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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is the first action on the merits for application 18/536496. Claims 1-11 are currently pending in this application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by LITTLEFIELD (4,313,869).
Regarding Claim 1, LITTLEFIELD teaches a Vehicle wheel brake, comprising a material that is configured to evaporate when operating the vehicle wheel brake (Col. 3 lines 20-32, Col. 4 lines 13-19).
Regarding Claim 2, LITTLEFIELD teaches wherein an evaporation temperature of the material is between 100° C and 300° C (Col. 3 lines 20-32, Col. 4 lines 13-19).
Regarding Claim 3, LITTLEFIELD teaches wherein the material is provided at an outwardly facing surface of the vehicle wheel brake and/or at a surface facing a brake disc of the vehicle wheel brake (Col. 3 lines 20-32, Col. 4 lines 13-19).
Regarding Claim 5, LITTLEFIELD teaches wherein the material is configured to form vapour or an aerosol when evaporating (Col. 3 lines 20-32, Col. 4 lines 13-19).
Regarding Claim 11, LITTLEFIELD teaches a brake component for a vehicle wheel brake, wherein the brake component comprises a material that is configured to evaporate when operating the vehicle wheel brake, the brake component being a brake pad (Col. 3 lines 20-32, Col. 4 lines 13-19).
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(s) 6, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LITTLEFIELD (4,313,869) in view of SVENSSON (2022/0290727).
Regarding Claim 6, LITTLEFIELD does not teach wherein the material is comprised by a local coating applied to at least one component of the vehicle wheel brake; or wherein the material is comprised by a paint or a clear coat applied to at least one component of the vehicle wheel brake.
SVENSSON teaches wherein the material is comprised by a local coating applied to at least one component of the vehicle wheel brake; or wherein the material is comprised by a paint or a clear coat applied to at least one component of the vehicle wheel brake [0032].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to change the brakes in LITTLEFIELD to have the coating in SVENSSON so the brakes operate smoothly.
Regarding Claim 7, LITTLEFIELD does not teach wherein the material is one of the following: a fluoropolymer material; a partial anodizing or hard anodizing coating.
SVENSSON teaches wherein the material is one of the following: a fluoropolymer material [0032].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to change the brakes in LITTLEFIELD to have the coating in SVENSSON so the brakes operate smoothly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 8-10 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 prior art does not teach or suggest wherein the material is configured to form bubbles when evaporating with the other elements in Claim 4.
The prior art does not teach or suggest wherein the material is a liquid material or a grease-like material and wherein the material is deposited in at least one reservoir of the vehicle wheel brake with the other elements in Claim 8.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HENRY Y LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-7018. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30 ET.
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HENRY Y. LIU
Examiner
Art Unit 3654
/HENRY Y LIU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654