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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Species A (Figs. 1-6) in the reply filed on 2/5/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 10-12 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 2/5/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 8-9 recite fixing pins (see claim 8) and the fixing pin (see claim 9) which renders claims 8-9 indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-9, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Byun (KR20030013964A).
Regarding claim 1,
Referring to Figs. 6-7, Byun teaches a vent module (see par. 1) comprising: a housing 10 having an open upper side (e.g. at 20, see Fig. 7) and including a communication hole 18 formed on a rear side of the housing and through which air flows; a housing door 11 rotatably connected to the housing to open or close the open upper side of the housing; and a vent portion 11 that is inserted through the communication hole and rotatably mounted inside the housing and discharges air (e.g. through element 15), wherein the vent portion adjusts an air discharge direction in response to being exposed to an upper side of the housing through the open upper side, depending on a rotation angle of the vent portion 11.
Regarding claims 2-7,
Byun teaches wherein a hinge 12a of the vent portion is formed at a rear side of the vent portion in a direction parallel to a width direction of the housing, wherein the vent portion is disposed in: a first position where the vent portion is inserted into the housing in response to being rotated downward at a maximum angle (see Fig. 6) ; and a second position where the vent portion is exposed to the open upper side of the housing in response to being rotated upward at a maximum angle (see Fig. 7), and in response that the vent portion is disposed in the first position, air flows inside the housing through the vent portion, and in response that the vent portion is disposed in the second position, air flows inside a vehicle through the vent portion wherein the vent portion includes: a cover (e.g. the cover at element 11) disposed in a horizontal direction in a state that the vent portion is disposed in the first position; an inflow portion that is formed at one end of the cover in a direction intersecting a surface direction of the cover and through which air flows in (see Fig. 6); and a discharge portion (e.g. at 15) that connects the cover and the inflow portion and through which air is discharged, and wherein the inflow portion is disposed in the horizontal direction in a state that the vent portion is disposed in the second position, wherein a hose (e.g. a duct, not shown, see par. 40) serving as a passage through which air flows in is mounted in the communication hole and connected to the inflow portion of the vent portion , wherein a rib 15a for guiding the air discharge direction is formed in the discharge portion, wherein the rib is formed to be inclined in a surface direction of the discharge portion (see par. 39).
Regarding claims 8-9,
Byun teaches wherein the hinge 12a is formed at one end where the cover and the inflow portion are connected (e.g. by definition of wherein the inflow portion is defined), and fixing pins 12, 14, 14a that are caught on and fixed to an upper portion 17 of the housing are formed at another ends of the cover and the inflow portion, wherein the fixing pin 14 formed on the cover is caught on the housing in a state that the vent portion is disposed in the first position, and the fixing pin formed on the inflow portion is caught on the housing in a state that the vent portion is disposed in the second position.
Regarding claim 13,
Byun teaches a vehicle (see par. 18) comprising: a cockpit module 20; and the vent module of claim, installed at one side of the cockpit module.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Oh, Lee, and Beau teach vent modules.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVE S TANENBAUM whose telephone number is (313)446-6522. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11 AM - 7 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Frantz Jules can be reached at (571) 272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Steve S TANENBAUM/Examiner, Art Unit 3763 /FRANTZ F JULES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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