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 .
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kawai (JP 3376839).
With respect to claim 1, Kawai discloses a cowling structure for a straddle-type vehicle, the cowling structure comprising:
a front cowling 11 covering a vehicle front portion from a front side, wherein a lamp unit 30 is installed inside the front cowling 11,
wherein a lower surface of the front cowling is inclined obliquely downward to a rear side as shown below in the image taken from Fig. 1 of Kawai:
[AltContent: textbox (`)]
PNG
media_image1.png
181
315
media_image1.png
Greyscale
[AltContent: textbox (inclined, lower surface)]
wherein the lower surface is formed with a first ventilation hole 12A (hole 12A acts as a ventilation hole since air hitting the cowling 11 would pass through to the other side of the cowling 11) through which traveling wind blows,
wherein the lamp unit 30 includes:
a lamp (“headlight”) configured to illuminate a front of a vehicle; and
an optical axis adjustment portion 36 configured to adjust an optical axis of the lamp, and wherein the optical axis adjustment portion 36 is configured to receive an operation with a tool 50, through the first ventilation hole 12A (see middle of pg. 4 of the machine translation of Kawai).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 2-6 have been indicated as containing allowable subject matter primarily for the lower surface of the front cowling being formed in two upper and lower stages, wherein the lower surface on an upper stage side of the front cowling is inclined obliquely downward to the rear side, wherein the first ventilation hole through which traveling wind blows is formed in the lower surface on the upper stage side of the front cowling, the upper optical axis adjustment portion being configured to adjust optical axes of the upper lamp, the lower optical axis adjustment portion being configured to adjust optical axes of the lower lamp, and wherein the first ventilation hole is formed in the lower surface on the upper stage side of the front cowling, on an outer side in a vehicle width direction of the lower lamp.
Claim 7 has been indicated as containing allowable subject matter primarily for the pair of side cowlings covering the vehicle front portion from lateral sides, wherein the first ventilation hole is covered, from a lateral side, by the side cowling, and the first ventilation hole is exposed, from the side cowling, obliquely downward on an outer side in a vehicle width direction.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL J COLILLA whose telephone number is (571)272-2157. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 - 4:00.
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, Amy Weisberg can be reached at 571-270-5500. 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.
/Daniel J Colilla/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612