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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Japan. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the Japan application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shimasaki, et al. (US 2022/0314786 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Shimasaki, et al. (US 2022/0314786 A1) teaches a vehicle front structure comprising: front side frames in a pair (50, Fig. 1), the front side frames extending in a vehicle front-rear direction respectively at both sides of a front part of a vehicle in a vehicle width direction of the vehicle (shown in Fig. 2 below); a radiator support disposed between the front side frames (37, Fig. 2), the radiator support being rectangular-frame-shaped in a front view of the vehicle and being coupled to the front side frames respectively at both sides of the radiator support in the vehicle width direction (shown in Fig. 2); a cross member (40, Fig. 1) extending in the vehicle width direction and disposed closer to a rear end of the vehicle than the radiator support, the cross member extending between the front side frames (shown in Fig. 2); an electrical device (64, Fig. 2) disposed closer to the rear end of the vehicle than the cross member; a radiator-support reinforcements in a pair (70, Fig. 2), the radiator-support reinforcements respectively coupling outer ends of the radiator support in the vehicle width direction to the cross member (shown in Fig. 2); and a support member (42, Fig. 1) provided on the cross member and supporting respective rear ends of the radiator-support reinforcements from below in an up-down direction of the vehicle (shown in Fig. 1).
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Regarding claim 2, Shimasaki, et al. (US 2022/0314786 A1) teaches the radiator-support reinforcements (70, Fig. 2 above) capable of receiving a collision load greater than or equal to a predetermined load in a direction toward the rear end of the vehicle, the respective rear ends of the radiator-support reinforcements are decoupled from the cross member. Note: claim 2 adds no further structural limitations to the claimed invention but instead recites a desired outcome of using the vehicle front structure.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 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: “the radiator-support reinforcements tilt toward a center in the vehicle width direction with increasing distance toward the rear end of the vehicle in a plan view of the vehicle” in claim 3 is not taught in the prior art. For example, Shimaksaki, et al. discloses a vehicle front structure however not the reinforcements tilting toward the center in the vehicle width direction with increasing distance toward the rear end of the vehicle. It would not be obvious to incorporate “reinforcements tilt toward a center in vehicle” as stated in claim 3. Claims 4 and 5 due to their dependency on claim 3 also contain allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hashida, et al. (US 20200086926 A1) discloses a vehicle front structure including: front side members, cross member, a rectangular radiator, and electrical device.
Mori (US 20150251613 A1) discloses a vehicle front structure with a radiator.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alma D Schuster whose telephone number is (571)272-8938. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 8:30am-6:30pm and Fri 7am-11am.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amy R Weisberg can be reached at (571)270-5500. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Alma D. Schuster/Examiner, Art Unit 3612
/AMY R WEISBERG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3612