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
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.
Rejections involving Boisdon (US 20220402307)
Claim 24-31, 33, 36, 37, 40-44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boisdon (US 20220402307) in view of Richards (US 20050006015) and/or Morishita (US 5974872).
Regarding claims 24-26, Boisdon discloses a tire for vehicle wheels comprising a tread band, on which a plurality of grooves are formed, said grooves generally defining a tread pattern of said tire (see grooves defined between blocks in Fig. 8 embodiment), said tread pattern comprising:
a central region extending to straddle an equatorial plane of said tire (see region between outer circumferential grooves 221),
a first shoulder region and a second shoulder region respectively extending from a first axial end of said tread band and a second axial end of said tread band towards said central region, each shoulder region being delimited at an axially internal side thereof by a first straight circumferential groove (see shoulder blocks axially outside grooves 221, Fig. 8; as to the grooves being straight circumferential grooves, Boisdon states that as an alternative to the oblique direction, the grooves extend only in the circumferential direction, [0071]--thus, the grooves would be straight circumferential grooves),
wherein said central region is passed through by a pair of second straight circumferential grooves different from said first straight circumferential grooves, to define in said central region an equatorial region, which is axially delimited by said pair of second straight circumferential grooves and a pair of intermediate regions, each one axially delimited by a first circumferential groove and by a second straight circumferential groove (see inner second grooves 222 which defined equatorial region and intermediate regions; as to the grooves being straight circumferential grooves, Boisdon states that as an alternative to the oblique direction, the grooves extend only in the circumferential direction, [0071]--thus, the grooves would be straight circumferential grooves).
Boisdon's tread pattern comprises a plurality of pitches but Boisdon is silent as to the total number of pitches. It would have been obvious, however, to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the pitch number as greater than 110, less than 250, and between 120 and 180 in view of (1) Richards, similarly directed towards a tire, teaches that typically passenger cars have about 30 to 120 pitches ([0041]); and/or (2) Morishita, similarly directed towards a vehicle tire, teaches pitch numbers of 60 to 160 to provide low pattern noise (col 5, lines 1-5; col 4, lines 53-59); said ranges overlapping the claimed ranges. One would have been motivated to employ a pitch number known to be suitable for passenger car tire tread and to select a pitch number to provide low pattern noise.
Each pitch of the plurality of pitches extends axially between said first axial end and said second axial end of said tread band (see Fig. 8), said pitch being repeated over an entire circumferential development of said tread band, wherein a circumferential end of each pitch is delimited by a first plurality of transverse grooves extending from said first axial end of said tread band towards the
equatorial plane of said tire and by a second plurality of transverse grooves extending from said second axial end of said tread band towards said equatorial plane (see transverse grooves extending from tread edges to equator).
As to the blocks being "solid blocks," Boisdon discloses the presence of sipes within the blocks as a "preference" ([0033]). A reference may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art, including nonpreferred embodiments. MPEP 2123. In describing the sipes as a preference, Boisdon contemplates treads having blocks that do not have sipes as an alternative to siped blocks. The description of blocks comprising a sipe being a preference suggests to one of ordinary skill in the art that the sipes are optional and that the tread may be provided without any sipes. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the blocks as solid blocks since Boisdon discloses sipes as a preference ([0033]), thus suggesting blocks without sipes as an alternative embodiment.
Regarding claims 27-30, Boisdon is silent regarding the pitch length or the tread band circumference. Examiner notes that passenger car tires come in a variety of sizes to fit different vehicles and it is conventional for passenger tires to have tread band circumferences on the order of about 2000 mm. For example, Morishita discloses the example passenger car tire having size of 205/65R15 (col 5, lines 26-34)--this size yields a circumference of 2034 mm (pi*(205*65%*2 + 15*25.4)). For a pitch number of 120, the mean pitch length would be 17 mm (1985 / 120). For pitch number of 160, the mean pitch length would be 13 mm. In the case of smaller tires, the tire circumferences and corresponding pitch lengths would be smaller. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the tread circumference as less than 2600 mm or between 1600 mm and 2200 mm and the pitch lengths as claimed since (1) it is conventional for passenger car tires to have circumferences of about 2000 mm (see Morishita's example 205/65R15 tire; Examiner notes that passenger tires come in a range of conventional sizes, including tires with smaller circumferences) and (2) the pitch number ranges disclosed by Morishita and/or Richards suggest pitch lengths that overlap the claimed range. Vehicles require particular tire sizes and one would have been motivated to configure the tire with a conventional tire size known to be suitable for use on vehicle applications.
