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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because in figure 1, the intake duct 4 and intake port 4a appear to be directed to a structure in the center of the vehicle. This appears to be the opposite of what is shown in figure 6 and designated as the intake duct and intake port. It appears in figure 1 that the reference numerals for the intake duct and intake port have been inadvertently switched with those designating the exhaust duct 5 and exhaust port 5a. Figure 1 appears to be inconsistent with the rest of the specification because of this issue. Additionally, in figure 6, the body side trim is indicated as portion of the device exterior to the fender 212. However, in figure 7, the body side trim appears to be directly adjacent to the seat interiorly of fender 212. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
As noted in the drawing rejections above, the body side trim is illustrated as both interiorly and exteriorly to the side wall of the fender. Applicant claims the body side trim being an “inner wall of a side portion of the passenger compartment” in line 3 of claim 2, and line 3 of claim 3. It is unclear how this is to be interpreted and what applicant considers an “inner wall” since applicant’s specification is unclear on the positioning of the body side trim in relation to the fender. It would seem that the language would require the body side trim to be interior of the fender consistent with figure 7, but not figure 6. Accordingly, the scope of what is claimed by the limitation is unascertainable.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 5 are allowed.
Claims 2-4 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The primary reason for the indication of allowable subject matter in claims is the inclusion in the claims of the limitations directed to the intake port, when viewed from a left-right direction, at least partially positioned between the floor panel and seat rail in an upper-lower direction, the intake port facing outward in the vehicle width direction, and the intake port at least partially positioned in front of a front end of the side wall of the wheel house. Such limitations, in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claims, are not disclosed or suggested by the prior art of record. The examiner considered whether JP2022-71679A, which was used in the Japanese Office Action of October 22, 2024, could be used to reject the claims of the current application. However, this reference was published less than 1 year prior to the effective filing date of the current application and the inventor of JP2022-71679A is one of the joint inventors of the current application. Thus, under the exception of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)(A), the reference is not available as prior art. Similarly, US Patent Application Publication 2022/0126668, which corresponds to JP20200-71679A, is not available as prior art even though it has an earlier effective filing date of the current application due to the exception of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(A). Therefore, the closest prior art of record is DE102013223667. However, this reference does not show the intake duct positioned between the floor panel and seat rails as required by the claim. Instead, the duct is built into the seat itself as shown in figure 1. There is no suggestion or motivation in the prior art of record to modify the German reference to meet the claim limitations absent impermissible hindsight reasoning.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references all disclose vehicle floor and ventilation structures for vehicle batteries.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jason S Morrow whose telephone number is (571)272-6663. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivek Koppikar can be reached at (517) 272-5109. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON S MORROW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612
February 20, 2026