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 .
This is the first action on the merits for application 18/901,888. Claims 1-20 are currently pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/30/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
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) 6 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 4346928 B2. Note, although already cited on the IDS filed 9/30/2024, all references herein are directed to the English language translation of JP 434928 B2 provided with this action.
Regarding Claim 6, JP 4346928 B2 discloses a vehicle (Figs. 9-11) comprising: a chassis (best shown in Fig. 9) defining: a passenger seating area (generally indicated at 3); and a cargo area (generally indicated at 2) located rearwardly of the passenger seating area (Figs. 9 and 10), wherein the chassis includes: a floor panel (5); and a cross-member (unlabeled cross-member shown in Fig. 9 directly supporting battery assembly 10 and not extending in front of or behind battery assembly 10) extending upwardly from the floor panel; a battery assembly (10) supported by the cross-member (Figs. 9 and 10); a first mounting bracket (portion of 37 in front of element 38 in Fig. 10) connected to the floor panel forwardly of the cross-member (Fig. 10); and a second mounting bracket (portion of 37 behind element 38 in Fig. 10) connected to the floor panel rearwardly of the cross-member (Fig. 10), wherein the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket are connected to the battery assembly to thereby secure the battery assembly within the cargo area (Fig. 10).
Regarding Claim 7, JP 4346928 B2 discloses the first mounting bracket includes: a first foot (left-most vertical portion of first mounting bracket shown in Fig. 10) positioned at a first end of the first mounting bracket; a second foot (right-most horizontal portion of first mounting bracket shown in Fig. 10) positioned at a second end of the first mounting bracket; and a third foot (diagonal portion of first mounting bracket shown in Fig. 10) positioned between the first foot and the second foot, wherein the first foot, the second foot, and the third foot are directly connected to the floor panel (Figs. 9 and 10).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 and 16-20 are allowed.
Claims 8-15 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 disclose nor render obvious a vehicle including a third mounting bracket connected to the floor panel forwardly of the cross-member, wherein the first mounting bracket and the third mounting bracket are connected to the trim panel to increase stability thereof; and a battery assembly supported by the cross-member, wherein the battery assembly includes: a battery; and a battery case receiving the battery, wherein the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket are connected to the battery case to thereby secure the battery assembly within the cargo area, in combination with the other elements required by independent Claim 1.
The prior art does not disclose nor render obvious a vehicle including a first mounting bracket and a second mounting bracket connected to the floor panel, wherein the battery assembly is connected to the first mounting bracket to thereby secure the battery assembly within the cargo area, and the trim panel is connected to the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket to increase stability of the trim panel, in combination with the other elements required by independent Claim 16.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have no rationale, absent hindsight, to modify the prior art to derive the claimed invention since the above-mentioned limitations, in combination with the other claim limitations, are considered new and nonobvious improvements over the prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
RIEGELS et al. (US 2023/0339307 A1) discloses a battery housing connection structure (see Fig. 1A).
SASSI et al. (US 2022/0223962 A1) discloses a linkage system for battery packs (see ABSTRACT).
KAPPICH (US 2019/0061506 A1) discloses an electric vehicle battery mounting system (see Fig. 1).
SYED et al. (US 2018/0370467 A1) discloses a battery pack mounting assembly (see Fig. 2).
LEE et al. (US 2012/0175177 A1) discloses a vehicle battery pack frame (see Figs. 2-17).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDWIN YOUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-4781. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm (CST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jacob S Scott can be reached at (571)270-3415. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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EDWIN YOUNG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3655
/Edwin A Young/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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