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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "...the decorative film by a predetermined distance (FL1, FL2) (width in a front and rear direction of cut-off parts of the decorative film) from the end surface of the extended part..." It is not clear whether the text in parentheses is part of the claim limitation or not. For the purposes of examination, the examiner is interpreting the text in parentheses as part of the claim limitation, however, clarification is required.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adachi (U.S. 2013/0232881) in view of Yada (U.S. 5,085,902) and Mizutani (U.S. 10,603,996).
Regarding claim 1, Adachi teaches a method of manufacturing a glass run for a door of an automobile, for guiding a door glass in a frame, the glass run comprising: an installation member (66) configured to couple to the frame (18); a body which forms a channel (as seen in fig 9b); an extended part (130) formed by extending an outer-cabin side of the installation member (66) in a direction away from the door from an end of an upper side of the door (see fig 7); a decorative film (134); and a base (102) configured to attach the decorative film (134) to the extended part (130). Adachi is silent as to the base alongside the decorative film being bent on and end of the extended part toward an interior of the automobile from an exterior to cover an end surface.
Yada teaches a similar glass run for a door of an automobile where a base alongside a decorative film is bent from an exterior side toward an interior side of an automobile to cover an end surface of the apparatus (as seen in fig 11, end portion 1A is bent to cover the end surface).
The combination then of Adachi and Yada would see the method comprising: forming the extended part (130 Adachi), alongside of the base (102 Adachi) and the decorative film (134 Adachi), by extrusion molding (described in [0016] Adachi); making a first cut (as seen in fig 10 Yada) on the extended part (130 Adachi), the first cut extending by a predetermined length from the end surface of the extended part (see fig 10 Yada), the first cut being parallel to the decorative film (134 Adachi, as seen in fig 10 Yada, a cut along the strip is made parallel to the decorative film, as per the combination); making a second cut on the extended part (130 Adachi), the second cut extending by a predetermined length toward the exterior of the automobile from the interior (as seen in fig 10 Yada, a cut along the strip is made in a perpendicular direction to the first cut); removing a cut-off part as part of the extended part along the first cut and the second cut (see fig 10 Yada, the cut material is removed); bending a remainder part of the extended part on an appropriate part of the remainder part toward the interior of the automobile (see fig 11 Yada, the remaining part of the strip is bent toward the interior of the automobile).
Adachi and Yada are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of sealing strips for an automobile. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Adachi to incorporate the teachings of Yada and provide an end surface of the glass run that that is created by bending the base and decorative film to cover and end surface. Doing so would create a smooth end of the glass run without adding additional parts to the assembly, as taught by column 2 lines 6-11.
Adachi and Yada are silent as to further subjecting the end surface of the remainder part to die molding to cover the end surface.
Mizutani teaches a similar glass run for a door of an automobile where it die molding is utilized to cover end surfaces of extrusion molded components, as taught by Mizutani in column 5, lines 16-20.
It would have been further obvious to have modified the combination of Adachi and Yada to incorporate the teachings of Mizutani. Doing so would provide a method of finishing the end surface of the extruded part and further cover the end surface for incorporating the extruded part into the glass run.
While Adachi, Yada, and Mizutani do not specifically teach the base being composed of hard resin higher in rigidity than the extended part, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the clamed invention and would have been a matter of design choice to provide the combination of Adachi, Yada, and Mizutani with elements of a glass run to be formed of different materials to increase or decrease the rigidity of desired elements, and one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention would form a base portion to which the decorative film attaches to with a greater rigidity than the extended portion, since the extended part being more flexible prevents the extended portion from being broken off when the door is opened or closed.
Regarding claim 2, Adachi teaches a method of manufacturing a glass run for a door of an automobile, for guiding a door glass in a frame, the glass run comprising: an installation member (66) configured to couple to the frame (18); a body which forms a channel (as seen in fig 9b); an extended part (130) formed by extending an outer-cabin side of the installation member (66) in a direction away from the door from an end of an upper side of the door (see fig 7); a decorative film (134); and a base (102) configured to attach the decorative film (134) to the extended part (130). Adachi is silent as to the base alongside the decorative film being bent on and end of the extended part toward an interior of the automobile from an exterior to cover an end surface.
