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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/03/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 06/03/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of a new ground of rejections.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukuda et al. (US 2020/0391698 A1 – hereinafter Fukuda) and Ikeno (US 2024/0103135 – hereinafter Ikeno).
Regarding claim 7, Fukuda discloses a vehicle (Fig. 1; [0028]), comprising a front window (Fig. 1; [0028] – windshield 1), a camera disposed on a cabin side of the front window to capture an image of an external environment through the front window (Figs. 1-2; [0028]-[0029] – camera 100), and a heater for raising a temperature of an area of the front window including a region inside a field of view of the camera (Fig. 2; [0035]-[0036] – heater 11), wherein the front window comprises: a first window panel fitted into a window frame of a vehicle body (Figs. 1-2 – first window panel 1); and a second window panel formed as a separate member from the first window panel and disposed in the area including the region inside the field of view of the camera (Fig. 2; [0030]-[0032] – inner glass 2), and wherein a heat insulation member is disposed between the first window panel and the second window panel (Fig. 2; [0032] – heat insulating portion 3 formed between the inner glass 2 and the windshield 1), the vehicle further comprising a holding member that holds the camera to fix the camera to the vehicle body, wherein the heater is disposed on the holding member (Fig. 2 – inner glass 2 is disposed with the windshield 1 together with holding member 10), wherein the holding member is fixed to the second window panel, and is fixed to the first window panel via the second window panel (Fig. 2).
However, Fukuda does not disclose the holding member is fixed to an inner surface of the second window panel, and is fixed to the first window panel via the second window panel, the holding member not being directly fixed to the first window panel.
Ikeno discloses a holding member is fixed to an inner surface of the second window panel (Fig. 2; [0019] – a holding member, i.e. bracket 13, is fixed to an inner surface of a second window panel, i.e. cover member 12), and is fixed to the first window panel via the second window panel, the holding member not being directly fixed to the first window panel (Fig. 2; [0029] – fixed to the first window panel, i.e. the windshield 2, via second window panel 12 at edges 12a by adhesive 12b), not directly fixed to the first window panel).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings of Ikeno into the vehicle taught by Fukuda because such an implementation would have been advantageous due to easy installation.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4 and 9 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 1 recites, “the first holding member and the second holding member being separately formed and separately fixed to the first
window panel and the second window panel, respectively, before the first holding member and the second holding member are joined together, wherein the first holding member and the second holding member are joined and fixed to each other so that the first window panel and the second window panel are united with each other,” which are features not disclosed by prior art.
Specifically, the limitations above recite a process of assembling the first and second holding members that hold the camera to the first and second window panels. An example is shown in Fig. 11A and Fig. 11B, in which the first holding member 51 is fixed to the first window panel 11, the second holding member 52 is separately fixed to the second window panel 12, the whole thing comprising the second window panel 12 and the second holding member 52 is then fixed to the first window panel and the first holding member to complete the assembly as shown in Fig. 11A. Prior art of record does not disclose the limitations.
Claims 2-4 and 9 are allowable at least by virtue of dependency.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUNG Q DANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1116. The examiner can normally be reached IFT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thai Q Tran can be reached at 571-272-7382. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HUNG Q DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2484
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