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 .
Based on the IDS filed on 1/29/26 the Notice of Allowance has been withdrawn. See NPL on 1/29/26.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 8-11, 14-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang US 2019/093992 (see 1/29/26 NPL).
Regarding claims 1 and 23, Document D4/Zhang discloses:
a vehicle (figure 1), comprising:
a vehicle frame (10) comprising an exterior portion/exoskeleton;
an exterior [door] panel (20, 30, 40, 50) formed from a monolithic metal [0041] sheet and mounted to the exterior portion of the vehicle frame directly through a hinge/joint (see figure 1); and
at least one component (handle in figures 1, 11, 18 additional panels (32/33) directly attached to the exterior panel (20, 30), wherein the exterior [door] panel (20, 30, 40, 50) bears the load of the at least one component, wherein the exterior [door] panel (20, 30, 40, 50) does not comprise an additional support structure added to the exterior [door] panel, and wherein the additional support structure is selected from the group consisting of an additional metal panel, a support beam, a stamped reinforcement, an anti-intrusion bar, and combinations thereof. [0002] discloses the vehicle is an armored vehicle thus “impact protection”. See figure 1 for continuous uninterrupted exterior.
Zhang fails to explicitly teach A and B or B and C pillars or B pillar (claim 23) however the use of pillars in vehicle construction is well known in the art and used to mount doors.
Regarding claims 3 and 24, the door panel of D4 comprise steel [0041].
Regarding claims 5 and 25, the panels of D4 provide side impact protection.
Regarding claims 8 and 26, obvious design choice/known in the art to omit paint – see NF of 8/22/25 as evidence of this.
Regarding claim 9, electric motor or electric vehicles are well known in the art.
Regarding claims 10-11 the panels are passenger compartment/door panels.
Regarding claim 14, the joint is a hinge.
Regarding claims 15-22 which are various method claims – The structural limitations of the methods are listed above. Laser cutting, rolling and shaping, not heat treating of a steel door panel, claims 16-18 are common knowledge in this art to fit panel to the door and to eliminate a manufacturing step respectively. As stated no above no anti-intrusion bar is attached to the panel. D4 teaches a plurality of windows (not described but shown see figure 9) – electric window assemblies are well known in the art – such as a defrosters.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. 20160272249
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMY REGINA WEISBERG whose telephone number is (571)270-5500. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:15-4:15.
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.
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.
/AMY R WEISBERG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3612