DETAILED ACTION
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4-6, 8-9, 13-17, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Moriyama et al. (US 20230108074)
Regarding claims 1, 13, and 16-17, Moriyama discloses a vehicle panel arrangement comprising: an inner panel (11) having an outer surface (outer surface of 11, fig 5A) and an inner surface (inner surface of 11, fig 5B) forming a portion of a vehicle closure panel (1) (figs 1-5); a plurality of load point areas (area around 110, fig 4, figs 5A) formed on the outer surface of the inner panel (fig 4 , 5A); a plurality of local reinforcements (110) connected to the outer surface of the inner panel (figs 4, 5A), each one of the plurality of local reinforcements covers a respective one of the plurality of load point areas such that when a force is applied to said plurality of load point areas, the force is distributed through the plurality of local reinforcements to the inner panel (figs 4, A); a continuous reinforcement (111a) in contact with the inner panel (figs 5a-b) and in contact with at least two locations on a vehicle body structure (12) ([0056], fig 7), wherein loads applied to said inner panel or to the continuous reinforcement are transferred across the continuous reinforcement to the vehicle body structure (figs 1-5, [0022]); an exterior panel (10) with an inside surface connected to the inner panel and at least partially covering the plurality of local reinforcements (figs 1-8), and a plurality of molded bulkheads (112) formed on and extending from the outer surface of the inner panel (fig 7), where in each of the plurality of molded bulkheads has a shelf portion (112a) at a distal end that is in contact with and bonded to the inside surface of the exterior panel ([0059], fig 7).
Regarding claim 4, Moriyama further discloses that at least one of the plurality of molded bulkheads extends between two peripheral edges (left and right edge of 110, fig ) of the inner panel (figs 1-7).
Regarding claim 5, Moriyama further discloses a plurality of ribs (111b) formed on and extending from the outer surface of the inner panel (figs 1-7), wherein one or more of the plurality of ribs are in contact with a respective one of the plurality of load point areas (figs1-7).
Regarding claim 6, Moriyama further discloses that at least one of the plurality of molded bulkheads has an edge that contacts one of the plurality of groups of ribs (fig 7).
Regarding claims 8 and 14, Moriyama further discloses that the vehicle panel arrangement is a horizontal or vertical panel for a vehicle (fig 1 ,abstract, [0001]-[0002]).
Regarding claims 9, 15, and 20 Moriyama further discloses that the vehicle panel arrangement is one selected from a group consisting of a frunk, a sliding side door, a trunk closure, a hood, a side door and a portion of a vehicle roof (fig 1 ,abstract, [0001]-[0002]).
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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moriyama et al. (US 20230108074) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tichy et al. (US 20200009949).
Regarding claim 7, Moriyama is silent regarding the fact that each shelf of the plurality of molded bulkheads is connected to the exterior panel by an infrared welding.
Tichy teaches the use of infrared welding to connect components of a door (abstract)
Before the effective filling date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Moriyama and Tichy before him or her, to modify the apparatus/method disclosed by Moriyama to include connecting components using infrared welding as taught by Tichy in order to create vehicle part that provide sufficient strength, yet maintains or presents a desirable “Class-A” finish ([0006])
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3, 10-12, 18-19 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANY E AKAKPO whose telephone number is (469)295-9255. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm.
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/DANY E AKAKPO/Examiner, Art Unit 3672
10/02/2026
