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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Clercq (European Patent Application Publication 0468873).
Re claim 1, Clercq discloses a decorative assembly, comprising a decorative member (3 figure 2), a bearing member (19, figure 3), wherein the bearing member is arranged at a side of the decorative member (a bottom side as shown in figure 2) and comprises a support portion (the portion including 25 in figure 3) and an adhesive portion (the end portions of 19 that contact the adhesive in figure 2), and the adhesive portion is arranged at a periphery of the support portion (the adhesive 26 is arranged at the ends of 19 in figure 2), a boss (14, figure 2), wherein the boss is arranged at a side of the decorative member close to the bearing member (as shown in figure 2) and arranged facing towards the support portion; and an adhesive member (26), wherein the adhesive member is arranged between the adhesive portion and the decorative member (as shown by figure 2); wherein when the decorative member and the boss are moved in a direction towards the bearing member and the boss abuts against the support portion (as shown in figure 2), the adhesive member and the decorative member cooperatively define a gap (the gap which accommodates the adhesive 26 in figure 2), or the adhesive member and the adhesive portion cooperatively define a gap; when the boss applies pressure to the support portion, the support portion at least partially deforms (at 25a, figure 2) to define an accommodating space (8, figure 2), the boss is at least partially received in the accommodating space, and the adhesive portion and the decorative member are adhered together by the adhesive member.
Re claim 6, the support portion is elastic (at 25a, the support portion deforms to accommodate 15 and must be elastic to accomplish the coupling of the device).
Re claim 7, the boss comprises a base and a protruding portion (see the annotated figure below) connected to the base (see the annotated figure below), wherein the base is connected to the decorative member (3, figure 2), and the protruding portion is farther away from the decorative member than the base (see the annotated figure below).
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Re claim 8, a contact area between the base and the decorative member is larger than a contact area between the base and the protruding portion (see the annotated figure above).
Re claim 9, the protruding portion has a curved surface facing towards the support portion (see the annotated figure above).
Re claim 10, Clercq discloses an assembly method of a decorative assembly, comprising providing a decorative member (3, figure 2) and a boss (14, figure 2), wherein the boss is arranged at a side of the decorative member (it is arranged at a bottom side of the decorative member), providing a bearing member (19, figure 3) and an adhesive member (26), wherein the bearing member comprises a support portion (the portion including 25 in figure 3) and an adhesive portion (the end portions of 19 that contact the adhesive in figure 2) arranged at a periphery of the support portion, and the adhesive member is adhered to a side of the adhesive portion close to the decorative member (as shown in figure 2) or adhered to a side of the decorative member close to the adhesive portion; moving the decorative member and the boss in a direction towards the bearing member until the boss abuts against the support portion (as shown in figure 2), and the adhesive member and the decorative member cooperatively define a gap or the adhesive member and the adhesive portion cooperatively define a gap (as shown in figure 2), adjusting a position of the decorative member relative to the bearing member; and applying pressure to the support portion by the boss to cause the support portion to at least partially deform (at 25a, figure 2) to define an accommodating space (8, figure 2), and continuing to move the boss in the direction towards the bearing member until the boss is at least partially received in the accommodating space, and the adhesive portion and the decorative member are adhered together by the adhesive member (as shown in figure 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5, 11, and 12 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.
Claims 13-20 are allowed.
The primary reason for the indication of allowable subject matter in claims 1-12 is the inclusion in the claim of the limitations directed to each of the plurality of second portions at least partially deforms and is partially received in the avoidance groove so as to define the accommodating space. Such limitations, in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claims, are not disclosed or suggested by the prior art of record. Clercq (European Patent Publication EP0468873), the closest prior art of record, does not teach an avoidance groove in the support portion and there is no suggestion or motivation in the prior art of record to modify the device to include one.
The primary reason for the indication of allowable subject matter in claims 13-20 is the inclusion in the claim of the limitations directed to the bearing member defining an accommodating groove at a side of the bearing member, the window body being partially received in the accommodating groove. Such limitations, in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claims, are not disclosed or suggested by the prior art of record. Clercq (European Patent Publication EP0468873), the closest prior art of record, does not teach a window being partially received in an accommodating groove of the bearing member and there is no suggestion or motivation in the prior art of record to modify the device to include one.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references all disclose vehicle trim.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jason S Morrow whose telephone number is (571)272-6663. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivek Koppikar can be reached at (571) 272-5109. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON S MORROW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612
May 20, 2026
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