Regarding claim 31, as discussed above, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the blocks as solid blocks since Boisdon discloses sipes as a preference ([0033]), thus suggesting blocks without sipes as an alternative embodiment.
Regarding claim 33, the second transverse grooves are axially correspondent to the first transverse grooves (see Fig. 8).
Regarding claims 36 and 37, the first and second transverse grooves extend through the second intermediate region and an equatorial region of the central region (see Fig. 8).
Regarding claims 40 and 41, Boisdon's transverse grooves decrease in width from the shoulder to the center (see Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 42, the first and second transverse grooves are inclined in a symmetrical manner (Fig. 8).
Regarding claims 43 and 44, the shoulder block chamfers extending over the leading and trailing edge faces of the blocks ([0029,0032,0069]). Examiner also notes that recitation of preferential rolling direction concerns the intended use of the tire. Boisdon's tire is capable of being mounted and rotated in either direction.
Claim 34, 35, and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boisdon (US 20220402307) in view of Richards (US 20050006015) and/or Morishita (US 5974872) and as applied to claim 33 above, and further in view of Hasegawa (US 5435364).
Regarding claims 34, 35, and 38, Boisdon clearly illustrates the transverse grooves as inclined slightly less than 90 degrees relative to the circumferential direction in the shoulder region and then have a smaller inclination relative to the circumferential direction in the intermediate and central regions. Boisdon does not, however, expressly disclose the inclination angles. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the grooves with inclination as claimed since, in the same field of endeavor of directional tire treads, Hasegawa discloses a tire having transverse grooves that extend from the shoulder towards the equator wherein the grooves have an angle of about 65 to 80 degrees at the shoulder, 45 to 60 degrees in the intermediate region, and 40 to 55 degrees in the central region to improve drainage, noise, and wear performance (col 5, line 59-col 6, line 11), said ranges overlapping the claimed ranges.
Claim 45 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boisdon (US 20220402307) in view of Iwai (KR 20110014103A, with English machine translation) and/or Morishita (US 5974872).
Regarding claim 45, Boisdon discloses a tire for vehicle wheels comprising a tread band, on which a plurality of grooves are formed, said grooves generally defining a tread pattern of said tire (see grooves defined between blocks in Fig. 8 embodiment), said tread pattern comprising:
a central region extending to straddle an equatorial plane of said tire (see region between outer circumferential grooves 221),
a first shoulder region and a second shoulder region respectively extending from a first axial end of said tread band and a second axial end of said tread band towards said central region, each shoulder region being delimited at an axially internal side thereof by a first straight circumferential groove (see shoulder blocks axially outside grooves 221, Fig. 8; as to the grooves being straight circumferential grooves, Boisdon states that as an alternative to the oblique direction, the grooves extend only in the circumferential direction, [0071]--thus, the grooves would be straight circumferential grooves),
wherein said central region is passed through by a pair of second straight circumferential grooves different from said first straight circumferential grooves, to define in said central region an equatorial region, which is axially delimited by said pair of second straight circumferential grooves and a pair of intermediate regions, each one axially delimited by a first circumferential groove and by a second straight circumferential groove (see inner second grooves 222 which defined equatorial region and intermediate regions; as to the grooves being straight circumferential grooves, Boisdon states that as an alternative to the oblique direction, the grooves extend only in the circumferential direction, [0071]--thus, the grooves would be straight circumferential grooves).
