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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/20/2026 has been entered.
This office action is in response to applicant’s arguments/remarks and amendments filed on 07/20/2026. Claims 1, 4-6, 13, 16, and 17 have been amended. Claim 18 has been cancelled. Claim 22 has been newly added. Accordingly, claims 1, 4-17, and 19-22 are currently pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4-8, 13-17, and 21-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by McCarron et al US 2020/0369140 A1 (hence McCarron).
In re claim 1, McCarron discloses a self-contained vehicle platform or chassis incorporating substantially all of the functional systems, subsystems and components (e.g., mechanical, electrical, structural, etc.) necessary for an operative vehicle (Abstract) and teaches the following:
A skateboard chassis assembly (Fig.2, Fig.5, and Paragraphs 0130-0131) for an electric vehicle (Paragraph 0133), comprising:
a frame (Fig.5, #500, and Paragraph 0139) extending from a front end (Fig.5, #504, and Paragraph 0139) to a rear end (Fig.5, #506, and Paragraph 0139) and having a central portion including a pair of central longitudinal members extending in spaced relationship with one another (Fig.5, #524 “the left and right mid-body side rails” and Paragraph 0140) and a front central crossmember (Fig.5, #514, and Paragraph 0139) and a rear central crossmember (Fig.5, #516, and Paragraph 0139) each disposed adjacent a respective one of said front or rear ends and extending transversely between said pair of central longitudinal members in spaced relationship with one another(Fig.5), wherein the pair of central longitudinal members and the front and rear central crossmembers collectively define a central pocket (Fig.5, #538 between #514 and #516 and Paragraph 0142);
a front bumper connected to said front end (Fig.5, #508 and Paragraph 0141) and a rear bumper connected to said rear end (Fig.5, #519, and Paragraph 0141);
said frame including a front portion having at least one pair of front longitudinal members extending in spaced relationship with one another between said front central crossmember and said front bumper to define a front pocket (Fig.5, portions of the left and right mid-body side rails 524 between lateral structural cross member element 514 and front end of the vehicle and pockets to the left and right side of element 528);
said frame including a rear portion having at least one pair of rear longitudinal members extending in spaced relationship with one another between said rear central crossmember and said rear bumper to define a rear pocket (Fig.5, portions of the left and right mid-body side rails 524 between lateral structural cross member element 516 and rear end of the vehicle and pockets to the left and right side of element 528); and
a central battery housing located in said central pocket and at least one of a front battery housing disposed in said front pocket or a rear battery housing disposed in said rear pocket for incorporating a battery pack into the skateboard chassis assembly (Fig.2, #212, Paragraph 0133; Fig.11A, #1100, and Paragraph 0161, and Fig.12A-12C and Paragraph 0163)
In re claim 4, McCarron teaches the following:
wherein both of said front battery housing is located in said front pocket, said rear battery housing is located in said rear pocket (Fig.2, #212, Paragraph 0133; Fig.11A, and Paragraph 0161, and Fig.12A-12C and Paragraph 0163)
In re claim 5, McCarron teaches the following:
wherein said front portion of said frame includes at least one front end cross member extending between said pair of front longitudinal members (Fig.5, #510, and Paragraphs 0139-0140) and said rear portion of said frame includes at least one rear cross member extending between said rear longitudinal members (Fig.5, #518, and Paragraphs 0139-0140)
In re claim 6, McCarron teaches the following:
a suspension assembly connected to said pair of front longitudinal members and said pair of rear longitudinal members for interconnected said frame of the skateboard chassis assembly to a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels and providing a scalable, compact and common suspension architecture for the skateboard chassis assembly (Fig.2, #218, Paragraph 0133 “a variety of suspension systems 218 to connect the vehicle platform to the wheels of the vehicle”, and Figs. 17A-17C, and Paragraph 0184 “front suspension, and Figs. 24A-B, and Paragraph 0199 “rear suspension”)
In re claim 7, McCarron teaches the following:
wherein said battery housing including a cover defining a seat attachment for allowing said cover to additional function as a floor of the electric vehicle for eliminating the floor from the body-in-white (Fig.12B, #1212 and Paragraph 0163, Fig.14A, #1404, #1402, and Paragraph 0176)
In re claim 8, McCarron teaches the following:
wherein said middle central cross member of said frame defining a seat attachment for allowing said frame to additionally function as a floor of the electric vehicle for eliminating the floor from the body-in-white (Fig.14B, #1406, and Paragraph 0176 “In such embodiments, either the top cover plate 1404 of the vehicle platform also serves as the floor or bottom of the vehicle body, or where the vehicle body has a separate floor, as shown in FIG. 14B cooperative attachment points 1406 are disposed on the vehicle body 1408 that pass through the bottom floor 1410 of the vehicle body to allow for direct engagement of elements (e.g., seats, consoles, etc.)”)
