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, 2, 5-7, 9-11, 13, 15, 16, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application 2022/0018406 to Kim in view of GB-2131499 (GB’499).
Re: claims 1, 2, 5, 10, 11, 15, and 16. Kim shows in figure 2 a boot for a guide rod 140 of a vehicle disc brake apparatus, the vehicle disc brake apparatus including a brake pad carrier 120 and a caliper 130 movably coupled to the brake pad carrier via the guide rod, the boot 150 comprising: a tubular body shown in the area at the end of the lead arrow of 150 configured to surround the guide rod, the tubular body comprising opposite first and second end portions, wherein the first or top end portion is configured to be secured to the guide rod 140 and the second or bottom end portion is configured to be secured to the brake pad carrier 120 as shown in figure 1, wherein the tubular body is configured to longitudinally expand and contract with movement of the guide rod 140; but is silent with regard to at least one biasing member associated with the tubular body, wherein the at least one biasing member is configured to urge the tubular body to a contracted state.
GB’499 teaches in figure 2 a boot 9 comprising a tubular member including at least one biasing member 17 associated with the tubular member wherein the at least one biasing member is configured to urge the tubular body to a contracted state.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the boot tubular member of Kim to have included a biasing member, in view of the teachings of GB’499, in order to provide greater durability of the seal by helping to keep the boot properly seated during movements. With regard to claim 11, the tubular biasing member Kim, as modified, is 9, 17 of Kim and also see the rejection of claim 1.
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Re: claims 6 and 19. Kim, as modified, is silent with regard to the limitation wherein the at least one biasing member comprising spring material that circumferentially surrounds the tubular body and extends from the first end portion to the second end portion.
GB’499 teaches in figures 2 and 4 the limitation wherein the at least one biasing member 17 comprising spring material that circumferentially surrounds the tubular body as shown in figure 4 and extends from the first end portion, as labeled, to the second end portion as labeled.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the at least one biasing member of Kim, as modified, to comprise a spring material that circumferentially surrounds the tubular body and extend from the first end portion to the second end portion, in view of the teachings of GB’499, in order to provide a biasing force that is uniformly distributed and provides adequate stability throughout the extent of the biasing member.
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Re: claims 7, 13, and 20. Kim, as modified, teaches in figure 1 of Kim wherein a portion of the tubular body between the first and second end portions has a varying outer diameter, as shown in the annotated figure 1 of Kim above, that forms a bellows section.
Claim(s) 8, 9, 12, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application 2022/0018406 to Kim in view of GB-2131499 (GB’499) as applied above, and further in view of KR-101578145 (KR’145).
Kim, as modified, is silent with regard to the boot tubular body comprising an elastomeric/polymeric material.
KR’145 teaches in figure 1 the use of seal 160 described in the paragraph beginning “A boot 160 may be installed” as rubber which is elastomeric/polymeric.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the tubular body of the boot of Kim, as modified, to have been elastomeric/polymeric, in view of the teachings of KR’145, in order to provide a material with a low wear rate to improve the overall sealing function.
Claim(s) 3, 4, 17, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application 2022/0018406 to Kim in view of GB-2131499 (GB’499) as applied above, and further in view of DE-2436117 (DE’117).
Re: claims 3 and 17. Kim, as modified, is silent with regard to the at least one biasing member comprising at least one spring wire.
DE’117 teaches in figure 1 the limitation of at least one biasing member 14 comprising at least one spring wire.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the at least one biasing member of Kim, as modified, to have been at least one spring wire, in view of the teachings of DE’117, in order to provide a biasing member with greater deflection range and lower material cost.
Re: claims 4 and 18. Kim, as modified, is silent with regard to the at least one biasing member being arranged in substantially equal-spaced intervals.
GB’499 teaches in figure 4 the use of at least one biasing member 24 being arranged in substantially equally spaced intervals as shown.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the at least one spring wire of Kim, as modified, to have been substantially equally spaced intervals, in view of the teachings of GB’499, in order to provide a uniformly distributed biasing force while reducing the amount of material used to save costs.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Patent 2018/0087589 to Gerber et al. and KR-20090043185 teach the use of similar brake boots.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MELODY M BURCH whose telephone number is (571)272-7114. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 6:30AM-3PM, generally.
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mmb
May 30, 2026
/MELODY M BURCH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
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