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 .
The indicated allowability of claims 11 and 12 is withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to Penner (US 2007/0182189). Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow.
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.
Claims 2-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guerreiro (US 11407454) in view of Penner (US 2007/0182189).
Regarding claim 11, Guerreiro discloses a cross car beam (10) for a vehicle, the cross car beam comprising: a first main body (44) comprising a first end and a second end (see annotation below), the first main body extends in a longitudinal direction from the first end to the second end, wherein the first main body has a u-shaped cross section (Fig. 8) following the longitudinal direction, and wherein the cross car beam is formed integrally by at least one fiber reinforced polymer (Abstract). Guerreiro further discloses that a glove compartment is attached to the main body (col. 4, line 39).
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Guerreiro does not disclose the details of the glove box housing.
Penner discloses a glove box housing wherein and a wall thickness (Fig. 8 at 84) of the glove box housing facing the first main body is thicker compared to the wall thickness of the glove box housing facing a passenger compartment (Fig. 3, portion near 58).
It would have been obvious to have a wall thickness of the glove box housing facing the first main body being thicker compared to the wall thickness of the glove box housing facing a passenger compartment as taught by Penner. The motivation would have been to facilitate transferring of energy through the main body as taught by Penner (paragraph 0043).
Regarding claim 2, Guerriero disclose injection molding at col. 6, line 20.
Regarding claim 3, Guerriero discloses the main body 44 has a u-shaped cross section.
Regarding claim 4, Guerriero discloses reinforcing ribs 38.
Regarding claim 5, 42 is in addition to main body 44.
Regarding claims 6-8, Guerriero discloses a second main body with first and second ends which correspond to the first and second ends of the first main body.
Regarding claim 9, Guerriero discloses that the first and second main bodies are welded together (col. 10, line 59).
Regarding claim 12, Penner discloses that the thickness of the glove box housing decreases from the first main body to the passenger compartment.
Regarding claim 13, Guerriero discloses an attachment for a steering column 32.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICIA L ENGLE whose telephone number is (571)272-6660. The examiner can normally be reached Monday- Friday 7:30 am-4 pm.
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/PATRICIA L ENGLE/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3993
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