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 communication is in response to application No. 18/922,405, filed on 10/22/2024. Claims 1-5 are currently pending and have been examined. Claims 1-5 have been rejected as follows.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamamoto et al (US 2013/0098707).
Regarding claim 1, Yamamoto et al, as broadly claimed, discloses a dash panel (5, Fig. 9) comprising a resin panel (1a, Fig. 1 & 9; see annotated figure below; thermoplastic resin fiber, para. [0027], lines 1-5) that is provided at a vehicle front portion (engine-compartment side, [0027], lines 11-14) and that partitions an interior of a vehicle cabin and an exterior of the vehicle cabin (para. [0002], see annotated figure below); and a dash silencer (1b, Fig. 1 & 9; see annotated figure below) that is arranged at a surface at a vehicle cabin inner side of the resin panel and that is integrally molded with the resin panel (see annotated figure below).
Regarding claim 2, Yamamoto et al further discloses wherein a panel opening portion that is formed at the resin panel (see annotated figure below) is formed in a same position and with a same size as a silencer opening portion that is formed at the dash silencer (see annotated figure below), in a front view.
Regarding claim 5, Yamamoto et al further discloses wherein the dash silencer (1b) is in contact with the resin panel (1a) over an entire surface thereof (Figure 9).
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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 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto et al (US 2013/0098707) in view of Campbell (US Patent No. 5,824,974).
Regarding claim 3, Yamamoto et al discloses all of the claimed limitations of the invention as claimed in claim 2 above. However, Yamamoto et al does not expressly disclose wherein, at the resin panel, an opening edge that forms the panel opening portion is thicker than portions other than the opening edge of the resin panel.
Regarding claim 4, Yamamoto et al discloses all of the claimed limitations of the invention as claimed in claim 2 above. However, Yamamoto et al does not expressly disclose wherein, at the resin panel, a rib is formed at a periphery of the panel opening portion.
Campbell teaches a dash sound barrier (52, Fig. 4) where an opening edge that forms the panel opening portion (60, Fig. 4) forms a rib (grommet 54, Fig. 4) or is thicker (grommet 54, Fig. 4) than portions other than (58, Fig. 4) the opening edge of the panel (52, Fig. 4) in the analogous field of the claimed invention of sound absorbing insulators for vehicle dash panels.
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 resin panel stiffener reinforcements of Yamamoto et al by substituting the resin panel grommet reinforcements of Campbell. Doing so would provide an alternate way to reinforce and strengthen the panel openings for insertion of various fasteners, shafts or sleeves, cables, wires, and other vehicle accessories to extend through one or more of the corresponding openings in the vehicle barrier wall (abstract, lines 15-19).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art of JP-2024151165-A (see Fig. 2), JP-S6451552-U, JP-H0343051-U, JP-H02121359-U (see Fig. 6-7) and Kisuna et al (US Patent No. 4,043,022) in Fig. 13’ disclose dash panel sound absorbing structures for vehicles having panel opening reinforcements involving thicker edges around the openings to support various accessories. Nemoto et al (US Patent No. 6,102,465), Ishikawa et al (US 2012/0234626), Fushiki et al (US Patent No. 9,616,824) disclose dash panel and insulator structures for improved noise reduction in the passenger interior cabin of a vehicle including the use of thermoplastic resin sound absorbing materials.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Denise L Esquivel whose telephone number is (703)756-5825. The examiner can normally be reached Monday- Thursday 7:30 am-5:00 pm, alternate Fridays 7:30 am-4:00 pm.
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/D.L.E./Examiner, Art Unit 3612
/AMY R WEISBERG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3612
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