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.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Interpretation
The term “cowling” has not been afforded any special meaning in the specification. As such, it has been treated as merely meaning the most generic of definitions, which is merely a covering.
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) 1 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yasuhara (US 9,199,682).
Regarding Claim 1, Yasuhara discloses a support structure for a turn signal lamp 43 provided on a straddle-type vehicle, the support structure comprised of a first side cowling 22 having a cutout formed in a part of the first side cowling (Fig. 11); and a second side cowling 59 (rear cover of the signal lamp) configured to cover the cutout from an inner side (Fig. 11), wherein the second side cowling is configured to support the turn signal lamp extending outward through the cutout (Fig. 11), and wherein an outer side surface of the second side cowling is attached to an inner side surface of the first side cowling (via mounts 61; Figs. 10 and 11) so as to be detachable in a vehicle width direction.
Regarding Claim 2, one of the first side cowling 22 and the second side cowling 59 has an opening 63 (Fig. 10), and the other of the first side cowling and the second side cowling comprises a protrusion inserted into the opening (Fig. 11) so as to escape from the opening upon receiving an external force from an outside in the vehicle width direction, and wherein the outer side surface of the second side cowling is attached to the inner side surface of the first side cowling by the opening and the protrusion so as to be detachable in the vehicle width direction (Fig. 11).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claims 3-5, the applicant’s use of an attaching location wherein in a side view, at least one attaching location of the outer side surface of the second side cowling with respect to the inner side surface of the first side cowling is located on a rear side of a front end position of the support surface and on a front side of a rear end position of the support surface, is novel.
Regarding Claims 6-9, the applicant’s application of the second side cowling being detachable from the first side cowling between the fixing portions which are fixed to a vehicle body, is novel.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited art relates to saddle style vehicles, their cowlings and lighting.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON S DANIELS whose telephone number is (571)270-1167. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amy Weisberg can be reached at 571-270-5500. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON S DANIELS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612
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