In re claim 13, McCarron teaches the following:
a propulsion assembly supported by at least one of said front or rear portions of said frame (Fig.2, #214, #216, and Paragraph 0133)
In re claim 14, McCarron teaches the following:
at least one battery module housed within said battery housing (Fig.2, #212, Paragraph 0133; Fig.11A, and Paragraph 0161, and Fig.12A-12C and Paragraph 0163)
In re claim 15, McCarron teaches the following:
a tray extending underneath said at least one battery module for supporting said at least one battery module within said battery housing (Fig.12B, #1214, and Paragraphs 0163, and 0166)
In re claim 16, McCarron teaches the following:
wherein said at least one pair of front longitudinal members includes a pair of front top longitudinal members and a pair of front bottom longitudinal members (Fig.5, #560, #565, and Paragraph 0151) and said at least one pair of rear longitudinal members includes a pair of rear top longitudinal members (Fig.5, #533, and Paragraph 0157) and a pair of rear bottom longitudinal members (Fig.5, #526, and Paragraph 0157)
In re claim 17, McCarron teaches the following:
wherein a pivotable connection interconnects said front portion and said central portion of said frame (Fig.12B, #1220, and Paragraph 0165 “Front and rear structural members 1220 may also be configured to deform, similar embodiments described above, thus reducing affect damage to the energy storage system during a front and/or rear collision”)
In re claim 21, McCarron teaches the following:
wherein said central portion of said frame includes a middle central cross member extending transversely between said pair of central longitudinal members in spaced relationship with each of the front and rear central crossmembers (Fig.5, # 515, and Paragraphs 0139-0140)
In re claim 22, McCarron teaches the following:
wherein at least one central battery module is located in said central pocket, at least one front battery module is located in said front pocket, and at least one rear battery module is located in said rear pocket (Fig.2, #212, Paragraph 0133; Fig.11A, #1100, and Paragraph 0161, and Fig.12A-12C and Paragraph 0163)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCarron.
In re claim 9, McCarron discloses the claimed invention as recited above including longitudinal members including a shoulder for connecting said frame of the skateboard chassis assembly to a body-in-white (Fig.13A, #1302 and Paragraph 0173) but doesn’t explicitly teach the following:
` wherein said pair of central longitudinal members
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to arrange said shoulders on the central longitudinal members, since applicant has not disclosed that arrange said shoulders on the central longitudinal members instead of any other longitudinal member, as taught by McCarron, solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose and it appears that the invention would perform equally well with the shoulders being on other longitudinal members since they perform the same goal of attaching the vehicle frame to the vehicle body (McCarron, Paragraph 0173).
In re claim 10, McCarron discloses the claimed invention as recited above including the platform also includes a plurality of seal caps each having a contoured body with an outside surface and an inside surface such that the inside surface cooperatively engages with a corresponding mounting point (Paragraph 0022), but doesn’t explicitly teach the following:
a seal extending between said shoulder and said body-in-white
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to include a seal between said shoulder and said body-in-white since McCarron teaches said technique while connecting two members to create a structure isolated or separated from the external environment (McCarron, Paragraph 0177).
In re claim 11, McCarron teaches the following:
at least one mechanical fastener extending between said shoulder and said body-in-white for connecting said frame of the skateboard chassis assembly to the body-in-white (Paragraph 0173 “bolts, screws, latches,”)
In re claim 12, McCarron teaches the following:
at least one weld extending between said shoulder and said body-in-white for connecting said frame of the skateboard chassis assembly to the body-in-white (Paragraph 0173 “non-releasable couplings such as weld flanges or riveting surfaces”)
Claim(s) 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCarron in view of Langworthy et al US 2025/0050725 A1 (hence Langworthy).
In re claim 19, McCarron discloses the claimed invention as described above but doesn’t explicitly teach the following:
wherein said cover is connected to a longitudinal tab on said pair of central longitudinal members on a first upper portion, and said cover includes a sidewall portion having a sidewall tab connected to said pair of central longitudinal members on a second lower portion
Nevertheless, Langworthy discloses a frame assembly that includes a battery housing at least partially integrated with a frame of an automobile (Abstract) and teaches the following:
wherein said cover is connected to a longitudinal tab on said pair of central longitudinal members on a first upper portion (Fig.3, #34, #43, and Fig.27, and Paragraph 0072) and said cover includes a sidewall portion having a sidewall tab connected to said pair of central longitudinal members on a second lower portion (Fig.11, #138 and Paragraph 0056)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skills in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the McCarron reference to include the cover design, as taught by Langworthy, in order to protect the battery within the housing (Langworthy, Paragraph 0048).
In re claim 20, Langworthy teaches the following:
a seal disposed between said longitudinal tab and said pair of central longitudinal members (Paragraph 0059)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 07/20/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to applicant’s arguments/remarks with respect to the rejection of claims 1, 4-8, 13-17, and 21 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by McCarron and that McCarron doesn’t teach or suggest a central battery housing located in said central pocket and at least one of a front battery housing disposed in said front pocket or a rear battery housing disposed in said rear pocket for incorporating a battery pack into the skateboard chassis assembly, the examiner respectfully disagrees with that statement. As recited in claim 1, the examiner maps the limitation a front pocket to Fig.5, and specifically to portions of the left and right mid-body side rails 524 between lateral structural cross member element 514 and front end of the vehicle and pockets to the left and right side of element 528. The examiner also mapped the limitation a rear pocket to Fig.5, and specifically portions of the left and right mid-body side rails 524 between lateral structural cross member element 516 and rear end of the vehicle and pockets to the left and right side of element 528), and at least Fig.2, Fig.11A, Fig.11B, and Fig.12A show the part of the battery disposed in said front and rear pockets.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMI KHATIB whose telephone number is (571)270-1165. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Erin M Piateski can be reached at 571-270 7429. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAMI KHATIB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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