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 .
DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This is in response to the papers filed on 11/03/2023 for Application No. 18/386,792. Claims 1-3 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs’) received on 01/06/2026, 06/12/2024 and 11/03/2023 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US 2022/0097511).
Regarding claim 1, Wang discloses a work vehicle (1000) comprising:
a body frame (100);
a front wheel (figs. 1-2; paragraph [0049], front wheels, not labeled) for travel supported by a front portion of the body frame;
a rear wheel (figs. 1-2; paragraph [0049], rear wheels, not labeled) for travel supported by a rear portion of the body frame;
a seating section (40,50) supported by a portion of the body frame (100) between the front wheel and the rear wheel;
at least one seat frame (40) supporting a seat (50) in the seating section and including an up-down section (see annotated Figure 1A below, “UDS”) extending along an up-down direction and a front-rear section (see annotated Figure 1A below, “FRS”) extending rearward from an upper portion of the up-down section;
a battery (300); and
a motor (210) configured to output motive power for travel with use of electric power supplied from the battery (300; paragraph [0049]),
wherein the body frame comprises:
a first frame section (325,328) under the seating section;
a second frame section (330b,330c) extending upward from a rear portion (329) of the first frame section; and
a third frame section (334) extending rearward from an upper portion of the second frame section, and wherein:
the up-down section (UDS) of the at least one seat frame is attachable to the first frame section and removable therefrom (see fig. 4, i.e., up-down section UDS removed), the front-rear section (FRS) of the at least one seat frame is attachable to the second frame section or the third frame section and removable therefrom (see fig. 4, i.e., front-rear section FRS removed), and the battery (300) is between the up-down section and the second frame section and between the front-rear section and the first frame section (shown in fig. 3).
Regarding claim 2, Wang discloses the work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the at least one seat frame (40) comprises a right seat frame and a left seat frame (fig. 3, i.e., includes right and left seat brackets 40), and wherein a right end portion of the battery (300) is outward of the right seat frame in a lateral direction (see figs. 3 and 4), and a left end portion of the battery (300) is outward of the left seat frame in the lateral direction (see figs. 3 and 4).
Regarding claim 3, Wang discloses the work vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the seat (50) comprises a backrest section (52) attachable to the body frame and removable therefrom (i.e., backrest 52 is removed shown in fig. 5).
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Annotated Figure 1A
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Oyama et al. (US 2017/0174069 A1) discloses a similar structure of an electric work vehicle includes a body frame with multiple sections, a battery 8 connected to an electric motor to propel the vehicle, see at least Figures 1-5.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tinh T Dang whose telephone number is (571)270-1776. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9AM - 5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at Mon-Friday from 8AM-4:30PM at (571) 270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TINH T DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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