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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizuta (US 2001/0007396) in view of Blum et al (US 2023/0073030).
Mizuta (US 2001/0007396) discloses:
1. A utility vehicle, comprising:
a driving section (Mizuta – Figure 1) on which an occupant rides;
a hood (Mizuta – 31) changeable in position between a closed position where the hood blocks a storage space forward of the driving section and an open position where the storage space is exposed (Mizuta – Figure 2); and
a locking section (Mizuta - Figure 4) capable of keeping the hood at the closed position.
Mizuta fails to specify what materials the locking section is made out of an elastic material.
Blum (US 2023/0073030) teaches a locking section for adjacent panels on a utility vehicle, wherein the locking section (40, comprising male and female elements 40 and 100, respectively) is made entirely of an elastic material (plastic) (Blum - Claim 11).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to modify Mizuta as taught by Blum to include wherein the locking section was made entirely of an elastic material, for the expected benefit of providing lighter, more cost effective parts that can more easily absorb impact and maintain shape, to obtain the invention as specified in the claim.
As concerns claim 2, the combination discloses the utility vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:
the hood (Mizuta – 31 / Blum - 22) has a first hole (Blum – 21) through which the locking section passes,
the utility vehicle further comprises a support (Mizuta – Figure 4 illustrates a support – unnamed – upon which 31 rests/ Blum – 26) configured to support the hood and having a second hole (Blum – hole through which bolts 110 extend) allowing the locking section to pass through the second hole,
the first hole is inward of an edge portion of the second hole in a plan view while the hood is at the closed position (Blum – Figures 3 and 4 at least illustrate this offset configuration), and
the locking section is changeable between a retained state where the hood is kept at the closed position with the locking section being disposed through the first hole and the second hole and in contact with a back surface portion of the support, and the back surface portion being opposite from a front surface portion of the support which front surface portion faces the hood (Blum – Figure 5), and a released state (Blum – such as when the mechanism may be uninstalled) where the locking section does not abut with the back surface portion and allows the hood to change to the open position.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 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:
As concerns claim 3, Blum illustrates a mechanism for inserting a non-circular shape into a hole, to then be cammed.
Neither Blum nor any additionally cited art of record teaches or fairly suggests, alone or in combination, inter alia, wherein the utility vehicle further comprises a fitting body provided for a lower portion of the locking section and having a longitudinal dimension larger than a lateral dimension of the second hole but smaller than a longitudinal dimension of the second hole, wherein the second hole is an elongated hole, and wherein the fitting body extends along a lateral direction of the second hole while the locking section is in the retained state, and the fitting body extends along a longitudinal direction of the second hole while the locking section is in the released state.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AARON L LEMBO whose telephone number is (571)270-3065. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7am-4pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole Coy can be reached on (571) 272-5405. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AARON L LEMBO/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3679
Prosecution Insights