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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 15, 16, 18 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Boon et al (US 023/0114717). Boon et al teach:
A semiconductor device for a vehicle, the semiconductor device comprising:
circuitry configured to:
obtain sensor data from at least one sensor of the vehicle, the sensor data
indicating a damper displacement of at least one of multiple shock absorbers of the vehicle; (paragraph 6, paragraph 81)
determine, based on the sensor data, a suspension mode for the vehicle (paragraph 6, paragraph 81); and
transmit a control signal for achieving the suspension mode to a control valve that is operable to fluidly connect each of multiple hydraulic lines to each other, the multiple hydraulic lines being fluidly connected to the multiple shock absorbers.
See Boon, the abstract, paragraphs 6, 37- 39, 42, 43 and 75-85). Note specifically paragraph 81 which states that a roll angle and pitch angle are derived from displacement sensors. Also note that longitudinal comfort valves 146a, 146b are responsive to vehicle roll (see paragraphs 37, 39, 42 and 43).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1,2 and 4-14 are allowed.
Claims 17 and 20 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/4/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In particular, applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) of claims 15, 16, 18 and 19 as being anticipated by Boon et al (US 023/0114717 is not persuasive since longitudinal comfort valves 146a and 146b are responsive to roll angle and roll angle is derived from a damper displacement sensor as noted in the rejection above.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/ERICK R SOLIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747