floating spoiler (Cha Dong, as shown in Fig 3-4).
Claim 5: Cha Dong, as modified by Bauer, discloses wherein the additional active spoiler (Cha Dong, 262) comprise a leading edge (Cha Dong, forward edge of 262), which is attached to a tail of a vehicle (as shown in Fig 3-4), wherein the additional active spoiler (264) is pivotable around the leading edge.
Claim 6: Cha Dong, as modified by Bauer, discloses a vehicle comprising a tail (Cha Dong, shown in Fig 1), a top surface facing upwards (Cha Dong, see Fig 1-4) and the spoiler system (Cha Dong, see Fig 3-4) according to claim 1, wherein the spoiler system is attached to the tail (spoiler system 400) and the additional active spoiler (264) comprises a channel facing surface (top surface of 264), which adds to the top surface (see the construction as shown in Fig 2).
Claim 7: Cha Dong, as modified by Bauer, discloses he additional active spoiler (264) comprises an undeployed position (Cha Dong, as shown in Fig 1-2) and at least one deployed position (Cha Dong, as shown in Fig 3-4) wherein the additional active spoiler (264) is arranged flat on the tail in the undeployed position (Cha Dong, 262 and 264 are flat on spoiler device 400 see Fig 1-2) and is splayed from the tail in the deployed position (as shown in Fig 3-4).
Claim 8: Cha Dong, as modified by Bauer, discloses a method for controlling a spoiler system (Cha Dong, spoiler system 400) of a vehicle the method comprising the following steps:
determining a spoiler setting (positioning of spoiler device 400) based on at least one driving property of the vehicle (Cha Dong, controller 300 controls the spoiler device 400 and receives information related to the vehicle speed, pg 5);
adapting the active rear spoiler according to the determined spoiler setting (Cha Dong, when vehicle speed reaches the pre-stored set speed, spoiler device 400 can be controlled so that the spoiler panel 460 can be lowered and drawn out; pg 5); and
pivoting the additional active spoiler (lower panel 264a) according to the pivoting angle of the active rear spoiler (flap panel 262) (Cha Dong, upper panel 262 is rotatably mounted on the upper panel 222 via the link mechanism 280, 262 and the lower panel 264 can be connected to each other, pg 3).
Claim 9: Cha Dong, as modified by Bauer, discloses wherein in the step of pivoting the additional active spoiler (264) according to the pivoting angle of the active rear spoiler (262) (as shown in Fig 4), the additional active spoiler is pivoted to a position being parallel to the active rear spoiler (262 and 264 are pivoted into parallel in Fig 4).
Claim 10: Cha Dong, as modified by Bauer, discloses wherein the active rear spoiler (Cha Dong, 262) and the additional active spoiler (Cha Dong, 264) are pivoted simultaneously (Bauer, the movement of the wing device 16 and the movement of the spoiler device 18 be coupled, Fig 2, pg 3).
Conclusion
Claims 1-2 and 4-10 are rejected. No claims area allowed.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CAROLINE N BUTCHER whose telephone number is (571)272-1623. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10-6 pm EST.
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/CAROLINE N BUTCHER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3676