DETAILED ACTION
The amendments filed on 04/21/2026 have been entered.
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.
Claims 1-2, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (KR20110021597A).
Regarding claim 1 ,Kim discloses A pop-up deploying type door curtain assembly for a vehicle, the assembly comprising: a curtain (10) deployable to cover a door glass (4) when drawn out from a vehicle door (2) (figs 1-7); a rod (54, 56) configured to be installed on the vehicle door to ascend and descend and configured to support the curtain in a deployed state (figs 1-7); a slider (76b, 78b) fixed to the rod and configured to ascend or descend integrally with the rod (figs 1-7); a first drum apparatus (76a) configured to elastically support the slider in an ascending direction in order to allow the curtain to be deployed (figs 1-7, pages 2-3); and a button apparatus (70a) configured to limit a deployment of the curtain in a state in which the curtain is accommodated in the vehicle door (page 3), a second drum (78b) apparatus: and a second cable (78) configured to move the curtain downward in conjunction with a descending operation of the door glass (figs 1-7, pages 2-3), wherein at least a portion of the second cable is configured to be wound around the second drum apparatus (figs 1-7), and an intermediate portion of the second cable is operatively coupled to a connection member (77) operably coupled to the slider (figs 1-7).
Regarding claim 2, Kim further discloses a first cable (76) comprising a first end portion configured to be fixed to one side of the vehicle door (figs 3-4), the first cable being configured to elastically support a lower end portion of the slider and to be wound around the first drum apparatus (figs 3-5),
Regarding claim 7, Kim further discloses a second drum apparatus (70b) configured to move the slider downward in conjunction with the descending operation of the door glass (figs 1-7).
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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (KR20110021597A) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Hansen et al. (US20090078379).
Regarding claim 3, Kim further discloses that the first drum apparatus comprises: a first drum (76a) around which the first cable is configured to be wound (figs 1-7);
Kim is silent regarding a first cable spring configured to elastically support the first drum in a direction in which the first cable is to be wound around the first drum.
Hansen teaches a first cable spring (clock spring disclosed in [0044]) configured to elastically support the first drum (44) in a direction in which the first cable is to be wound around the first drum ([0044], fig 2).
Before the effective filling date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Kim and Yasuda before him or her, to modify the apparatus/method disclosed by Kim to include the spring as taught by Hansen in order to bias the rod toward the extended position ([0044]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-19 and 21-23 are allowed.
Claims 5 and 8-12 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.
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 DANY E AKAKPO whose telephone number is (469)295-9255. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
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/DANY E AKAKPO/Examiner, Art Unit 3672
06/19/2026
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