DETAILED ACTION
This is a first Non-Final Office Action on the merits in response to the application filed 12/02/23. The request for foreign priority to a corresponding JP application filed 12/20/22 has been received and is proper. Claims 1-7 are currently pending yet all are rejected as detailed below. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the claim 2 recitation that buffer protrusion is both buffer protrusion “arranged in a flat shape in…a length dimension” and also “arranged in a tapered shape…in a length direction” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). Notably, Figure 2 does NOT appear to show that buffer protrusion 36 has a “flat shape.” See also Figs. 5, 6. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2-7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 2-6 are rejected because claim 2 recites that the buffer protrusion is “arranged in a flat shape in…a length dimension” but then subsequently recites that it is “arranged in a tapered shape…in a length direction.” See also Drawing Objection, supra. These conflicting limitations make the claim indefinite.
Claim 7 is rejected because the last limitation appears to include an unintentional double negative. Specifically, the claim recites that the front stopper rubber is “not formed with neither the concave groove…nor the buffer protrusion…” The phrase “not formed with neither…” is a double negative and makes it unclear as to whether the rubber includes the recited features or not.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Liu
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (CN 205371443 U). Liu is directed to a hydraulic suspension of an engine. See Abstract.
Claim 1: Liu discloses a vibration damping device [Fig. 1], having a configuration in which a first mounting member (13) and a second mounting member (2) are elastically linked by a main rubber elastic body (11), wherein the first mounting member has a tubular part open and extending on a side; a side stopper rubber (12) is provided, the side stopper rubber protruding from an outer circumferential surface of the tubular part toward an outer circumference toward a side orthogonal to an axial direction of the tubular part, the side stopper rubber is arranged in a tapered shape toward a protrusion tip end, a concave groove [see Fig. 1 (groove in middle of 12)] extending in a circumferential direction of the side stopper rubber is formed in an intermediate portion excluding a base end and a tip end of the side stopper rubber in a protrusion direction, and a buffer protrusion [see Fig. 1 (radially-outer end of 12)] protruding from a protrusion tip end surface of the side stopper rubber is provided. See Fig. 1.
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.
Liu in view of Trelleborg
Claim(s) 2-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Trelleborg (JP 2006505751) (cited by Applicant). Trelleborg is directed to a hydraulically-damped brake mount. See Abstract.
Claim 2: Liu discloses that the concave groove is formed on a tip end side with respect to a center of the side stopper rubber in the protrusion direction, but not formed on a base end side with respect to the center of the side stopper rubber in the protrusion direction, and the buffer protrusion is partially provided at a center of the protrusion tip end surface of the side stopper rubber. See Fig. 1.
Liu discloses al the limitations of this claim except for the specific length/width characteristics of the side stopper rubber and shape characteristics of the buffer protrusion, since only one perspective is provided in the Liu drawings (i.e., a cross-section). Trelleborg discloses a vibration damping device [Fig. 3] with two mounting members (13, 50), a main elastic rubber body (10) and a side stopper rubber (16, 17) including a concave groove and a buffer protrusion (18) at protrusion tip end, wherein the side stopper rubber is arranged in a flat shape [see Fig. 3 (protrusion extends from ‘flat shape’ surface of 16/17)] in which a length dimension in the axial direction of the tubular part is greater than a width dimension orthogonal to the axial direction of the tubular part [see Fig. 4], the buffer protrusion is arranged in a flat shape in which a length dimension in the axial direction of the tubular part is greater than a width dimension orthogonal to the axial direction of the tubular part [see Fig. 4; see also drawing objection], and the buffer protrusion is arranged in a tapered shape in which a protrusion height dimension is reduced from a center in a length direction toward both outer sides [see Figs. 3, 4]. See Fig. 3, 4; see also Drawing Objection, supra. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention for the rubber to have a length dimension greater than a width dimension because these brake mounts are typically rectangular for containing the longitudinally extending engine support arm, and the various limitations concerning taper/flat shape is ultimately a design choice to provide desired damping effects, and cost in manufacturing and/or amount of material used.
Claim 3: Liu a pair of concave grooves are formed on both side surfaces of the side stopper rubber in a width direction. See Fig. 1.
Claim 4: Liu discloses that the concave grooves extend linearly to be substantially parallel to the axial direction of the tubular part on both side surfaces of the side stopper rubber in a width direction, and a protrusion height dimension on the tip end side with respect to the concave groove in the side stopper rubber is reduced toward both outer sides at both end portions in the axial direction of the tubular part. See Fig. 1.
Claim 5: Liu discloses that the buffer protrusion is arranged in a tapered shape in which a protrusion height dimension is reduced from a center in a width direction toward both outer sides. See Fig. 1.
Claim 6: Trelleborg discloses that a width of the side stopper rubber is reduced from the center in the length direction toward the both outer sides. See Figs. 3, 4.
Liu in view of Goto
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Goto et al. (U.S. Patent No. 10,415,665). Goto is directed to a fluid-filled vibration-damping device. See Abstract.
Claim 7: Liu discloses that in a vehicle mounted state in which the first mounting member and the second mounting member are mounted to a vehicle. See Translation.
Liu discloses all the limitations of this claim except for specifics about the front and rear stopper rubbers, namely, the direction they protrude relative to the vehicle and one having a small height than the other. Goto discloses a vibration damping device [Fig. 6], a front stopper rubber (54 on right) protruding toward a front of the vehicle and a rear stopper rubber (54 on left) protruding toward a rear of the vehicle are provided [see col. 18, lines 7-44], the rear stopper rubber is arranged as the side stopper rubber, and the front stopper rubber has a protrusion height dimension smaller than the rear stopper rubber, and is not formed with neither the concave groove of the outer circumferential surface nor the buffer protrusion of the protrusion tip end surface. See Fig. 6. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention for the front and rear stoppers to have different protrusion heights because, based on the location of the engine in the vehicle, the damping characteristics required for each rubber may vary.
Conclusion
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VISHAL SAHNI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3657
/VISHAL R SAHNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 January 14, 2026