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 § 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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2014/175048 in view of Yamaguchi et al. (US 2020/0180525).
WO 2014/175048 discloses a wire harness routing structure comprising a flat routing member (9) that has flexibility and a pair of elastic members (11,12), as shown in Figure 1. The elastic members can be formed from urethane, as disclosed in the sixth paragraph of the Soundproof Sheet section of the translation. Urethane is a known elastomer. The flat routing member (9) is fixed to a panel (6) that partitions one section of a vehicle and a vehicle interior in a state of being sandwiched between the pair of elastic members (11,12), as shown in Figures 1-4 and disclosed in the first paragraph of the Interior Parts section of the translation.
In reference to claim 2, the pair of elastic members (11,12) include sound absorbing materials that suppress a sound of the engine room from entering the vehicle interior. The elastic members (11,12) form sound deadening sheet (1).
In reference to claims 3 and 4, the flat routing member (9) is disposed between an air conditioning unit (63) and the exterior structure of the vehicle, as shown in Figure 1.
However, WO 2014/175048 does not explicitly disclose the panel is a dash panel.
Yamaguchi et al. teaches attaching a wire harness routing structure (10) to a dash panel (80) separating an engine room from a vehicle interior, as shown in Figures 1-3.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to attach the wire harness routing structure of WO 2014/175048 to a dash panel separating an engine room from a vehicle interior, as taught by Yamaguchi et al., with a reasonable expectation for success to reduce noise in the passenger cabin while providing a protective routing structure for wires extending between the engine compartment and the passenger cabin.
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of WO 2014/175048 and Yamaguchi et al. (US 2020/0180525), as applied to claims 1 and 2, in view of Demo et al. (US 2014/0265413).
WO 2014/175048, as modified, does not disclose fixing the elastic members to the dash panel via adhesive.
Demo et al. teaches using adhesive instead of mechanical fasteners to attach to attach sound deadening material to a dash panel/firewall, as discloses in paragraphs [0016-0017].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use adhesive instead of the mechanical fasteners to attach the elastic members of WO 2014/175048 to the dash panel, as modified, as taught by Demo et al., with a reasonable expectation for success as an alternative attachment that is less likely to rattle and cause noise.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 are 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 primary reason for indicating allowable subject matter of claims 5 and 6 is the groove portion formed in the dash panel having a shape along an outer shape of the flat routing member. The closest prior art, WO 2014/175048, does not form a shape that could correspond to a groove in the dash panel.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY A BLANKENSHIP whose telephone number is (571)272-6656. The examiner can normally be reached 7-4:30.
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GREGORY A. BLANKENSHIP
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3612
/GREGORY A BLANKENSHIP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612 August 19, 2026
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