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 without traverse of Species A in the reply filed on July 16, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 6 and 7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species. Claims 1-5 remain for examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 30, 2024, Feb. 3, 2025 and April 7, 2026 has been considered by the Examiner.
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Noguchi et al. (US 10,742,933).
Noguchi discloses and shows a straddle type vehicle comprising:
a vehicle body frame (F);
a fixed member (142) which is supported by the vehicle body frame and to which an electrical component (156, 167, 168, for example, see Figs. 9 and 12) is fixed; and
a sensor unit including a sensor (111) for detecting an object around a vehicle body and fixed to the fixed member together with the electrical component via a vibration absorbing member (231).
Noguchi does not specify the material make-up of the vibration absorbing member. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the vibration absorbing member of rubber (or any other resilient material) since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. See Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 and In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960) as described in MPEP 2144.07.
Cl. 2 – the electrical component (167, 168) is an electrical component that is required to be equipped when traveling on a public road.
Cl. 3 – the sensor unit includes: the sensor (111); and a sensor bracket (233) having a sensor support part (236,234) that supports the sensor and a fixing part (bottom portion of U-shaped part of 233) that is jointly fastened and fixed to the fixed member by a fastening member (adhesive or hook-and-loop fastener, col. 13:56-62) via the rubber member.
Cl. 4 – the straddle type vehicle further comprising a cover member (30) that covers the fixed member, wherein the sensor unit is covered with the cover member in a state of being fixed to the fixed member.
Cl. 5 – the electrical component includes a meter unit (167,168) having a meter and a meter casing that houses the meter, the fixed member (142) includes a meter bracket (see Fig. 12) which is supported at a front end of the vehicle body frame and to which the meter unit is fixed, the cover member includes a meter cover that covers a back surface of the meter casing facing the front and a part of the meter bracket from the front (Figs. 4 and 5), and the sensor unit is covered with the meter cover (by cover member, 30) while being fixed to the meter bracket together with the meter unit.
Cited Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure. Applicant is directed to consider additional pertinent prior art listed on the Notice of References Cited (PTOL 892) attached herewith.
JP 2022-108854, US 11,643,174 and EP 3632783 each include a sensor unit (29, 50 and 40, respectively) mounted at a front portion of a straddle-type vehicle.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BOBBY RUSHING, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-0501. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8AM-5PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minnah Seoh can be reached at (571) 270-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BOBBY RUSHING, JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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