Boisdon's tread pattern comprises a plurality of pitches but Boisdon is silent as to the total number of pitches. It would have been obvious, however, to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the pitch number as between 130 and 200 in view of (1) Iwai, similarly directed towards a tire tread, teaches that if the number of pitches is significantly reduced, then drainage performance is deteriorated but if the pitch number becomes too high, the land ratio becomes small and steering stability performance on dry road deteriorates and suggests a preferable pitch number of 120-160 ([0056]); and/or (2) Morishita, similarly directed towards a vehicle tire, teaches pitch numbers of 60 to 160 to provide low pattern noise (col 5, lines 1-5; col 4, lines 53-59); said ranges overlapping the claimed ranges. One would have been motivated to configure the tire with a pitch number that balances drainage and steering stability performance and one that provides low pattern noise.
Each pitch of the plurality of pitches extends axially between said first axial end and said second axial end of said tread band (see Fig. 8), said pitch being repeated over an entire circumferential development of said tread band, wherein a circumferential end of each pitch is delimited by a first plurality of transverse grooves extending from said first axial end of said tread band towards the
equatorial plane of said tire and by a second plurality of transverse grooves extending from said second axial end of said tread band towards said equatorial plane (see transverse grooves extending from tread edges to equator).
As to the blocks being "solid blocks," Boisdon discloses the presence of sipes within the blocks as a "preference" ([0033]). A reference may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art, including nonpreferred embodiments. MPEP 2123. In describing the sipes as a preference, Boisdon contemplates treads having blocks that do not have sipes as an alternative to siped blocks. The description of blocks comprising a sipe being a preference suggests to one of ordinary skill in the art that the sipes are optional and that the tread may be provided without any sipes. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the blocks as solid blocks since Boisdon discloses sipes as a preference ([0033]), thus suggesting blocks without sipes as an alternative embodiment.
Rejections involving Hasegawa (US 5435364)
Claim 24-31, 33-38, 40-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (US 5435364) in view of Richards (US 20050006015) and/or Morishita (US 5974872).
Regarding claims 24-26, Hasegawa discloses a tire for vehicle wheels comprising a tread band, on which a plurality of grooves are formed, said grooves generally defining a tread pattern of said tire (see circumferential and transversal grooves in Fig. 1), said tread pattern comprising:
a central region extending to straddle an equatorial plane of said tire (see region between outer circumferential grooves G1, Fig. 1),
a first shoulder region and a second shoulder region respectively extending from a first axial end of said tread band and a second axial end of said tread band towards said central region, each shoulder region being delimited at an axially internal side thereof by a first straight circumferential groove (see shoulder blocks RS axially outside the outermost circumferential grooves, Fig. 1; circumferential grooves straight),
wherein said central region is passed through by a pair of second straight circumferential grooves different from said first straight circumferential grooves, to define in said central region an equatorial region, which is axially delimited by said pair of second straight circumferential grooves and a pair of intermediate regions, each one axially delimited by a first circumferential groove and by a second straight circumferential groove (see circumferential grooves G2 formed inwards of the outermost circumferential grooves, said grooves defining an equatorial region RC and intermediate regions RM),
wherein said tread band comprises a plurality of blocks and at least 90% of the blocks formed on said tread band are solid blocks (see Fig. 1 wherein no sipes are depicted).
Hasegawa's tread pattern comprises a plurality of pitches but Hasegawa is silent as to the total number of pitches. It would have been obvious, however, to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the pitch number as greater than 110, less than 250, and between 120 and 180 in view of (1) Richards, similarly directed towards a tire, teaches that typically passenger cars have about 30 to 120 pitches ([0041]); and/or (2) Morishita, similarly directed towards a vehicle tire, teaches pitch numbers of 60 to 160 to provide low pattern noise (col 5, lines 1-5; col 4, lines 53-59); said ranges overlapping the claimed ranges. One would have been motivated to employ a pitch number known to be suitable for passenger car tire tread and to select a pitch number to provide low pattern noise.
Each pitch of the plurality of pitches extends axially between said first axial end and said second axial end of said tread band (see Fig. 1), said pitch being repeated over an entire circumferential development of said tread band, wherein a circumferential end of each pitch is delimited by a first plurality of transverse grooves extending from said first axial end of said tread band towards the
equatorial plane of said tire and by a second plurality of transverse grooves extending from said second axial end of said tread band towards said equatorial plane (see transverse grooves extending from tread edges towards equator).
