DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to the claims filed on 03/17/2026.
Claims 1-6 are currently pending and have been examined below.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/13/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In lines 36-37 of claim 1, “within a part of a surface of the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion” seems that it should read --along a part of a surface of the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion --.
Appropriate correction is required. Above provides non-limiting examples, the applicant(s) must find and correct all issues similar to those discussed above.
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 and 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goto (US 8327584) in view of Murree et al. (US 9475374) (hereinafter “Murree”).
Claim 1
(Goto discloses) A glass run channel (figure 4) made of an elastic polymer material (abstract), the glass run channel being configured to be attached along a window frame of a door panel (12; figure 1) of a vehicle (figure 1) and to guide movement of a window pane (15), the glass run channel comprising:
a main body portion (250; figure 4) having a U-shaped cross-section (figure 4), the main body portion comprising: an inner sidewall portion (253) configured to be disposed on a vehicle interior side, an outer sidewall portion (252) configured to be disposed on a vehicle exterior side, and a bottom wall portion (251) integrally connecting the inner sidewall portion and the outer sidewall portion (figure 4);
an inner lip portion (265) which is configured to be disposed on the vehicle interior side and elastically deformable, the inner lip portion protruding from an end of the inner side wall portion (end at 257) toward the outer sidewall portion, a distal end of the inner lip portion being on a first side of the inner side wall portion (Annotated figure 4 below);
an outer lip portion (262) which is configured to be disposed on the vehicle exterior side and elastically deformable, the outer lip portion protruding from an end of the outer sidewall portion (end at 256) toward the inner sidewall portion, a distal end of the outer lip portion being on a first side of the outer side wall portion (Annotated figure 4 below); and
an inner visible portion (268) which is configured to be disposed on the vehicle interior side and which is elastically deformable, the inner visible portion protruding from the end of the inner sidewall portion away from the outer sidewall portion (figure 4), a distal end of the inner visible portion being on a second side of the inner side wall portion that is opposite the first side of the inner side wall portion (Annotated figure 4 below); and
an outer visible portion (267) which is configured to be disposed on the vehicle exterior side and which is elastically deformable, the outer visible portion protruding from the end of the outer sidewall portion away from the inner sidewall portion, a distal end of the outer visible portion being on a second side of the outer side wall portion that is opposite the first side of the outer side wall portion (Annotated figure 4 below),
wherein one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion comprises:
a bending point (Annotated figure 4 below) at which the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion is bent in a state in which the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion is elastically deformed by a sliding of the window pane at a time of up or down movement of the window pane (Annotated figure 4 below);
a first covering portion (266 or 263) having a friction coefficient smaller than that of the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion (Excerpt 1 from col. 12 below), the first covering portion being formed on a distal end side of the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion with respect to the bending point within a part of a surface of the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion (figure 4), the first covering portion being configured to contact the window pane while the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion slides with respect to the window pane (Excerpt 1 below); and
a second covering portion (268a or 267a), the second covering portion covering and contacting a surface of the inner visible portion or the outer visible portion (figure 4), the second covering portion extending from (i) the bending point of the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion (figure 4) or (ii) a position of the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion between the bending point of the one or each of the inner lip portion and the distal end of the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion (figure 4), and
wherein the first covering portion does not cover the bending point (Annotated figure 4 below), and is formed to be harder than the second covering portion (intended use; the first covering portion can be configured such that it is formed from a harder composition than the second covering portion).
Goto is silent regarding the second covering portion having a friction coefficient smaller than that of the one or each of the inner lip portion and the outer lip portion.
(However, Murree teaches) a covering portion (70; Murree figure 9) having a friction coefficient smaller than that of a lip portion (64 and 66; Excerpt 2 from col. 8 below).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide the second covering portion of Goto such that it has a friction coefficient that is smaller than the respective lip portions as taught by Murree for promoting movement of a contacting element such as the windowpane and to prevent squeaking or scratches as it moves along the glass run channel.
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Annotated figure 4
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Excerpt 1
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Excerpt 2
Claim 3
(Goto, as modified above, discloses) The glass run channel according to claim 1,
wherein the first covering portion and the second covering portion are formed to be in contact with each other (figure 4).
Claims 4 and 5
(Goto, as modified above, discloses) The glass run channel according to claim 1.
Modified Goto fails to disclose:
(i) wherein a second thickness of the second covering portion is smaller than a first thickness of the first covering portion; (claim 4);
(ii) wherein the first thickness is 0.1 mm or more and 0.4 mm or less, and wherein the second thickness is 0.01 mm or more and less than 0.1 mm. (claim 5).
However, one of ordinary skill in the art is expected to routinely experiment with parameters so as to ascertain the optimum or workable ranges for a particular use. Accordingly, it would have been no more than an obvious matter of engineering design choice, as determined through routine experimentation and optimization, for one of ordinary skill to modify the thickness of the first covering portion to 0.1 mm or more and 0.4 mm or less and thickness of the second covering portion to 0.01 mm or more and less than 0.1 mm, with a reasonable expectation of success, such that the thickness of the first covering portion provides robustness to slidably support the window pane while the thickness of the second covering portion promotes flexibility at the bending point while still maintaining the covering layer of the second covering portion.
Claim 6
(Goto discloses) A glass run channel assembly comprising:
an upper side glass run channel (31; figures 1-2) attached along an upper side of a window frame (220) of a door panel (12) of a vehicle (figure 1); and
a vertical side glass run channel (32) attached along a vertical side of the window frame (figure 1), wherein
at least one of the upper side glass run channel and the vertical side glass run channel comprises the glass run channel according to claim 1 (figures 1-2; see rejection in claim 1 above).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goto in view of Murree, as applied to claims 1 and 3-6 above, in further view of Yamasa et al. (KR 20040081067) (hereinafter “Yamasa”).
Claim 2
(Goto, as modified above, discloses) The glass run channel according to claim 1,
wherein the second covering portion has a second hardness of HDA 80 or more and HDA 95 or less, where the second hardness is a type-A durometer hardness defined in Japanese Industrial Standards K7215 (lines 21-26 of col. 12 discloses that the second covering portions of the first embodiment [67a and 68a] are similar to the second covering portions of the second embodiment [267a and 268a] and Excerpt 3 from col. 5 below discusses that the hardness of second covering portions 67a and 68a are at JIS A80, therefore the second hardness of the second covering portions [267a and 268a] are also at JIS A80 or HDA 80 which meets the claimed limitation above; note that a hardness chart including HDD and HDA standards are attached below).
Goto is silent regarding wherein the first covering portion has a first hardness of HDD 40 or more and HDD 60 or less, where the first hardness is a type-D durometer hardness defined in Japanese Industrial Standards K7215.
(However, Yamasa teaches) wherein a first covering portion (251; Yamasa figure 3) has a first hardness of HDD 40 or more and HDD 60 or less, where the first hardness is a type-D durometer hardness defined in Japanese Industrial Standards K7215 (hardness at HDD 58 disclosed in Excerpt 4 from page 31 below).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the first covering portion of modified Goto such that it has a first hardness of HDD 40 or more and HDD 60 or less in Japanese Industrial Standards K7215 as taught by Yamasa to improve the durability of the first covering portion for wear and tear overtime.
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Excerpt 4
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Hardness Chart
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments directed to the drawing and claim objections were considered. The drawing objection and the previous claim objections were withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments directed to the claim 112 rejections have been considered and it has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed on 03/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK B PONCIANO whose telephone number is (571)272-9910. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30-4:00.
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/PATRICK B. PONCIANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3634
/CATHERINE A KELLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
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