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
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.
Claims 1, 4, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hayakawa et al. (2020/0185128).
Hayakawa et al. discloses a composite cable (1), comprising: a plurality of power lines (10) for supplying an operating power to an electric brake unit for braking a vehicle wheel; a first twisted pair (20) including two first signal lines twisted together for transmitting control signals to control the electric brake unit, the first twisted pair transmits a wheel speed signal indicating a rotation speed of the vehicle wheel in addition to the control signals (Fig. 1, [0033], [0039], [0048]); a second twisted pair (30) including two second signal lines twisted together, the second twisted pair being a redundant communication line for the first twisted pair ([0057], [0063]); and a sheath (50) collectively covering the plurality of power lines, the first twisted pair, and the second twisted pair, wherein the first twisted pair and the second twisted pair are disposed apart so as to sandwich the plurality of power lines (Fig. 2), and wherein identical command signals output from a general controller are input to the first signal lines and the second signal lines (Figs 1 & 4) (re-claim 1). Hayakawa et al. also discloses a composite harness (Fig. 1) comprising the composite cable according to claim 1 and a connector provided at an end of the composite cable (re-claim 4); and the identical command signals indicate a magnitude of a braking force to be generated by the electric brake unit to the first signal lines and the second signal lines ([0025]) (re-claim 7).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayakawa et al. in view of Kobayashi et al. (2021/0024018).
Hayakawa et al. discloses the invention substantially as claimed including a composite harness comprising the composite cable according to claim 1; a connector provided at an end of the composite cable, wherein a control unit (103) of the brake unit receives the detection signal of the wheel speed sensor to transmit the detection signal as a wheel speed signal to the general controller via the composite cable, and wherein the wheel speed signal is transmitted through the first signal lines during normal operation and through the second signal lines when an abnormally occurs ([0057]) (re-claim 5); and the first signal lines being used as a permanent system and the second signal lines being used as a reserve system ([0057]) (re-claim 8).
Hayakawa et al. does not disclose the composite harness comprising a sensor cable extending from the connector to a wheel speed sensor that detects the rotation speed of the vehicle wheel and transmits a detection signal of the wheel speed sensor (re-claim 5).
Kobayashi et al. discloses a composite harness (Figs 2 & 6) comprising a composite cable (1); a connector (314) provided at an end of the composite cable; and a sensor cable (comprised of wires 333) extending from the connector (314) to a wheel speed sensor (93) that detects the rotation speed of the vehicle wheel and transmits a detection signal of the wheel speed sensor.
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to provide a sensor cable as taught by Kobayashi et al., wherein the sensor cable extends from the connector to a wheel speed sensor that detects the rotation speed of the vehicle wheel and transmits a detection signal of the wheel speed sensor, to provide additional detection means in the harness.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 9-12 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 7-12 have been considered but are moot in view of new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAU N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1980. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 7am to 5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani N Hayman can be reached at 571-270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHAU N NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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