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 .
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.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the lower side member" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 uses the term “front side frame”. Is the lower side member of claim 2, the same as the front side frame of claim 1?
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2022/0306206) in view of Zhao (CN 114954676).
Kim discloses a vehicle body front part structure comprising a radiator panel frame, front side frames in a pair extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction on a lower side of the vehicle, upper frame reinforcing member in a pair extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction on an upper side of the vehicle with a bent portion bent downward towards the front side frames, and radiator panel reinforcing members each comprising an upper side member and a lower side member that are joined together at an apex to form a V shape pointing in the vehicle longitudinal direction.
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Regarding claim 2, Kim discloses that the apex of the radiator panel reinforcement in located on a more inner side than the upper side member and the front side frames.
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Kim does not disclose that the vehicle includes an inverter unit and a front cross member located in front of the inverter.
Zhao discloses a vehicle body front part structure for electric vehicles which includes cross member (52) to improve the collision force transmission of the vehicle while protecting the vehicle cabin (Fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date to use the vehicle front structure with the radiator panel reinforcement member of Kim in an electric vehicle with a force transmission cross member as taught by Zhao. The motivation would have been to improve the collision force transmission for electric vehicles to protect the occupants of the vehicle cabin in a collision.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/PATRICIA L ENGLE/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3993