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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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(s) 1 and 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shogo et al. in view of Terai et al.
Re: claim 1, Shogo et al. teaches a vehicle air conditioning duct device comprising: a housing (Fig. 3 – decorative cover 28) disposed on a lateral side (See Fig. 4 – decorative cover 28) of a seat (Fig. 4 – seat 20) and on a side opposite to a vehicle door (Fig. 4 – door 10) with respect to the seat; a blowout port (Fig. 4 – warm air outlet 29) provided at a position, in the housing, between a vehicle compartment floor upper surface (Fig. 3 – floor plate 8) and a seat surface of the seat (Fig. 3 – seat 20); and a duct (Fig. 4 – duct 27) having therein a flow path for conditioned air, the duct being disposed (Fig. 4 – duct 27), at least partially, inside the housing (Fig. 4 – decorative cover 28) and connected to a vehicle air conditioner (Fig. 4 – air conditioner 24) and the blowout port (Fig. 4 – warm air outlet 29)
and a wind direction adjustment element (Fig. 9 – louver 30) having at least one fin (Fig. 9 – fins 30A) and disposed inside the blowout port (Fig. 9 – warm air outlet 29), wherein the vehicle air conditioning duct device being configured to blow out the conditioned air from the blowout port obliquely forward with respect to the seat (Paragraph 0035 – “the side plate portion 28A of the decorative cover 28 has an inclined surface portion 28A1 whose rear end portion is inclined obliquely toward the leg base 19 side”), the at least one the fin is rotatable (Paragraph 0037) in a rotation range including an obliquely-guiding position at which the at least one fin is inclined from a rear side and a depth side toward a front side and a seat side with respect to the blowout port (Paragraph 0035 – “the side plate portion 28A of the decorative cover 28 has an inclined surface portion 28A1 whose rear end portion is inclined obliquely toward the leg base 19 side”) (See Also Fig. 9 for increased clarity of fin direction). Shogo et al. fails to teach the wind direction adjustment element satisfies at least one of (i) or (ii) below:
(i) the wind direction adjustment element has an operation part for rotating the at least one fin, and an input part of the operation part for rotating the at least one fin configured to be operated by an occupant is disposed on an upper side of the blowout port and exposed to outside of the housing;
(ii) the wind direction adjustment element has an open/close damper and an operation part for rotating the open/close damper, an input part of the operation part for rotating the open/close damper configured to be operated by an occupant is disposed on an upper side of the blowout port and exposed to outside of the housing, and at least a part of the open/close damper is positioned inside the blowout port.
However, Terai et al. teaches the wind direction adjustment element satisfies at least one of (i) or (ii) below:
(i) the wind direction adjustment element (Fig. 1 – 2) has an operation part (10, 11, 12) for rotating the at least one fin (8), and an input part (12) of the operation part (10, 11, 12) for rotating the at least one fin (8) configured to be operated by an occupant is exposed to outside of the housing (See Fig. 1);
(ii) the wind direction adjustment element (2) has an open/close damper (5) and an operation part (16, 21) for rotating the open/close damper (5), an input part (21) of the operation part (16, 21) for rotating the open/close damper (5) configured to be operated by an occupant is disposed on an upper side of the blowout port (See Fig. 1) and exposed to outside of the housing (See Fig. 1), and at least a part of the open/close damper (5) is positioned inside the blowout port (See Fig. 1).
Shogo et al. and Terai et al. are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both are in the same field of vehicle air conditioning. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before to the effective filing date of the given invention to modify Shogo et al.’s louver with those of Terai et al.’s connectors and operation knobs in order to provide for a more user friendly and accessible system (i.e., physical control over the amount of air or the direction of the air allows for a user to be cooled/warmed in the area desired, when the user desires.).
Applying a known technique to a known device (method or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results is likely to be obvious. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, USPQ2d 1385, 1395 – 97 (2007) (see MPEP § 2143, D.). In the present application, adding a knob to change the direction or reduce air flow in a leg level vent would be an obvious improvement as this is present in chest level vents in vehicles.
Terai et al. fails to teach an input part of the operation part for rotating the at least one fin configured to be operated by an occupant is disposed on an upper side of the blowout port.
The relocation or rearranging of essential working parts, without any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70 (See MPEP § 2144.04). With respect to the present application, relocating the input part to the upper side of the blowout port would not produce any new or unexpected results and the apparatus would function with this relocation.
