DETAILED ACTION
The following action is in response to the amendment filed for application 18/396,468 on May 21, 2026.
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(s) 1 and 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakayama (US 20180093731). With regard to claim 1, Nakayama teaches a cowling structure for a straddle-type vehicle, the cowling structure comprising: a front cowling 34 covering a vehicle front portion from a front side; and a pair of side cowlings 35 covering the vehicle front portion from lateral sides, wherein the pair of side cowlings each include: an outer cowling 42 forming an outer surface of the side cowling; and an inner cowling 41 forming an inner surface of the side cowling, and wherein the outer cowling 42 and the inner cowling 41 are overlapped in a left-right direction to form side cowling hollow, and wherein the inner cowling 41 is formed with a ventilation hole 51 through which traveling wind passing below the front cowling blows toward a rear side. With regard to claim 8, Nakayama teaches the structure wherein, in a side view of the vehicle, the outer cowling 42 overlaps the ventilation hole 51 of the inner cowling 41, and the outer cowling covers the ventilation hole of the inner cowling from an outer side in a vehicle-width direction (Fig. 8). With regard to claim 9, Nakayama teaches the structure, wherein, in the side view of the vehicle, the outer cowling 42 overlaps a rear edge of the ventilation hole 51 of the inner cowling 41, and the outer cowling covers the ventilation hole of the inner cowling and a rear side of the ventilation hole from the outer side in the vehicle-width direction (Fig. 8). With regard to claim 10, Nakayama teaches the structure, wherein, in the side view of the vehicle, the outer cowling 42 fully overlaps the ventilation hole 51 of the inner cowling 41 (Fig. 8). With regard to claim 11, Nakayama teaches the structure, wherein, in the side view of the vehicle, the outer cowling 42 fully overlaps the ventilation hole 51 of the inner cowling 41.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-13 are allowed.
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: the prior art of record fails to show or render obvious the cowling structure as claimed, and particularly including wherein the inner cowling is formed with a bulging portion bulging toward an inner side in a vehicle width direction, and a lower wall of the bulging portion is inclined obliquely downward to the rear side, below the front cowling, and wherein the ventilation hole is formed in the lower wall of the bulging portion, and including the remaining structure of claim 2. The present invention also particularly includes the structure wherein the inner cowling is formed with a wind guide wall configured to guide, to the rear side, traveling wind entered the ventilation hole (interpreted as a wall guiding the air vented through said ventilation hole), and including the remaining structure of claim 3. Claims 4-7 depend upon claim 3. The present invention also particularly includes the structure, wherein the inner cowling is formed with a wind guide wall configured to guide, to the rear side, traveling wind entered the ventilation hole, wherein the wind guide wall extends, from the ventilation hole, toward an inlet of an air cleaner, and wherein, in a side view, an extension line obtained by extending a downstream wall surface of the wind guide wall is located below the inlet of the air cleaner, and including the remaining structure of claim 12. The present invention also particularly includes the structure, wherein the inner cowling is formed with a wind guide wall configured to guide, to the rear side, traveling wind entered the ventilation hole, wherein an accommodation space for an electrical component is formed in the inner cowling, and the wind guide wall extends to separate a flow path of traveling wind entered from the ventilation hole and the accommodation space for the electrical component, and including the remaining structure of claim 13.
Response to Arguments
With regard to the Nakayama ‘731 reference, based on applicant’s new amendment, a new interpretation of the limitations has been applied. Although Nakayama teaches the new limitations of claim 1 (and new claims 8-11), Nakayama no longer teaches the limitation of claim 3.
Applicant’s arguments with regard to Sawada (US 20220073165) have been fully considered and are persuasive.
Conclusion
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.
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/ROGER L PANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
/ROGER L. PANG/
Examiner
Art Unit 3655B
June 9, 2026
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