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 § 102
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Japanese patent 2017/013525, as provided by applicant (hence, ‘525).
In re claim 1, ‘525 teaches a grille opening (14-20) formed at a front end of the vehicle and configured to allow air to flow toward a cooling target (par. 52-67); a grille shutter (20) configured to enable the grille opening to open and close; a front spoiler (72) disposed at a lower front portion of the vehicle and configured to be capable of changing between a storage posture and a deployed posture protruding downward of the vehicle relative to the storage posture (figs. 2-7); and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to open the grille shutter when the vehicle speed is less than a first threshold value or when an evaluation index of a temperature of the cooling target is equal to or greater than a reference value, and the controller is configured to: change the front spoiler to the deployed posture when the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than a second threshold value higher than the first threshold value; and change the front spoiler to the deployed posture in synchronization with the opening of the grille shutter when the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than the first threshold value and less than the second threshold value (par. 52-67).
In re claim 2, ‘525 teaches the cooling target is an engine, and the evaluation index is a temperature of cooling water for cooling the engine (par. 59).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 are 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.
Conclusion
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/EREZ GURARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615