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 § 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 14-16, 19-21 and 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hashimoto (JP 2019-091575).
With respect to claim 14, Hashimoto discloses manual control 10 for the activation of hazard warning flashers in a road vehicle (Hashimoto, abstract);
the manual control comprises
a support 14 having a seat 14a and a control body 13, which is accommodated in the seat 14a in a movable manner so as to be moved between a deactivated position, in which the hazard warning flashers are off (as shown in Fig. 5(a) of Hashimoto), and an active position, in which the hazard warning flashers are on (as shown in Fig. 5(c) of Hashimoto, abstract);
wherein the control body 13 linearly translates between the deactivated position and the active position, in which the control body 13 is at least partially extracted from the seat 14a (as shown in Figs 5(a) and 5(c) of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 15, Hashimoto discloses that in the deactivated position, the control body 13 is completely inserted in the seat 14a (as shown in Fig. 5(a) of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 16, Hashimoto discloses that the control body 13 comprises a handle 11, which can be grabbed and can be pulled in order to extract the control body 13 from the seat 14a, thus moving the control body 13 from the deactivated position to the active position (as shown in Figs. 5(a) and 5(c) of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 19, Hashimoto disclose that the control body 13 has a cylindrical shape (“cylindrical shape such as an ellipse,” see middle of pg. 5 of the machine translation of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 20, Hashimoto teaches that the manual control 10 comprises a retaining system 16-18, which holds the control body 13 in the deactivated position with a predetermined force (see middle of pg. 3 of the machine translation of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 21, Hashimoto teaches that the manual control 10 comprises a limit stop (shoulders of the control body 13 located below gears 17 and 18 as shown in Fig. 2 of Hashimoto), which limits the maximum extraction of the control body 13 from the seat 14a when the control body is in the active position.
With respect to claim 23, Hashimoto discloses that the manual control 10 is collapsible, thus allowing the control body 13 to completely get into the seat 14a (as shown in Fig. 5(a) of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 24, Hashimoto discloses manual control 10 for a road vehicle ; the manual control comprises
a support 14 having a seat 14a and a control body 13, which is accommodated in the seat 14a in a movable manner so as to be moved between a deactivated position and an active position (as shown in Figs. 5(a) and 5(c) of Hashimoto);
wherein the control body 13 linearly translates between the deactivated position and the active position, in which the control body 13 is at least partially extracted from the seat (as shown in Fig. 5(c) of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 25, Hashimoto discloses that the control body 13 comprises a handle 11, which can be grabbed and can be pulled in order to extract the control body 13 from the seat 14a, thus moving the control body 13 from the deactivated position (as shown in Fig. 5(a) of Hashimoto) to the active position (as shown in Fig. 5(c) of Hashimoto).
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 1-6 and 9-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwamoto (JP 2022-097339) in view of Hashimoto (JP 2019-091575).
With respect to claim 1, Iwamoto discloses the claimed a road vehicle except for the manual control that is configured to be activated by means of a vertical movement from the top to the bottom. Iwamoto discloses a road vehicle comprising:
a passenger compartment delimited by a roof at the top (as shown in Fig. 1 of Iwamoto);
at least one front seat arranged in the passenger compartment (as shown in Fig. 1 of Iwamoto); and
a manual control 6 for the activation of hazard warning flashers that is arranged on the roof (Iwamoto, abstract).
Hashimoto teaches a similar road vehicle including a manual control 10 for actuating hazard warning flashers (Hashimoto, abstract) wherein the manual control 10 is configured to be activated by means of a vertical movement from the top to the bottom (in the combination, the manual control 10 would be located on the roof thus orienting the switch so that it is activated by means of a vertical movement).
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Hashimoto with the road vehicle disclosed by Iwamoto for the advantage of providing a switch with fewer erroneous operations (see bottom of pg. 4 of the machine translation of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 2, the combination of Iwamoto and Hashimoto disclose that the passenger compartment has two front seats and the manual control 6 is arranged between the two front seats (as shown in Fig. 1 of Iwamoto).
With respect to claim 3, Hashimoto teaches a support 14 having a seat 14a and a control body 13, which is accommodated in the seat 14a in a movable manner to be moved between a deactivated position, in which the hazard warning flashers are off, and an active position, in which the hazard warning flashers are on (see bottom of pg. 4 and top of pg. 5 of the machine translation of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 4, Hashimoto teaches that the control body 13 linearly translates between the deactivated position and the active position, in which the control body 13 is at least partially extracted from the seat 14a (as shown in Figs 5(a)-5(c) of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 5, Hashimoto teaches that in the deactivated position (Fig. 5(a) of Hashimoto), the control body 13 is completely inserted in the seat 14a.
With respect to claim 6, Hashimoto teaches that the control body 13 comprises a handle 11, which can be grabbed and can be pulled to extract the control body 13 from the seat 14a, thus moving the control body 13 from the deactivated position to the active position (as shown in Figs 5(a)-5(c) of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 9, Hashimoto teaches that the control body 13 has a cylindrical shape (“cylindrical shape such as an ellipse,” see middle of pg. 5 of the machine translation of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 10, Hashimoto teaches that the manual control 10 comprises a retaining system 16-18, which holds the control body 13 in the deactivated position with a predetermined force (see middle of pg. 3 of the machine translation of Hashimoto).
