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 § 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) 1-6, 8, 12, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Arimura (US 8,083,017). Arimura discloses:
With regard to claim - A straddled vehicle, comprising:
a head tube;
a front fork 5 supported by the head tube;
a front wheel 10 supported by the front fork 5;
a left shroud 61 located leftward of the front fork 5 and higher than the front wheel 10;
a right shroud 62 located rightward of the front fork 5 and higher than the front wheel 10;
a radiator 60 located rearward of the front fork 5 and between the left shroud 61 and the right shroud 62; and
a radiator grille 79-82 located rearward of the front fork 5, between the left shroud 61 and the right shroud 62, and forward of the radiator 60, the radiator grille having a plurality of louvers 80-82 including a first louver 79,
wherein the plurality of louvers 79-82 is lined in a transverse direction of the straddled vehicle (see Fig. 13), and
the first louver 79 is located further inward of the straddled vehicle than any of the plurality of louvers 80-82 other than the first louver, and projects more forward (see forward end 13) than any of the plurality of louvers 80-82 other than the first louver in a front-back direction of the straddled vehicle.
With regard to claim 2 - wherein between any two of the plurality of louvers 79-82 adjacent to each other in the transverse direction, the one located further inward of the straddled vehicle is an inner louver thereof, and the other is an outer louver thereof, each of the inner louver and the outer louver has a front end, and the front end of the inner louver is located at a position equal to or more forward than the front end of the outer louver in the front-back direction of the straddled vehicle (see Fig. 13) motorcycle and radiator and louver.
With regard to claim 3 - wherein the front end of the inner louver 80 is located more forward than the front end of the outer louver 81.
With regard to claim 4 - wherein the plurality of louvers 79-82 each have an inclination angle with respect to the front-back direction of the straddled vehicle, and the inclination angle of the first louver is equal to or smaller than the inclination angles of any of the plurality of louvers other than the first louver.
With regard to claim 5 - wherein the inclination angles of the plurality of louvers other than the first louver are equal to one another (see Fig. 14).
With regard to claim 6 - wherein between any two of the plurality of louvers 79-82 adjacent to each other in the transverse direction, the one located further inward of the straddled vehicle is an inner louver thereof, and the other is an outer louver thereof, each of the inner louver and the outer louver has an inclination angle with respect to the front-back direction of the straddled vehicle, and the inclination angle of the inner louver is equal to or smaller than the inclination angle of the outer louver (see Fig. 13).
With regard to claim 8 - wherein the plurality of louvers further includes a second louver 80 that is located outward of, and adjacent to, the first louver 79 in the transverse direction, each of the first louver 79 and the second louver 80 having a front end and a rear end, and a separation distance between the front end of the first louver 79 and the front end of the second louver 80 is equal to or larger than a separation distance between the rear end of the first louver and the rear end of the second louver (see Fig. 13).
With regard to claim 12 - wherein the plurality of louvers further includes a third louver 81 that is located outward of, and adjacent to, the second louver 80 in the transverse direction, a first gap between the first louver 79 and the second louver 80 has a same width as, or a larger width than, a second gap between the second louver 80 and the third louver 81 (see Fig. 13).
With regard to claim 15 - wherein the third louver has a rear end, and the rear end of the third louver is located at a position equal to the rear end of the second louver in the front-back direction of the straddled vehicle (see marked up figure below).
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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) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arimura. Arimura disclose that the inclination angle of the first louver is smaller than the inclination angle of the second louver. However, Arimura fails to explicitly disclose wherein the inclination angle of each inner louver is smaller than the inclination angle of each outer louver. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the vehicle of Arimura such that the inclination angle of each inner louver is smaller than the inclination angle of each outer louver 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.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-11, 13, and 14 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Oohashi discloses a straddled vehicle, comprising a head tube 2; a front fork 5 supported by the head tube 2; a front wheel 6 supported by the front fork 5; a left shroud 21 located leftward of the front fork 5 and higher than the front wheel 6; a right shroud 22 located rightward of the front fork 5 and higher than the front wheel 6; a radiator 13 located rearward of the front fork 5 and between the left shroud 21 and the right shroud 22; and a radiator grille 14, 15 located rearward of the front fork 5, between the left shroud 21 and the right shroud 22, and forward of the radiator 13, the radiator grille having a plurality of louvers 15c, 18 including a first louver 15c, wherein the plurality of louvers 15c, 18 is lined in a transverse direction of the straddled vehicle (see Fig. 3), and the first louver is located further 15c inward of the straddled vehicle than any of the plurality of louvers 18 other than the first louver, and projects more forward (see forward end 15f) than any of the plurality of louvers 18 other than the first louver in a front-back direction of the straddled vehicle (see Fig. 3).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY WILHELM whose telephone number is (571)272-6980. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paul Dickson can be reached at 571-272-7742. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY WILHELM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617 June 26, 2026
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