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 § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakamura (JP 2018016109 A).
Re Claim 1, Nakamura discloses:
A vehicle lower part structure (Fig. 1:10 Para 0019), comprising:
a resin rear floor portion (Fig. 1: 26; Para 0019 states that the rear floor pan 20 is formed of a fiber reinforced resin; Para 0020 states that the rear floor pan 20 is formed with a flange portion 26 extending outward from an upper end) provided in a rear part of a vehicle and including a floor pan forming portion (Fig. 1: 24; Para 0020); and
a resin undercover portion (Fig. 1: 22; Para 0019 states that the rear floor pan 20 is formed of a fiber reinforced resin; Para 0020 states that the rear floor pan is formed with a bottom wall 22) that forms a lower surface of the rear part and that is molded integrally with the rear floor portion (as seen in Para 0019-0020).
Re Claim 2, Nakamura discloses:
the floor pan forming portion (Fig. 1: 24; Para 0020) includes a vertical wall portion (as seen annotated in Fig. 1) that extends downward and whose lower end is connected to the undercover portion (as seen in Fig.1; Para 0020).
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Figure 1 of Nakamura (JP 2018016109 A)
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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakamura (JP 2018016109 A) as applied to claims above, and further in view of Watanabe et al. (JP S6133773 U).
Re Claim 3, Nakamura discloses an undercover portion as seen in the rejection above. But Nakamura does not disclose a bumper cover in the rear part of the vehicle with a front end connected to a rear end of the undercover portion or that the lower surfaces of both the parts are flush with each other.
Watanabe et al, on the other hand, discloses a bumper cover (Fig. 1: 6a) that is provided in the rear part and whose front end is connected to a rear end of the undercover portion (Fig. 1: 3b); and a lower surface of the rear end of the undercover portion and a lower surface of the front end of the front bumper are flush with each other (as seen in Fig. 1: 3b and 6a are flush with each other. The specification states that 3b and 6a are smoothly connected).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the vehicle lower part structure, as disclosed by Nakamura, to incorporate a bumper cover to be connected flush with the undercover portion of the floor pan, as taught by Watanabe et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to efficiently reduce the air resistance of the vehicle during high speed operation.
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Figure 1 of Watanabe et al. (JP S6133773 U)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references all disclose a vehicle lower part structure:
Funakoshi (US 20110227367 A1) discloses a rear vehicle body structure that has an undercover portion which is connected to another member but not flush with the connecting member.
Ryan et al. (US 10414446 B2) discloses a lightweight vehicle pan assembly that attaches to a vehicle frame and connected by a weld.
O’Brien et al. (US-20130153612-A1) discloses a underbody spare tire cover which stores a spare tire underneath the vehicle and is connected to the bumper but does not mention if the parts are connected flush with each other.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASMINE J THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-8742. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00.
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/JASMINE JAMES THOMAS/Examiner, Art Unit 3612
/JASON S MORROW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612
September 8, 2026
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