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.
Claim 5 is 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. The limitation of claim 5, “wherein a plurality of types of the right and left pivot blocks having a different axis center position of the pivot shaft are set”, is completely unclear as to what is being claimed. Further, the use of the term “types” is non-descript and lends itself to the general confusion of the claim.
Claim 10 is 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 10 recites the limitation "the control device" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Bourque et al (US 12,552,483). Bourque discloses:
With regard to claim 1 - A saddle riding type electric vehicle comprising:
a vehicle body frame having a head portion 112 that supports a steering wheel in a steerable manner, a main frame 114 that extends rearward from the head portion 112, a pair of right and left pivot frames 118 that extend downward from a rear end portion of the main frame 14, and a cross member that connects the right and left pivot frames to each other (see marked up figure below);
a swing arm 132 that supports a drive wheel; and
a power unit that includes an electric motor 160 for driving a vehicle and is arranged at a further rearward side than the pivot frame in a vehicle side view (see Fig. 7),
wherein the power unit 160 includes a unit case 134 that accommodates the electric motor,
the unit case 134 includes a mount portion (see below) that is fastened by the cross member in a vehicle forward-rearward direction between the right and left pivot frames 118, and
a pivot shaft (see below) of the swing arm 132 is supported by the right and left pivot frames 118 and the mount portion.
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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.
Claim(s) 3, 4, 6, 8, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bourque in view of Yoshida et al (WO 2019112006). Bourque discloses wherein each of the right and left pivot frames includes a pivot block (see marked up figure below), and each of right and left pivot blocks supports the pivot shaft of the swing arm 132 and is fastened in the vehicle forward-rearward direction with respect to the main body side of a right or left pivot frame 118 on an identical side.
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Bourque fails to explicitly disclose the pivot block as a separate body with respect to a main body side of the pivot frames. Yoshida teaches pivot frames for a vehicle similar to that of Bourque, wherein the pivot frames 43 include pivot block 72 that are separate entities from the rest of the main body of each pivot frame 43. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the vehicle of Bourque with the teaching of Yoshida such that the pivot block is a separate entity from the rest of the pivot frame to allow for replacement of the part without replacing the whole pivot frame, should such maintenance be needed.
With regard to claim 4, Bourque discloses wherein a right or left step 126 on an identical side is attached to each of the right and left pivot blocks (see Fig. 3).
With regard to claim 6, Bourque discloses a rear cushion 136 that is connected to the swing arm 132, wherein the rear cushion 136 is arranged above the power unit 160 in an attitude in which a stroke direction is directed in the vehicle forward-rearward direction, has a front end portion that is connected to the vehicle body frame or the power unit at a further forward side than a drive shaft of the electric motor 160, and has a rear end portion that is connected to the swing arm 132at a further rearward side than the drive shaft of the electric motor 160 (see Fig. 4).
With regard to claim 8, Bourque discloses wherein the vehicle body frame includes: a box shape part 220 which includes a pair of right and left side wall portions that extend below the right and left main frames, respectively, a bottom wall portion that connects lower ends of the right and left side wall portions to each other, and a front wall portion that connects front ends of the right and left side wall portions to each other (see Figs. 4 and 6).
With regard to claim 11, Bourque discloses wherein the electric motor and the drive wheel are connected via a transmission member 170 having an endless form 178, and a tensioner 177 that applies a tension to the transmission member is supported by the unit case of the power unit.
Claim(s) 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bourque and Yoshida, as applied to claims 3, 4, 6, 8, and 11, above, and further in view of Eguchi (US 9,598,132). Bourque and Yoshida fail to explicitly disclose a control device that controls driving of the electric motor, wherein the control device is fastened to a lower surface of the bottom wall portion of the box shape part. Eguchi teaches a similar vehicle to that of Bourque, including a battery 4 for supplying electric energy to a motor, a housing 5 for said battery, and a control device 6 that controls driving of the electric motor 3, wherein the control device is fastened to a lower surface of a bottom wall portion of the battery housing 5. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the vehicle of Bourque with the teaching of Eguchi such that the vehicle includes a control device that controls driving of the electric motor, wherein the control device is fastened to a lower surface of the bottom wall portion of the box shape part to allow for the system to properly disperse energy to the motor and keep the control means in a convenient place near the battery and motor.
With regard to claim 10, the combination of Bourque, Yoshida, and Eguchi teaches wherein the electric motor is arranged at a height that overlaps the control device when seen from the vehicle forward-rearward direction, since, as seen in Fig. 5 of Bourque, the electric motor 160 overlaps a lower portion of the battery case 210.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 7 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. More specifically, Claim 2 includes upper and lower cross members with very defined disposition of fastening portions that would require too much hindsight and rearranging of the primary reference Bourque rendering it a different structural set up only permissible through said hindsight. Claim 7 requires a relationship of the shape of the swing arm and the disposition of a connecting portion thereof and the cushion that would require breaking the structural form of the primary reference as the shape of said swing arm would need to be completely altered in order to accommodate the limitations of the claim, which would only be attainable through impermissible hindsight.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Nolin et al (US12,312,041) is a similar vehicle to that of Bourque, with a further cross member and disclosure of a control device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY WILHELM whose telephone number is (571)272-6980. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-5:30.
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/TIMOTHY WILHELM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617 September 18, 2026
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