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
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 – 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kumaki (DE 10 2020 207 544 B4).
As for claim 1, Kumaki discloses a mounting structure for an electrical device (23) that is configured to mount the electrical device to a target device (22) that is a source of vibration, the mounting structure comprising: a first support member (40) that is fastened to one end face in a longitudinal direction of the electrical device via a plurality of first bushes (37F,H) and a plurality of first bolts (34B) and that is fixed to the target device; a second support member (37) that is fastened to one of a pair of side surfaces of the electrical device via a second bush (37E) and a second bolt (34B) and that is fixed to the target device, the side surfaces being surfaces extending in the longitudinal direction from the one end face; and a third support member (38) that is fastened to another of the side surfaces of the electrical device via a third bush (37G) and a third bolt (34B) and that is fixed to the target device.
As for claim 2, Kumaki discloses the second support member is fastened to the one of the side surfaces via the second bush and the second bolt, the second bush being a single second bush, and the second bolt being a single second bolt; the third support member is fastened to the other of the side surfaces via the third bush and the third bolt, the third bush being a single third bush, and the third bolt being a single third bolt; and the second and third support members are connected to each other (Fig. 6).
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.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumaki (DE 10 2020 207 544 B4) alone.
Kumaki meets all the limitations of the claimed invention but does not disclose pluralities of second and third bushes and bolts. However, it would have been obvious to merely duplicate the second and third bushes and bolts of Kumaki with predictable results. One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that a plurality of bushes and bolts would provide additional security.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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 prior art does not teach or suggest: the target device is either a transaxle mounted on a vehicle and including at least an electric motor or a different device attached to the transaxle; and the electrical device is a charger that is used to charge a battery configured to transfer electric power to and from the electric motor.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Katy M Ebner whose telephone number is (571)272-5830. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
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/Katy M Ebner/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613
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