DETAILED ACTION
The following action is in response to application 18/563,679 filed on November 22, 2023.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shimizu (JP2014091459A). With regard to claim 1, Shimizu teaches a cover for a bumper opening 20, for closing the bumper opening formed in a bumper 2 of a vehicle, comprising: a cover main body 22, a first protrusion 15 provided on one side of the cover main body and configured to be introduced into the opening, and a second protrusion 14 provided on another side opposing the one side of the cover main body and configured to be introduced into the opening, wherein the first protrusion includes an easily a deformable portion 15a (paragraph 20) which is deformably made, and a support portion 15c for the deformable portion, and by an elastic deformation of the deformable portion to the another side by contacting the easily deformable portion to a hole edge 21 of the opening, the second protrusion is closely contacted to the hole edge of the opening, and the cover main body is contacted to the bumper. With regard to claim 2, Shimizu teaches the cover, wherein the support portion of the first protrusion includes a base portion 15c configured to oppose an outer face to the hole edge of the opening, and a disengagement prevention portion 15b which is configured to be located to face an inner face of the bumper to become disengagement prevention from the bumper (Fig. 2). With regard to claim 4, Shimizu teaches the cover, wherein the second protrusion 14 is provided with an engagement portion 14b which is configured to be arranged to oppose the hole edge 21 of the opening.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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 prior art of record fails to show or render obvious the cover for a bumper opening as claimed, and particularly wherein the deformable portion of the first protrusion is an arm piece which extends in an inclined manner from the disengagement prevention portion of the support portion toward the base portion so that a free end is located on a base portion side, and including the remaining structure of claim 3.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hasegawa ‘629 has been cited to show a similar cover for a bumper comprising: a bumper 1, hole 2, hole edge 3;4, cover 20, first protrusion 21 with an inclined arm 27, and second protrusion 22.
Fukushima ‘082 has been cited to show a similar cover for a bumper comprising: a bumper 10, cover 24, hole edge 16, first deformable protrusion 28 and second protrusion 26.
Brown ‘414 has been cited to show a similar cover for a bumper comprising: a bumper 10, cover 18, hole edge 58, first deformable protrusion 38 (large) and second protrusion 38 (small).
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/ROGER L PANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
/ROGER L. PANG/
Examiner
Art Unit 3655B
December 29, 2025