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 § 103
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 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) 1-3, 6, 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son, et al. (11,535,298).
Son discloses a rocker assembly for a vehicle, the rocker assembly (Figure 10) comprising a sill structure having an inboard wall 11 and an outboard wall 12 defining an elongated hollow interior therebetween; and a rocker insert 20 extending along the elongated hollow interior of the sill structure, the rocker insert comprising a stiffening member 22 having a sheet defining a wave-shaped structure that includes upper wall sections 22b, lower wall sections 22a, and bulkhead wall sections 22c integrally extending between the upper and lower wall sections; wherein the bulkhead wall sections have a tapered shaped between an inner edge of the sheet facing the inboard wall of the sill structure and an outer edge of the sheet that faces the outboard wall of the sill structure, as shown in Figure 9B. The inner edges of the bulkhead wall sections have a height dimension that is greater than a height dimension of the outer edges of the bulkhead wall sections, see Figure 9B. The upper and lower wall sections have an opposing tapered shaped that is opposite the tapered shape of the bulkhead wall sections, such that the upper and lower wall sections taper between the inner edge of the sheet and the outer edge of the sheet, see Figure 9B. The bulkhead wall sections extend at an angle from the interconnected upper and lower wall sections that is greater than 90 degrees, as shown in Figure 9B.
Son teaches the claimed invention except for the stiffening member having a sheet made of metal. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the sheet member to be made of metal to provide strength and durability. Further, it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-17 are allowed. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: In independent claim 11, the recitation of an elongated support member having a top wall section, a side wall section, and a bottom wall section defining a channel wherein the bulkhead wall sections have a tapered shaped between an inner edge of the metal sheet and an outer edge of the metal sheet that interfaces with the side wall section of the elongated support member in combination with the rest of the recited elements, clearly defines over the prior art.
Claims 4, 5, 7-10 and 19 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art recited discloses common inventive concepts as the claimed present invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Faye M. Fleming whose telephone number is (571)272-6672. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-5:00pm.
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/FAYE M FLEMING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612
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