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 . 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 12-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EP 0541485 A1.
Referring to Claim 12: EP 0541485 discloses a carriage body for a passenger transport vehicle, the carriage body comprising:
a carriage body shell having side walls (11) with door (5) and/or window cut-outs (6) formed therein, a roof and end walls, said side walls (Fig. 1), said roof and said end walls all composed of metal structures (“aluminum”) with openings formed therein (see attached EPO translation, Para. [0028]), said carriage body shell further having wall segments (11) formed from a material being permeable to mobile radio frequencies and being inserted into said openings in said metal structures (Para. [0030]).
Examiner notes that the side wall panels comprising “composites containing wood, plastics, fibers, fabrics and/or metals” (Para. [0030]) will be inherently permeable to mobile radio frequencies to some minor degree.
Referring to Claim 13: EP 0541485 discloses the carriage body according to claim 12, wherein said metal structures are in a form of extruded profiles (Para. [0028]) or sandwich panels.
Referring to Claim 14: EP 0541485 discloses the carriage body according to claim 12, wherein:
said metal structures include self-supporting support structures (Fig. 1) (Para. [0028]); and
said wall segments (11) of said carriage body shell which are permeable to mobile radio radiation are each embedded in one of said self-supporting support structures of said carriage body shell (Figs. 1 and 2).
Referring to Claim 15: EP 0541485 discloses the carriage body according to claim 14, wherein said self-supporting support structures each include strut-like support structure elements (Fig. 1).
Referring to Claim 16: EP 0541485 discloses the carriage body according to claim 14, wherein said self-supporting support structures include corner areas defining said door and/or window cut-outs (Fig. 1).
Referring to Claim 17: EP 0541485 discloses the carriage body according to claim 12, wherein said wall segments (11) made of said material being permeable to the mobile radio frequencies are disposed at a distance from corner areas defining said door (5) and/or window cut-outs (6) (Fig. 1).
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) 18, 19, 21 and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 0541485.
Referring to Claim 18: EP 0541485 does not specifically teach that said wall segments made of said material being permeable to mobile radio frequencies cover a proportion by area of at least 20% of said side wall, said end wall or said roof of said carriage body shell. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for EP 0541485 to use the permeable material over at least 20% of the sidewall in order to optimize radio permeability relative to strength, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). See MPEP § 2144.05 (II)(A).
Referring to Claim 19: EP 0541485 teaches the side wall panels comprising “composites containing wood, plastics, fibers, fabrics and/or metals” (Para. [0030]). EP 0541485 does not specifically teach that said material being permeable to the mobile radio frequencies is metal-free. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for EP 0541485 to make the material metal free in order to optimize permeability, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960). See MPEP § 2144.07.
Referring to Claim 21: EP 0541485 does not specifically teach that said wall segments made of said material being permeable to the mobile radio frequencies are adhesively bonded into said openings in said metal structures. However, EP 0541485 makes reference to the fact that it is known in the art to bond railcar components using adhesive and screws (Para. [0048]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for EP 0541485 to use adhesives to bond the wall segments to the metal structures in order to reliably secure components with a reasonable expectation of success.
Referring to Claim 22: EP 0541485 does not specifically teach that said wall segments made of said material being permeable to the mobile radio frequencies are screwed to adjacent areas of said metal structures. However, EP 0541485 makes reference to the fact that it is known in the art to bond railcar components using adhesive and screws (Para. [0048]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for EP 0541485 to use screws to secure the wall segments to the metal structures in order to reliably secure components with a reasonable expectation of success.
Claim(s) 20 and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 0541485 in view of FR 2976890 A1.
Referring to Claim 20: EP 0541485 teaches the side wall panels comprising “composites containing wood, plastics, fibers, fabrics and/or metals” (Para. [0030]). EP 0541485 does not specifically teach that said material being permeable to the mobile radio frequencies is selected from the group consisting of glass fiber-reinforced plastic and carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. However, FR 2976890 teaches a carriage body made from composite material and configured to receive radio frequencies, wherein “[p]referably, the material is a thermosetting matrix composite. This choice makes it possible to respect both the railway constraints and the radiofrequency transmission constraints. By way of example, this material is a fiberglass composite with a thermosetting resin. Fiberglass can be replaced with Kevlar fiber or carbon fiber.” (see attached machine translation, page 2, last paragraph). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for EP 0541485 to use glass fiber-reinforced plastic or carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, as taught by FR 2976890, in order to optimize weight, strength and radio permeability, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960). See MPEP § 2144.07.
Referring to Claim 23: EP 0541485 does not specifically teach that the mobile radio frequencies are greater than 700 MHz. However, FR 2976890 teaches a carriage body made from composite material and configured to receive radio frequencies, wherein the matrix composite material is transparent to electromagnetic waves having a range of frequencies greater than 2 GHz (abstract). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for EP 0541485 to use a permeable material having permeability at frequencies greater than 700 MHz because FR 2976890 teaches that it is beneficial to have permeability for communications, and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). See MPEP § 2144.05 (II)(A).
Conclusion
The references made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure because the references generally relate to carriage body framing and composite side walls over an extended timeline: US-20190389494-A1, US-6065261-A, US-5784970-A, US-5433151-A, US-5199632-A and US-0251787-A.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY L KUHFUSS whose telephone number is (571)270-7858. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:00am to 6:00 pm CDT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Samuel (Joe) Morano can be reached on (571)272-6682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZACHARY L KUHFUSS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615A
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