Regarding claims 27-30, Hasegawa is silent regarding the pitch length or the tread band circumference. Examiner notes that passenger car tires come in a variety of sizes to fit different vehicles and it is conventional for passenger tires to have tread band circumferences on the order of about 2000 mm. For example, Morishita discloses the example passenger car tire having size of 205/65R15 (col 5, lines 26-34)--this size yields a circumference of 2034 mm (pi*(205*65%*2 + 15*25.4)). For a pitch number of 120, the mean pitch length would be 17 mm (1985 / 120). For pitch number of 160, the mean pitch length would be 13 mm. In the case of smaller tires, the tire circumferences and corresponding pitch lengths would be smaller. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the tread circumference as less than 2600 mm or between 1600 mm and 2200 mm and the pitch lengths as claimed since (1) it is conventional for passenger car tires to have circumferences of about 2000 mm (see Morishita's example 205/65R15 tire; Examiner notes that passenger tires come in a range of conventional sizes, including tires with smaller circumferences) and (2) the pitch number ranges disclosed by Morishita and/or Richards suggest pitch lengths that overlap the claimed range. Vehicles require particular tire sizes and one would have been motivated to configure the tire with a conventional tire size known to be suitable for use on vehicle applications.
Regarding claim 31, the blocks are all solid blocks without sipes/grooves.
Regarding claim 33, the second plurality of transverse grooves are axially correspondent to the first plurality of transverse grooves (the plurality of transverse grooves on one side of the equator overlap with the plurality of transverse grooves on the other side of the equator, see Fig 1).
Regarding claims 34 and 35, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the first and second shoulder transverse grooves with inclination of 80-85 degrees as claimed since Hasegawa discloses a tire having shoulder transverse grooves wherein the grooves have an angle of about 65 to 80 degrees at the shoulder, said ranges overlapping the claimed ranges.
Regarding claims 36 and 37, the first and second transverse grooves extend through the second intermediate region and an equatorial region of the central region (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claims 38, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the first/second intermediate and equatorial transverse grooves with inclination of 40 and 60 degrees as claimed since Hasegawa discloses the transverse grooves as having inclinations of 45 to 60 degrees in the intermediate region, and 40 to 55 degrees in the central region to improve drainage, noise, and wear performance (col 5, line 59-col 6, line 11), said ranges overlapping the claimed ranges.
Regarding claims 40 and 41, Hasegawa's transverse grooves decrease in width from the shoulder to the center (col 5, lines 14-40).
Regarding claim 42, the first and second transverse grooves are inclined in a symmetrical manner (Fig. 1).
Claim 43 and 44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (US 5435364) in view of Richards (US 20050006015) and/or Morishita (US 5974872) as applied to claim 42 above, and further in view of Watanabe (JPH02-179508, with English machine translation).
Regarding claims 43 and 44, Hasegawa does not disclose the transverse grooves as having chamfered edges; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the transverse grooves of the tread with chamfered edges since Watanabe, similarly directed towards a tire tread, teaches providing a chamfer on all the transverse groove edges to reduce noise and rolling resistance (pg 3, top paragraph).
Claim 45 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (US 5435364) in view of Iwai (KR 20110014103A, with English machine translation) and/or Morishita (US 5974872).
Regarding claim 45, Hasegawa discloses a tire for vehicle wheels comprising a tread band, on which a plurality of grooves are formed, said grooves generally defining a tread pattern of said tire (see circumferential and transversal grooves in Fig. 1), said tread pattern comprising:
a central region extending to straddle an equatorial plane of said tire (see region between outer circumferential grooves G1, Fig. 1),
a first shoulder region and a second shoulder region respectively extending from a first axial end of said tread band and a second axial end of said tread band towards said central region, each shoulder region being delimited at an axially internal side thereof by a first straight circumferential groove (see shoulder blocks RS axially outside the outermost circumferential grooves, Fig. 1; circumferential grooves straight),
wherein said central region is passed through by a pair of second straight circumferential grooves different from said first straight circumferential grooves, to define in said central region an equatorial region, which is axially delimited by said pair of second straight circumferential grooves and a pair of intermediate regions, each one axially delimited by a first circumferential groove and by a second straight circumferential groove (see circumferential grooves G2 formed inwards of the outermost circumferential grooves, said grooves defining an equatorial region RC and intermediate regions RM),
wherein said tread band comprises a plurality of blocks and at least 90% of the blocks formed on said tread band are solid blocks (see Fig. 1 wherein no sipes are depicted).
