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 § 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 7-10 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.
Claim 7 is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. § 112, as the claims attempt to claim both a device and a process for using the device. Section 112 requires that the claims of a patent "particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention." 35 U.S.C. § 112 (2000). A claim is considered indefinite if it does not reasonably apprise those skilled in the art of its scope. Amgen, Inc. v. Chugai Pharm. Co., 927 F.2d 1200, 1217 (Fed. Cir. 1991). Appropriate correction or further explanation is required.
Claim 8 recites “An assembly process for making a braking pad for vehicles according to claim 1”. There is no antecedent basis for the limitation. It is unclear whether the braking pad of claim 8 is the same or different than the braking pad of claim 1. In addition, “an independent claim is a standalone claim that contains all the limitations necessary to define an invention.” Claims 8-10 are rejected due to their claim dependency.
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 1-3 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eden (Pub. No.: 2016/0305502 A1) in view of Gronowicz (Pat. No.: 6,302,241 B1).
1) In regard to claim 1, Eden discloses the claimed braking pad for vehicles (fig. 2: 10), comprising:
a support backplate (fig. 2: 17 discloses as brake housing) suitable for connection to a braking member and having a first and a second face opposite to other, and a lateral edge between said first and second faces (fig. 2 shows the brake housing has a first and second face with a lateral edge between the faces);
a block of first friction material (fig. 2: 12 discloses as a brake pad) coupled in a fixed position to said face (fig. 2 shows the brake pad is coupled to the brake housing);
a sensor (fig. 2: 18) comprising a detection head engaging a hole made in said support backplate (fig. 2 shows sensor 18 has a detection head which goes in a hole of the brake pad);
coupling means for retaining said detection head in a reference position that is fixed relative to said support backplate (fig. 2 shows the detection head is coupled to the support backplate);
Eden does not explicitly disclose the coupling means comprise a plate retention member comprising an annular portion having an inner edge that is coaxial to said hole and is coupled to said detection head by friction and/or by interference coupling and/or by snap coupling, and at least one engagement portion which is part of one of said support backplate and said plate retention element and is engaged directly to the other of said support backplate and said plate retention element.
However, Gronowicz discloses it has been known for a brake pad wear sensor to have a plate retention member comprising an annular portion having an inner edge that is coaxial to said hole and is coupled to said detection head by friction and/or by interference coupling and/or by snap coupling (fig. 1 shows the brake pad sensor has a retention plate 26 with a hole which couples the retention plate to the housing), and at least one engagement portion which is part of one of said support backplate and said plate retention element and is engaged directly to the other of said support backplate and said plate retention element (fig. 1 shows the screw 28 allows the retention plate to be engaged directly to the support plate).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the claimed invention was filed to allow the brake pad of Eden to be mounted to the mounting plate with a retention plate member, as taught by Gronowicz.
One skilled in the art would be motivated to modify Eden as described above in order to support and securely fastened the sensor to the mounting plate.
2) In regard to claim 2 (dependent on claim 1), Eden and Gronowicz disclose the braking pad according to claim 1, wherein said coupling means comprises two engagement portions (Eden fig. 3b shows multiple engagement holes).
3) In regard to claim 3 (dependent on claim 2), Eden and Gronowicz disclose the braking pad according to claim 2, wherein said engagement portions are diametrically opposite to each other with respect to said annular portion (Eden fig. 3b).
4) In regard to claim 7, claim 7 is rejected and analyzed with respect to claim 1 and the references applied.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 and 8-10 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CURTIS J KING whose telephone number is (571)270-5160. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 6:00 - 2:00 EST.
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/CURTIS J KING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685