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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 113978421 issued to Xiao in view of US 5285730 issued to Fujinawa et al. (hereinafter Fujinawa). Xiao discloses a rail vehicle comprising: a roof body constituting an upper surface; a side body constituting a side surface; an end body constituting an end surface in a longitudinal direction of the side body; an underframe constituting a lower surface; a bogie supporting the underframe, wherein the side body includes a plurality of openings as shown below.
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Xiao does not disclose the specifics of the interior of the rail vehicle. Specifically, Xiao does not disclose the side body having a pier between a plurality of opening and a reinforcing body is arranged on a vehicle interior surface of the pier between one opening situated above the bogie and another opening adjacent to the one opening and situated near a center in a longitudinal direction of the rail vehicle so as to extend from an upper corner of the one opening toward a lower corner of the other opening. Fujinawa discloses these features as shown below.
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At the time of the invention, one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to provide the rail vehicle of Xiao with the internal features of Fujinawa. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to provide a side body structure of a vehicle which requires less number of parts, simplified part-machining and assembly operations, and insures required rigidity, lighter weight, and less dimensional distortion.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TROY CHAMBERS whose telephone number is (571)272-6874. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 0530-1400.
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/Troy Chambers/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3641
TROY CHAMBERS
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3641
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