With respect to claim 11, Hashimoto teaches that the manual control 10 comprises a limit stop (shoulders of the control body 13 located below gears 17 and 18 as shown in Fig. 2 of Hashimoto), which limits the maximum extraction of the control body 13 from the seat 14a when the control body is in the active position.
With respect to claim 12, the combination teaches that the support 14 of the manual control 10 (as taught by Hashimoto) is configured to be mounted horizontally (as can be determined from Figs. 1-2 of Hashimoto), so that, in the combination, the control body 13 linearly translates between the deactivated position and the active position by means of a vertical movement from the top to the bottom (the use of the switch taught by Hashimoto in the location disclose by Iwamoto would result in a vertical movement of the switch).
With respect to claim 13, Hashimoto teaches that the manual control 10 is collapsible, thus allowing the control body 13 to completely get into the seat 14a (as shown in Fig. 5(a) of Hashimoto).
Claims 17 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hashimoto (JP 2019-091575) as applied to claims 14 and 24 above, and further in view of Bienefeld (EP 1587117).
With respect to claim 17, Hashimoto discloses the claimed manual control except for the light element which is arranged in the area of a side wall of the control body. However, Bienefeld teaches a similar manual control including a light element 24, which is arranged in the area of a side wall of a control body 20 and is on the outside of a seat (radio housing) only when the control body 20 is in the active position and is at least partially extracted from the seat (as shown in Fig. 2 of Bienefeld).
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Bienefeld with the manual control disclosed by Hashimoto for the advantage of the added functionality of a lighting device to the existing structure.
With respect to claim 26, Hashimoto disclose the claimed manual control except for the a light element, which is arranged in the area of a side wall of the control body. However, Bienefeld teaches a similar manual control including a light element 24, which is arranged in the area of a side wall of a control body 20 and is on the outside of a seat (radio housing) only when the control body 20 is in the active position and is at least partially extracted from the seat (as shown in Fig. 2 of Bienefeld).
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Bienefeld with the manual control disclosed by Hashimoto for the advantage of the added functionality of a lighting device to the existing structure.
Claims 22, 27, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hashimoto (JP 2019-091575), as applied to claims 14 or 24 above, and further in view of Iwamoto (JP 2022-097339).
With respect to claim 22, Hashimoto discloses claimed manual control except for the control body being translated by means of a vertical movement. Hashimoto discloses that the support 14 is configured to be mounted horizontally, so that the control body 13 linearly translates between the deactivated position and the active position.
Iwamoto teaches a similar manual control 6 for activation of hazard warning flashers wherein the switch is located on the ceiling of the vehicle. In the combination, the switch (as disclosed by Hashimoto) located in the position taught by Iwamoto would result in a manual control configured to translate between a deactivated position and an active position by means of a vertical movement from the top to the bottom.
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Iwamoto with the manual control disclosed by Hashimoto for the advantage of adding an additional use of the hazard warning flasher as sending a thank you message to another driver (Iwamoto, abstract).
With respect to claim 27, Hashimoto discloses claimed manual control except for the control body being translated by means of a vertical movement. Hashimoto discloses that the support 14 is configured to be mounted horizontally, so that the control body 13 linearly translates between the deactivated position and the active position.
Iwamoto teaches a similar manual control 6 for activation of hazard warning flashers wherein the switch is located on the ceiling of the vehicle. In the combination, the switch (as disclosed by Hashimoto) located in the position taught by Iwamoto would result in a manual control configured to translate between a deactivated position and an active position by means of a vertical movement from the top to the bottom.
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Iwamoto with the manual control disclosed by Hashimoto for the advantage of adding an additional use of the hazard warning flasher as sending a thank you message to another driver (Iwamoto, abstract).
With respect to claim 28, Hashimoto discloses the claimed manual control except for the support being configured to be mounted on a roof of the road vehicle. However, Iwamoto teaches a similar manual control 6 that is mounted on the roof of a road vehicle (as shown in Figs. 1-2 of Iwamoto).
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of to modify the manual control of Hashimoto with the teaching of Iwamoto for the advantage of adding an additional functionality to the manual control by allowing a user to create a visible thank you wave to another driver when actuating the manual control (Iwamoto, abstract).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8 and 18 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 7-8 have been indicated as containing allowable subject matter primarily for the control body comprising a light element, which is arranged in the area of a side wall of the control body and is on the outside of the seat only when the control body is in the active position and is at least partially extracted from the seat.
Claim 18 has been indicated as containing allowable subject matter primarily for the light element having an annular shape
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Schawinsky et al. is cited to show another example of a manual control that is pulled out to activate hazard warning flashers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL J COLILLA whose telephone number is (571)272-2157. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 - 4:00.
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/Daniel J Colilla/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612