DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the applicant’s reply filed on July 10, 2025. Claims 13-23 and 25 are pending and addressed below.
Applicant’s arguments filed July 10, 2025 with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 13-25 under 35 USC 102(a)(2) and 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections under 35 USC 102(a)(2) and 103 have been withdrawn. Upon further searching and consideration of the claims, the rejections have been recast below. The thrust of the rejection is otherwise substantially the same as that of the rejection set forth previously. Accordingly, the present office action is made non-final.
Response to Amendment
In response to the applicant’s amendments to the to the abstract to remove an implied phrase. The objection to the Specification has been withdrawn.
In response to the applicant’s amendment to claim 16 to correct antecedent basis and the cancellation of claim 24, the rejections of claims 16 and 24 under 35 USC 112(b) have been withdrawn.
Claims 1-12 and 24 are cancelled. Claim 16 is amended. Claims 13-23 and 25 are pending and addressed below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed July 10, 2026, with respect to claims 13-25 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of claims 13-25 has been withdrawn.
Specifically, the applicant has submitted a statement to disqualify Handing et al., US 2025/0030101 as prior art against the claims of the instant invention under 35 USC 102(a)(2) and being subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person BENTELER AUTOMOBILTECHNIK GMBH, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention (September 14, 2023).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 13, 15, 17, 21, 23, and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fraine et al., Chinese Patent No. CN107364322 A (hereinafter Fraine) (all citations are to the English translation dated 2026).
Claim 13: Fraine discloses an underbody plate of a motor vehicle (battery holder 1) comprising:
a planar floor (bottom plate 2) and a formation (frame 3) (see Fig 1a) comprises at least one flange (flange 4) on each of two opposite longitudinal sides (see Fig 1a, 1c) in a motor vehicle transverse direction (vehicle transverse Y, see Fig 1c), and the underbody plate (1) extends between a front axle and a rear axle of the motor vehicle (see Fig 1c, pg 1-2),
wherein the underbody plate (1) is hot-formed and pressed-hardened as a one-piece plate formed component in one press stroke (pg 4, claim 7),
wherein areas of the underbody plate (1) comprise tensile strengths Rm or wall thicknesses different from one another (the bottom plate 2 and optionally the frame 3 of tensile strength Rm is greater than 1300MPa, preferably greater than 1700MPa, pg 8, grooves 6 have different thickness from base plate 2, pg 4), and a flange (4) of the at least one flange (4) comprises screw holes as screwing-on points on a motor vehicle body (shape locking by bolt connection, pg 6, this necessarily requires holes for the bolts).
Claim 15: Fraine discloses wherein a high- strength area has a tensile strength Rm greater than or equal to 1350 MPa (the bottom plate 2 and optionally the frame 3 of tensile strength Rm is greater than 1300MPa, preferably greater than 1700MPa, pg 8, grooves 6 have different thickness from base plate 2, pg 4).
Claim 17: Fraine discloses wherein outer sides of the underbody plate (1) in the motor vehicle transverse direction (Y) comprise an inner rocker panel shell or a rocker panel inner reinforcement (inner side of support beam 17) between an inner and an outer rocker panel shell (support beam 16) (see Fig 3a, pg 6).
Claim 21: Fraine discloses wherein the at least one flange (4) protrudes outward (see Fig 1a).
Claim 23: Fraine discloses further comprising a hollow profile (battery holder 1 is hollow for holding battery 13) on an inner side of the formation (frame 3) (see Fig 1a, pg 6).
Claim 25: Fraine discloses wherein the hollow profile comprises a battery protection structure (battery holder 1 is hollow for holding battery 13, see Fig 1a, pg 6).
.Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 16 and 20 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fraine in view of Frehn et al., US 2018/0222536 (hereinafter Frehn).
Claim 16: Fraine is silent as to soft areas have a tensile strength Rm less than 850 MPa.
Frehn discloses a tailor welded blank have soft regions (13, 15 with a tensile strength Rm of 500 to 900 MPa (par [0076]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the local soft zones of Fraine to have a tensile strength Rm of less than 850 MPa as disclosed by Frehn, as one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of soft zones of less than 850 MPa would have increase the crash performance by allowing for selective deformation regions to be formed (Harding, par [0048], Frehn, par [0076], [0080]).
Claim 20: Fraine is silent as to wherein stiffening beads comprise the underbody plate.
Frehn discloses the use of stiffening beads in floor panels in order to bring higher stiffness in bending and better stiffness behavior in the event of a collision (par [0098], [0101]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the underbody plate of Fraine to comprise stiffening beads as disclosed by Frehn, as one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of stiffening beads would have yielded the predictable results of a higher stiffness in bending and an improved stiffness behavior in the event of a collision (Frehn, par [0098], [0101]).
Claim 19 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fraine in view of Wu, German Patent No. DE 10 2020 111 290 A1 (hereinafter Wu) (all citations are to the English translation dated 2026).
Claim 19: Fraine discloses the underbody plate extends in a motor vehicle longitudinal direction between the front axle and the rear axle (see Fig 1c, 2c, 3b, this includes front and rear axles).
Harding is silent at to the underbody plate extends to below at least one middle longitudinal section of the front axle or to below at least one middle longitudinal section of the rear axle.
Wu discloses an battery tray (2) that sits in a longitudinal direction of vehicle (x). The battery tray (2) is a protective element. The protective element can also be placed in the middle below the axle subframe (3) or also in a front area, based on the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle (X) on the subframe 3 be arranged (pg 3-4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the underbody plate of Fraine such that the plate extends to below at least one middle longitudinal section of the front axle or to below at least one middle longitudinal section of the rear axle as disclosed by Wu, as one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique locating the underbody plates below at least one middle longitudinal section of the front or rear axle would have provided protection from the road surface to the axle (Wu, pg 3-4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 14, 21, and 22 are allowed.
Claim 18 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The claims contain allowable subject matter over the prior art as discussed above and Fischer, German Patent No. DE 10 2004 037 789 B3 (hereinafter Fischer) (all citations are to the English translation dated 2026).
Regarding claims 14 and 18, Fischer discloses an underbody plate of a motor vehicle (underbody panel 1) comprising:
a planar floor (flat floor 2) and a formation (shaping 3) comprises at least one flange (skirt portion 12) on each of two opposite longitudinal sides (see Fig 1-3) in a motor vehicle transverse direction (transverse to longitudinal direction L, see Fig 1-2), and the underbody plate (1) extends between a front axle and a rear axle of the motor vehicle (front and rear longitudinal bearers 7, 8, see Fig 1, includes front and rear axles),
wherein the underbody plate (1) is hot-formed and pressed-hardened as a one-piece plate formed component in one press stroke (one piece sheet metal blank in a forming process, pg 2-3),
wherein areas of the underbody plate (1) comprise tensile strengths Rm or wall thicknesses different from one another (certain areas, B1 to B11 of bottom plate 2 are provided with higher strength, pg 3).
Fischer fails to disclose wherein areas of the underbody plate comprise tensile strengths Rm or wall thicknesses different from one another, wherein a longitudinal strip having a tensile strength Rm less than 1000 MPa extending in a motor vehicle longitudinal direction comprises an outer lateral area with respect to the motor vehicle transverse direction.
Conclusion
Claims 13, 15-17, 19-20, 23, and 25 are rejected. Claims 18 is objected to. Claim 14 and 21-22 are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CAROLINE N BUTCHER whose telephone number is (571)272-1623. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10-6 pm EST.
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/CAROLINE N BUTCHER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3676
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