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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 3/7/2024 and 12/17/2025 were filed and are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aizawa (US 2020/0386381 A1) in view of Kuramitsu et al (US 2017/0357044 A1).
In regard to claim 1, 3, and 5, Aizawa discloses a vehicle exterior component, comprising:
a cover (50) and a housing (40) that are located frontward from a radar device (61) in an electromagnetic wave transmission direction of the radar device, the radar device being installed in a vehicle;
a flat substrate (where 80 in mounted) arranged inside the housing;
a light emitter (80) arranged on the substrate; and
a lens arranged (82) inside the housing, wherein the housing extends over a surface of the cover facing the radar device,
the light emitter emits light that illuminates the cover,
the substrate is located outside an electromagnetic wave transmission range of the radar device, and
the lens reflects (light is pernicious and the LED emits in a Lambertian distribution—there are ray lines which reflect off the side wall of the lens 82 through TIR and refract through the front of the lens) the light from the light emitter toward the cover. (Figure 2; see at least [0039] onward)
Where the interpretation of “ornamental portion” is argued, Aizawa fails to disclose an ornamental portion.
Kuramitsu et al teaches an outer lens with an ornamental portion (20), and as recited in claim 3 and 5, the ornamental portion of the cover includes a light diffusing layer (30—“pattern printing” satisfies a diffusion layer) that transmits and diffuses incident light. (Figures 2-4; see at least [0026]-[0030])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to replace the outer lens of Aizawa with that of Kuramitsu et al in order to provide for a decorative appearance.
In regard to claim 2, Aizawa discloses the housing includes a flange (41) and a projection (43), the flange being projected toward the cover at a location corresponding to an edge of the cover, and the projection being bent and projected toward the cover at a location closer to a central part of the cover than the flange, the substrate and the lens are located between the projection and the flange, and the lens includes a reflection surface (side wall) and a refraction surface (emitting surface), the reflection surface reflecting the light from the light emitter toward the ornamental portion of the cover, and the refraction surface passing the light reflected by the reflection surface so that the light avoids a corner of the projection located toward the flange. (Figure 2)
In regard to claim 4, Aizawa discloses the housing includes a flange (41) and a projection (43), the flange being projected toward the cover at a location corresponding to an edge of the cover, and the projection being bent and projected toward the cover at a location closer to a central part of the cover than the flange, the substrate and the lens are located between the projection and the flange, and a part of the projection of the housing facing the cover includes a white layer (indium) that reflects and diffuses incident light reflected by the ornamental portion of the cover. (Figure 2; see at least [0065])
In regard to claim 6, the combination of Aizawa and Kuramitsu et al teaches the cover and the housing form an emblem.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Bajec Strle et al (US 2025/0167437 A1) disclose a radar.
Nakayama et al (US 2023/0266435 A1) disclose a radar.
Grard et al (US 2023/0051331 A1) disclose a radar.
Potter et al (US 2020/0200356 A1) disclose an IR illuminator.
Mayer Pujadas et al (US 2019/0356046 A1) disclose a radar.
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/CHRISTOPHER E DUNAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875