Yada teaches a similar glass run for a door of an automobile where a base alongside a decorative film is bent from an exterior side toward an interior side of an automobile to cover an end surface of the apparatus (as seen in fig 11, end portion 1A is bent to cover the end surface).
The combination then of Adachi and Yada would see the method comprising: forming the extended part (130 Adachi), alongside of the base (102 Adachi) and the decorative film (134 Adachi), by extrusion molding (described in [0016] Adachi); making a first cut (as seen in fig 10 Yada) on the extended part (130 Adachi), the first cut extending by a predetermined length from the end surface of the extended part (see fig 10 Yada), the first cut being parallel to the decorative film (134 Adachi, as seen in fig 10 Yada, a cut along the strip is made parallel to the decorative film, as per the combination); making a second cut on the extended part (130 Adachi), the second cut extending by a predetermined length toward the exterior of the automobile from the interior (as seen in fig 10 Yada, a cut along the strip is made in a perpendicular direction to the first cut); removing a cut-off part as part of the extended part along the first cut and the second cut (see fig 10 Yada, the cut material is removed); bending a remainder part of the extended part by a bending distance (as seen in fig 11) toward the interior of the automobile (see fig 11, the remaining part of the strip is bent toward the interior of the automobile), the bending distance (S) being (L) minus (T) (S=L-T), where (L) is a predetermined length and (T) is a distance of straight part (as seen in figs 10 and 11, the bending distance is equal to the total length of the predetermined length cut distance minus the straight part not bent).
Adachi and Yada are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of sealing strips for an automobile. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Adachi to incorporate the teachings of Yada and provide an end surface of the glass run that that is created by bending the base and decorative film to cover and end surface. Doing so would create a smooth end of the glass run without adding additional parts to the assembly, as taught by column 2 lines 6-11.
Adachi and Yada are silent as to further subjecting the end surface of the remainder part to die molding to cover the end surface.
Mizutani teaches a similar glass run for a door of an automobile where it die molding is utilized to cover end surfaces of extrusion molded components, as taught by Mizutani in column 5, lines 16-20.
It would have been further obvious to have modified the combination of Adachi and Yada to incorporate the teachings of Mizutani. Doing so would provide a method of finishing the end surface of the extruded part and further cover the end surface for incorporating the extruded part into the glass run.
While Adachi, Yada, and Mizutani do not specifically teach the base being composed of hard resin higher in rigidity than the extended part, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the clamed invention and would have been a matter of design choice to provide the combination of Adachi, Yada, and Mizutani with elements of a glass run to be formed of different materials to increase or decrease the rigidity of desired elements, and one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention would form a base portion to which the decorative film attaches to with a greater rigidity than the extended portion, since the extended part being more flexible prevents the extended portion from being broken off when the door is opened or closed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The closest prior art is Adachi (U.S. 2013/0232881) and Yada (U.S. 5,085,902). While Adachi teaches the specific structure of the glass run, Yada teaches the method of forming a glass run where a portion of the base is cut away and bent over to form the end surface of the glass run. However, the prior art it silent as to “making cuts on part of the upper end and part of the lower end of the decorative film by a predetermined distance (FL1, FL2) (width in a front and rear direction of cut-off parts of the decorative film) from the end surface of the extended part; removing the cut-off parts of the decorative film to reduce a width in an upper and lower direction of a remainder part of the decorative film; bending the remainder part of the decorative film, subjected to removal of the cut-off parts of the decorative film, by a bending distance (S) toward the interior of the automobile; and subjecting an end surface of the remainder part of the decorative film to die molding to cover the end surface of the remainder part.”
While Yada teaches cutting into the base of the glass run, it does not teach making cuts into the decorative film. One of ordinary skill in the art would not have modified Adachi in view of Yada to include limitations required by the claims, as it would teach away from Yada who teaches bending the decorative film along with the base to cover the end surface. There is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to modify the prior art of record to arrive at the claimed invention, absent hindsight reasoning.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 11,760,178 (teaches cutting an extrusion by a length), US 2019/0176602 (teaches cutting a notch into an automotive sealing structure), US 9,845,001 (teaches an automotive glass run with extended part).
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/SUSAN M. HESCHEL/Examiner, Art Unit 3637
/Muhammad Ijaz/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631