Re: claim 4, Shogo et al. teaches wherein the housing has an inclined surface (Fig. 9 – inclined surface portion 28A1 of decorative cover 28) at a front portion or a lateral portion thereof (See Fig. 9), and the blowout port (Fig. 9 – warm air outlet 29) is provided at the inclined surface.
Re: claim 5, Terai et al. additionally teaches the wind direction adjustment element (Fig. 1 – 2) has an operation part (10, 11, 12) for rotating the at least one fin (8), and an input part (12) of the operation part (10, 11, 12) for rotating the at least one fin (8) configured to be operated by an occupant is exposed to outside of the housing (See Fig. 1). Terai et al. fails to teach an input part of the operation part for rotating the at least one fin configured to be operated by an occupant is disposed on an upper side of the blowout port.
The relocation or rearranging of essential working parts, without any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70 (See MPEP § 2144.04). With respect to the present application, relocating the input part to the upper side of the blowout port would not produce any new or unexpected results and the apparatus would function with this relocation.
Claim(s) 2 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shogo et al. in view of Taylor et al. (Patent No. 4,633,770).
Re: claim 2, Shogo et al. teaches a vehicle air conditioning duct device comprising: a housing (Fig. 3 – decorative cover 28) disposed on a lateral side (See Fig. 4 – decorative cover 28) of a seat (Fig. 4 – seat 20) and on a side opposite to a vehicle door (Fig. 4 – door 10) with respect to the seat; a blowout port (Fig. 4 – warm air outlet 29) provided at a position, in the housing, between a vehicle compartment floor upper surface (Fig. 3 – floor plate 8) and a seat surface of the seat (Fig. 3 – seat 20); and a duct (Fig. 4 – duct 27) having therein a flow path for conditioned air, the duct being disposed (Fig. 4 – duct 27), at least partially, inside the housing (Fig. 4 – decorative cover 28) and connected to a vehicle air conditioner (Fig. 4 – air conditioner 24) and the blowout port (Fig. 4 – warm air outlet 29)
and a wind direction adjustment element (Fig. 9 – louver 30) having a plurality of fins (Fig. 9 – fins 30A) and disposed inside the blowout port (Fig. 9 – warm air outlet 29), wherein the vehicle air conditioning duct device being configured to blow out the conditioned air from the blowout port obliquely forward with respect to the seat (Paragraph 0035 – “the side plate portion 28A of the decorative cover 28 has an inclined surface portion 28A1 whose rear end portion is inclined obliquely toward the leg base 19 side”), each fin of the plurality of fins is rotatable (Paragraph 0037) in a rotation range including an obliquely-guiding position at which the at least one fin is inclined from a rear side and a depth side toward a front side and a seat side with respect to the blowout port (Paragraph 0035 – “the side plate portion 28A of the decorative cover 28 has an inclined surface portion 28A1 whose rear end portion is inclined obliquely toward the leg base 19 side”) (See Also Fig. 9 for increased clarity of fin direction). Shogo et al. fails to teach the end portions of the plurality of fins are arranged such that the end portions that are included in fins of the plurality of fins that are positioned more rearward are further away from the seat.
However, Taylor et al. teaches the end portions (Annotated Fig. 2 – end portions) of the plurality of fins (Fig. 2 – 36) are arranged such that the end portions that are included in fins of the plurality of fins that are positioned more rearward are further away (Annotated Fig. 2 – increasing lengths).
Shogo et al. and Taylor et al. are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both are in the same field of air conditioning. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before to the effective filing date of the given invention to modify Shogo et al.’s louvers with those of Taylor et al.’s louvers in order to provide the advantage of being able to direct more conditioned air toward a user as the air moves along the louvers.
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Re claim 6, Taylor et al. additionally teaches wherein protrusion lengths of the plurality of fins (36) increase from the front side (side of 34) to the rear side (side of 32) (See Annotated Fig. 2 – increasing lengths).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The cited prior art whether in full or in combination fails to teach or reasonably suggest the open/close damper is rotatable in a rotation range including a damper obliquely-guiding position at which the open/close damper is inclined from the front side and the depth side to the rear side and the seat side. Modification of the prior art to fit all the limitations of claim 3 would be building to the spec and thus is deemed allowable.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 8-12, filed 12/15/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of amended claim(s) 1-2 and 4 under U.S.C. 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made for claims 1 and 4 in view of Shogo et al. and Terai et al. and for claim 2 in view of Shogo et al. and Taylor et al.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILIP C ADAMS whose telephone number is (571)272-3421. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30 - 4:00 CT.
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/PHILIP C ADAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 3612
/AMY R WEISBERG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3612