DETAILED ACTION
This action is a first action on the merits. The claims filed on September 18, 2024 have been entered. Claims 1-20 are pending and addressed below.
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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
This application claims foreign priority to Japanese Patent Application No. JP2023-198965 filed November 24, 2023.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed September 18, 2024 has been considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 4 and 10 are objected to because of the following informalities: The recitation of “a height ratio of height of said noise insulating plate” should likely be --a height ratio of a height of said noise insulating plate—and “to height of an upper end of said vertical wall portion” should likely be --to a height of an upper end of said vertical wall portion--.Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 8, and 10-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tahara et al., US 2022/0266771 (hereinafter Tahara).
Claim 1: Tahara discloses a noise insulation structure of a vehicle frame, comprising:
a side sill (side sill 2) arranged at a vehicle outside-end portion of a cabin floor portion of a vehicle (part of a vehicle body side structure connected to floor of vehicle, par [0026]) and having a closed-cross section extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction (reinforcing member 23 is disposed between the outer side sill 21 and the inner side sill 22 so as to define two closed sections on the right and left sides in the cylindrical side sill 2, see Fig 1, 4, par [0026]) and an upper-face portion (upper face portion 21b) forming an upper face of the closed-cross section (see Fig 4, par [0027]-[0028]);
a pillar reinforcement having a lower-end portion joined to the side sill (a lower end of the center pillar 3 is installed in an upper portion of the side sill 2, Fig 1, 4, par [0025]) and a closed-cross section extending in a vertical direction above the upper-face portion (21b) of the side sill (2) (see Fig 1, 4);
a vertical wall portion (between outer center pillar 31 and inner center pillar 32) extending upward from the upper-face portion (21b) of the side sill (2) (see Fig 4); and
a noise insulating plate (partition member 4) provided to be separated upward from the upper-face portion (21b) of the side sill (2) and forming a space portion (filled space 30) extending in the vertical direction together with the upper-face portion (21b) of the side sill (2), the vertical wall portion (between outer center pillar 31 and inner center pillar 32 and upward from upper face portion 21b), and the pillar reinforcement (partition member 4 to define the filled space 30, par [0022]),
wherein an opening portion (locking portion 47 and mounting hole 21d) is formed at an inside portion of said upper-face portion (21b) of the side sill (2) which is positioned inside said space portion (30) such that said opening portion (21d) penetrates said upper-face portion (21b), and an opening ratio of an opening area (area of 21d) of said opening portion (21d) to an area of said inside portion of the upper-face portion (inner surface of 21b) is set to be 0.2 or less (the opening ratio of the area of mounting hole 21b to the inside surface area of the upper face portion 21b is less than 0.2 as shown in Fig 4, as the opening area of mounting hole 21d is less than 1/5 of the inner surface area of upper face portion 21b).
Claim 2: Tahara discloses wherein said opening ratio is set to be 0.003 or more (the opening ratio of the area of mounting hole 21b to the inside surface area of the upper face portion 21b is more than 0.003 as shown in Fig 4, as the opening area of mounting hole 21d is more than 3/1000 of the inner surface area of upper face portion 21b).
Claims 3 and 8: Tahara discloses said noise insulating plate (4) comprises a plate-shaped base material (as shown in Fig 4) and a sound absorbing material (filled space 30 is a space to be filled with an infill, par [0037]) arranged at a periphery of said base material (filled space 30 is located beneath partition member 4 as shown in Fig 4) and having a sound-absorption performance (solidified infill has features of a soundproof material, par [0038]), and said sound absorbing material is configured to close a gap between said pillar reinforcement (a lower end of the center pillar 3 is installed in an upper portion of the side sill 2, Fig 4) and said base material of the noise insulating plate (4) (see Fig 4) and a gap between said vertical wall portion (between outer center pillar 31 and inner center pillar 32) and said base material of the noise insulating plate (4) (filled space 30 is defined between the inner center pillar 32 (inner panel) and the center pillar stiffener 33, and extends in the front-rear direction, as shown in Fig 4, par [0037]).
Claims 10, 12, and 14: Tahara discloses wherein a height ratio of height of said noise insulating plate (4) from said upper face (21b) of the side sill (2) to height of an upper end of said vertical wall portion (top end of center pillar 32 between outer center pillar 31 and inner center pillar 32, not shown) from the upper face (21b) of the side sill (2) is set to be 0.2 or more or 1 or less (as 0.2 or more encompasses any ratio of 0.2 or more and 1 or less encompasses any ration of 1 or less, any possible ratio is included as an option in the claim and as such the limitations are meet).
