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 .
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 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.
Status of Claims
Below is the Final Action on the Merit for claims 1 – 13.
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.
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.
Claims 1-8 and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoyama et al (US patent application publication 2014/0331434) in view of Mathias (DE19838764 A1) as cited by Applicant see Machine Translation.
The publication to Shimoyama discloses the invention substantially as is claimed. Shimoyama discloses a wiper of a wiper system (fig. 1). The wiper comprising a wiper blade (2, fig. 3) carried by a support (generally 4) and configured to wiper a glazed surface of a vehicle (para. 2). A spoiler (generally 3, fig. 3) is configured to be connected to a cleaning system (generally 13, fig. 2) distributing cleaning liquid. The spoiler comprises a body (5), wherein a spray manifold (15, fig. 2) is configured to be connected to the cleaning system. The spray manifold extends in a main direction of extension of the spoiler and comprises at least one row of spray holes (16) there along. Either the spray hole size (cross-sectional area) or the spacing between holes (pitch) can be varied to achieve desired wetting of the surface to be wiped (paras. 8, 9, 21).
The publication to Shimoyama discloses all of the above recited subject matter with the exception of a particular spacing between spray holes, a particular size for the spray holes, a particular number of spray holes per row over a portion of the spoiler, and a total section area of spray holes. Note that the particular number of spray holes per row appears to essentially relate to a particular spacing between holes.
While Shimoyama does not specify a particular spacing between spray holes, a particular size or particular number of holes per row/particular portion of the spoiler (essentially spacing for the holes), to select such does not appear inventive. Shimoyama clearly sets forth that the size of the holes, and thus total section area, and the spacing therebetween (pitch) holes can be selected (para. 8 and 9) to achieve desired wetting of the surface to be wiped. The particulars of such spacing, size, number of holes per row (spacing) and section area appears little more than that which would be discovered by routine experimentation when optimizing the wetting of the wiper. The selection of particular spacing between holes, particular sizes for the holes, particular number or holes per row (spacing), and total section area of the holes does not appear to produce an unexpected result that is different in kind and not merely in degree from that which is disclosed by Shimoyama. Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. It would have been obvious to one of skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to select particular spacing, size, and thus total section area, and number of holes per row of Shimoyama, including as claimed, to optimize wetting of the surface to be wiped.
Shimoyama does not explicitly disclose at least one of the spray holes comprises a cleaning liquid passage section of between 0.002 mm2 and 0.070 mm2 in cross-sectional area and wherein the cleaning liquid passage section is configured to mist the cleaning liquid and distribute the misted cleaning liquid against the glazed surface.
Mathias, however, discloses at least one of the spray holes comprises a cleaning liquid passage section of between 0.002 mm2 and 0.070 mm2 in cross-sectional area (Paragraph [0026]; Fig. 1),, and wherein the cleaning liquid passage section is configured to mist the cleaning liquid and distribute the misted cleaning liquid against the glazed surface (as disclosed in specification; Paragraph [0028] of the instant application, a passage section of between 0.002 mm2 and 0.070 mm2 promotes misting of the cleaning liquid, this misting increasing the wettability of the cleaning liquid on the glazed surface of the vehicle; thus Mathias is configured to mist the cleaning liquid and distribute the misted cleaning liquid against the glazed surface as claimed.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed to modify the spray holes of Shimoyama to further include at least one of the spray holes comprises a cleaning liquid passage section of between 0.002 mm2 and 0.070 mm2 in cross-sectional area, as taught by Mathias, to optimize wetting of the surface to be wiped.
With respect to claims 4 and 5, Shimoyama discloses that the spray holes can be either slit shaped (rectangular) or a combination of slit shaped and circular holes (fig. 5, para. 12).
With respect to claim 6, the manifold (15, fig. 2) comprises only one row of spray holes.
With respect to claim 7, the manifold (15) of the figure 6 embodiment includes two separate rows of holes (16, 17) aligned along the extension of the spoiler (3).
With respect to claim 8, the manifold (15, fig. 6a) comprises a distribution tube, in the same manner as applicant, with a plurality of channels, in the same manner as applicant, leading to the spray holes. Figure 6a of Shimoyama appears to illustrates such.
With respect to claim 10, while the plurality of row defined by holes (16, 17) in the figure 6a embodiment are distributed radially around the distribution tube of the manifold (15) by what appears as greater than 30 degrees, to vary such, including as claimed does not appear inventive. Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. It would have been obvious to one of skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to select a particular radially spacing of the rows of holes (16, 17) of Shimoyama, including as claimed, to optimize spray direction and thus wetting of the surface to be wiped.
With respect to claim 11, looking to figure 6a, the channels extending between the distribution tube and each hole (16, 17) are deemed staggered. At least to the extent claimed.
With respect to claim 12, Shimoyama suggests (para. 21) that hole size or spacing varies to achieve desired wetting. As such, Shimoyama suggests uniform distribution when hole size varies.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicants Arguments/Remarks dated June 30, 2026 with respect to the rejection of claims 1 - 13 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Mathias.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATINA N HENSON whose telephone number is (571)272-8024. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday; 5:30am to 3:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Carter can be reached at 571-272-4475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KATINA N. HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723
