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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 and 10-18 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.
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 1, 2, and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schuetzle (US Pub No. 2010/0038100), Stinar, Sr. (US Pat. No. 10,737,610), and Curtis (US Pub No. 2009/0172983).
Regarding claim 1, Schuetzle teaches a construction machine (See Fig. 1 and abstract) comprising:
a rear member provided at the rear of an engine room (See [0042] and Fig. 2);
Schuetzle does not teach a support plate attached to the other surface of the rear member opposite to one surface facing the engine room; a multifunctional auxiliary brake light coupled to the support plate and extending in a left-right direction to express a selected one of a plurality of lighting or flashing patterns; a cable connected to the multifunctional auxiliary brake light through the through-hole of the rear member; a control device connected to the cable to control the multifunctional auxiliary brake light, and a through hole communicating with the engine room.
Stinar teaches a support plate attached to the other surface of the rear member opposite to one surface facing the engine room (See abstract, Fig. 2, and Col. 4 lines 63-65 which teach back plate on the housing for mounting to a surface);
a multifunctional auxiliary brake light coupled to the support plate and extending in a left-right direction to express a selected one of a plurality of lighting or flashing patterns (See abstract, Fig. 2, and Col. 4 lines 40-48, which teach a light signal housing with three lights extended lengthwise for signaling turns and braking.);
a cable connected to the multifunctional auxiliary brake light (See Fig. 3-5 which shows wiring extending from the back panel of the light housing); and
a control device connected to the cable to control the multifunctional auxiliary brake light (See Col. 2, lines 30-32, “The brake and turn signal light system is powered and operated through the VECU.” The VECU is a control unit.).
One of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed would have been motivated to modify Schuetzle’s system to include Stinar’s teachings to ensure compliance and safety of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (49CFR571). Therefore, the invention as a whole would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made.
Curtis teaches a through hole for a wire between the interior and exterior of the trailer which provides communicating with the room in the trailer (See [0100]).
One of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed would have been motivated to modify Schuetzle’s system to include Curtis’s teachings to better ensure function of the system with a weatherproof and moisture proof setup. Therefore, the invention as a whole would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made.
Regarding claim 2, Schuetzle does not teach the support plate is formed in a structure that seals the engine room.
Curtis teaches to seal the edges (See abstract). It would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the sealed edges taught in Curtis to keep the engine room protected from outside weather or water.
Regarding claim 7, Schuetzle the rear member is an engine room cover (See Fig. 2 which shows the engine within the housing of the trailer. Therefore, the back enclosed trailer is the rear member cover).
Regarding claim 8, Schetzle does not teach the support plate is formed to surround the entire multifunctional auxiliary brake light.
Stinar teaches that the support plate is formed to surround the entire multifunctional auxiliary brake light (See abstract, Fig. 1-3, component 135 Col. 5, lines 16-24).
Regarding claim 9, Schetzle does not teach a multifunctional auxiliary brake light.
Stinar teaches a multifunctional auxiliary brake light with a lamp portion and a support plate (See abstract, Fig. 4, and Col. 4, lines 40-48). Stinar does not teach how they are fastened. Curtis teaches fastening with bolts (See [0054]). It would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize bolts to fasten two components together in order to allow secure attachment and allow for easy removal in cases where one of the components needs replacement.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS S MCCORMACK whose telephone number is (571)272-0841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/THOMAS S MCCORMACK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686