Claims 11, 13, and 15: Tahara discloses wherein said side sill (2) comprises a side sill outer (outer side sill 21) and a side sill inner (inner side sill 22) positioned on an inward side (Fig 4, par [0027]), in a vehicle width direction, of said side sill outer (21) (as shown in Fig 4),, each of said side sill outer (21) and said side sill inner (22) extends in the vehicle longitudinal direction and has a hat-shaped cross section (U-shaped cross section) with a pair of flange portions provided at each upper-end portion and lower-end portion respectively, formed at upper and lower ends (outer and inner sills include flange portions 21a and opposing flange of inner sill 22, par [0026]-[0027]), said side sill (2) is formed by joining said respective flange portions of the side sill outer (21) and the side sill inner (22) (as shown in Fig 4, par [0026]-[0027]), and said vertical wall portion is formed by said flange portions upward protruding of said side sill outer and said side sill inner (inner center pillar 32 includes upper flanges of outer sill 21 and inner sill 22, as shown in Fig 4).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tahara et al., US 2022/0266771 (hereinafter Tahara).
Claim 18, 19, and 20: Tahara is silent as to said height ratio is set to be 0.4 or more.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the height ratio of Tahara to be set at 0.4 or more, since it has been held by the courts that, where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device, and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device. In Gardner v. TEC Systems, Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984).
Claim(s) 1-7, 9, 16, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tahara et al., US 2022/0266771 (hereinafter Tahara) in view of Ebihara, Japanese Patent No. JP 2017/193292 (hereinafter Ebihara).
Claim 1: Tahara discloses a noise insulation structure of a vehicle frame, comprising:
a side sill (side sill 2) arranged at a vehicle outside-end portion of a cabin floor portion of a vehicle (part of a vehicle body side structure connected to floor of vehicle, par [0026]) and having a closed-cross section extending in a vehicle longitudinal direction (reinforcing member 23 is disposed between the outer side sill 21 and the inner side sill 22 so as to define two closed sections on the right and left sides in the cylindrical side sill 2, see Fig 1, 4, par [0026]) and an upper-face portion (upper face portion 21b) forming an upper face of the closed-cross section (see Fig 4, par [0027]-[0028]);
a pillar reinforcement having a lower-end portion joined to the side sill (a lower end of the center pillar 3 is installed in an upper portion of the side sill 2, Fig 1, 4, par [0025]) and a closed-cross section extending in a vertical direction above the upper-face portion (21b) of the side sill (2) (see Fig 1, 4);
a vertical wall portion (between outer center pillar 31 and inner center pillar 32) extending upward from the upper-face portion (21b) of the side sill (2) (see Fig 4); and
a noise insulating plate (partition member 4) provided to be separated upward from the upper-face portion (21b) of the side sill (2) and forming a space portion (filled space 30) extending in the vertical direction together with the upper-face portion (21b) of the side sill (2), the vertical wall portion (between outer center pillar 31 and inner center pillar 32 and upward from upper face portion 21b), and the pillar reinforcement (partition member 4 to define the filled space 30, par [0022]).
Tahara is silent as to an opening portion is formed at an inside portion of said upper-face portion of the side sill which is positioned inside said space portion such that said opening portion penetrates said upper-face portion, and an opening ratio of an opening area of said opening portion to an area of said inside portion of the upper-face portion is set to be 0.2 or less.
Ebihara discloses an opening portion (hole A) is formed at an inside portion of said upper-face portion (upper wall portion 44) of the side sill (side sill 4) such that said opening portion (hole A) penetrates said upper-face portion (44), and an opening ratio of an opening area (area of hole A) of said opening portion (A) to an area of said inside portion of the upper-face portion (inner surface of 44) is set to be 0.2 or less (the opening ratio of the area of hole A to the inside surface area of the upper wall portion 44 is less than 0.2 as shown in Fig 5, as the opening area of hole A is less than 1/5 of the inner surface area of upper wall portion 44).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the inside portion of the upper face portion of the side sill of Tahara to include an opening portion formed at an inside portion of said upper-face portion as disclosed by Ebihara, such that it is positioned inside said space portion, as one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of an opening portion through the upper face portion of the side sill would have yielded the predictable results of allowing the electrodeposition coating through the hole from the space portion of the pillar (see Fig 5, pg 5).