Hasegawa's tread pattern comprises a plurality of pitches but Hasegawa is silent as to the total number of pitches. It would have been obvious, however, to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the pitch number as between 130 and 200 in view of (1) Iwai, similarly directed towards a tire tread, teaches that if the number of pitches is significantly reduced, then drainage performance is deteriorated but if the pitch number becomes too high, the land ratio becomes small and steering stability performance on dry road deteriorates and suggests a preferable pitch number of 120-160 ([0056]); and/or (2) Morishita, similarly directed towards a vehicle tire, teaches pitch numbers of 60 to 160 to provide low pattern noise (col 5, lines 1-5; col 4, lines 53-59); said ranges overlapping the claimed ranges. One would have been motivated to configure the tire with a pitch number that balances drainage and steering stability performance and one that provides low pattern noise.
Each pitch of the plurality of pitches extends axially between said first axial end and said second axial end of said tread band (see Fig. 1), said pitch being repeated over an entire circumferential development of said tread band, wherein a circumferential end of each pitch is delimited by a first plurality of transverse grooves extending from said first axial end of said tread band towards the
equatorial plane of said tire and by a second plurality of transverse grooves extending from said second axial end of said tread band towards said equatorial plane (see transverse grooves extending from tread edges towards equator).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/22/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Boisdon recites the wording "as a preference" 10 times to introduce additional features. The use of the term does not imply that Boisdon teaches an embodiment with and without the feature listed. Applicant argues that it is clear that Boisdon has not contemplated eliminating sipes. Boisdon is expressly interested in an invention that "seeks to improve the compromise between grip on snowy ground/wet ground for an all-season tire while at the time improving the performance in terms of grip on dry ground" (Boisdon, [0007]).
Applicant's arguments are unpersuasive. Boisdon's invention is focused on providing chamfers along the edges of the blocks (see abstract; claim 1; [0019,0024]). The inclusion of a sipe extending along the length of the block is recited as a "preference" ([0033]). Examiner further notes that Boisdon recites the inclusion of sipes in dependent claim 8, and thus not necessarily part of the claimed invention of chamfered blocks (see claim 1). Boisdon's description of the sipe as a preference and the inclusion of the sipe as a dependent claim rather than part of the broader invention of claim 1 indicate that Boisdon contemplated a tire tread where sipes were not provided in the tread blocks. Furthermore, a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention would have recognized the inclusion of sipes in Boisdon as optional.
Applicant argues the "preference" appears not to be the presence of the sipe itself, but the chamfering of the sipe.
Examiner disagrees. Paragraph [0033] discloses "the set of blocks comprises a sipe extending along the length of the set of blocks, said sipe being at least partially chamfered" as the preference. This phrase does not restrict the preference to the chamfer.
Regarding new claim 45, Applicant argues that Morishita is not a structural patent on the tread but a patent on a method to evaluate the acoustic performance of a tread pattern. The pitch number Morishita cites are simply ranges within which the evaluation method works.
Examiner disagrees. Morishita provides a conventional pitch number range for tire treads and also discloses pitch numbers less than 40 make it difficult to accomplish low pattern noise (col 4, lines 26-59).
Applicant's arguments do not appear to have addressed the rejections of the claims under Hasegawa (US 5435364). Examiner notes that Hasegawa does not have sipes within the tread blocks.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT C DYE whose telephone number is (571)270-7059. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anna Momper can be reached at (571) 270-5788. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT C DYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
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