Claim 2: Tahara, as modified by Ebihara, discloses wherein said opening ratio is set to be 0.003 or more (Ebihara, the opening ratio of the area of hole A to the inside surface area of the upper face portion 44 is more than 0.003 as shown in Fig 5, as the opening area of hole A is more than 3/1000 of the inner surface area of upper face portion 44).
Claims 3: Tahara, as modified by Ebihara, discloses said noise insulating plate (Tahara, 4) comprises a plate-shaped base material (Tahara, as shown in Fig 4) and a sound absorbing material (Tahara, filled space 30 is a space to be filled with an infill, par [0037]) arranged at a periphery of said base material (Tahara, filled space 30 is located beneath partition member 4 as shown in Fig 4) and having a sound-absorption performance (Tahara, solidified infill has features of a soundproof material, par [0038]), and said sound absorbing material is configured to close a gap between said pillar reinforcement (Tahara, a lower end of the center pillar 3 is installed in an upper portion of the side sill 2, Fig 4) and said base material of the noise insulating plate (4) (Tahara, see Fig 4) and a gap between said vertical wall portion (Tahara, between outer center pillar 31 and inner center pillar 32) and said base material of the noise insulating plate (4) (Tahara, filled space 30 is defined between the inner center pillar 32 (inner panel) and the center pillar stiffener 33, and extends in the front-rear direction, as shown in Fig 4, par [0037]).
Claims 4 and 9: Tahara, as modified by Ebihara, discloses wherein said opening portion (Ebihara, hole A) is an electrodeposition-liquid flowing hole (Ebihara, pg 5) through which an electrodeposition liquid flows to an inside or outside of said side sill (Ebihara, pg 5).
Tahara, as modified by Ebihara, are silent as to said electrodeposition-liquid flowing hole is constituted by plural holes which are formed at said inside portion of the upper face portion of the side sill such that the plural holes are separated from each other.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify said inside portion of the upper face portion of the side sill to include a plurality of holes separated from one another, since it has been held that mere duplication of essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Claim 6: Tahara, as modified by Ebihara, is silent as to said height ratio is set to be 0.4 or more.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the height ratio of Tahara to be set at 0.4 or more, since it has been held by the courts that, where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device, and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device. In Gardner v. TEC Systems, Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984).
Claims 5 and 16: Tahara, as modified by Ebihara, discloses wherein a height ratio of height of said noise insulating plate (4) from said upper face (21b) of the side sill (2) to height of an upper end of said vertical wall portion (Tahara, top end of center pillar 32 between outer center pillar 31 and inner center pillar 32, not shown) from the upper face (21b) of the side sill (2) is set to be 0.2 or more or 1 or less (Tahara, as 0.2 or more encompasses any ratio of 0.2 or more and 1 or less encompasses any ration of 1 or less, any possible ratio is included as an option in the claim and as such the limitations are meet).
Claims 7 and 17: Tahara, as modified by Ebihara, discloses wherein said side sill (2) comprises a side sill outer (Tahara, outer side sill 21) and a side sill inner (Tahara, inner side sill 22) positioned on an inward side (Tahara, Fig 4, par [0027]), in a vehicle width direction, of said side sill outer (21) (Tahara, as shown in Fig 4), each of said side sill outer (21) and said side sill inner (22) extends in the vehicle longitudinal direction and has a hat-shaped cross section (Tahara, U-shaped cross section) with a pair of flange portions provided at each upper-end portion and lower-end portion respectively, formed at upper and lower ends (Tahara, outer and inner sills include flange portions 21a and opposing flange of inner sill 22, par [0026]-[0027]), said side sill (2) is formed by joining said respective flange portions of the side sill outer (21) and the side sill inner (22) (Tahara, as shown in Fig 4, par [0026]-[0027]), and said vertical wall portion is formed by said flange portions upward protruding of said side sill outer and said side sill inner (Tahara, inner center pillar 32 includes upper flanges of outer sill 21 and inner sill 22, as shown in Fig 4).
Conclusion
Claim 1-20 are rejected. No claims 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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tara E Schimpf can be reached at (571) 270-7741. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CAROLINE N BUTCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3676
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