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 .
This is the first action on the merits for application 18/970,173. Claims 1-8 are currently pending in this application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/05/2024, 5/29/2025 and 4/17/2026 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 2, “a vehicle lower side” should be changed to - -the vehicle lower side- - for claim consistency (see, for reference, Claim 1, line 12, “a vehicle lower side”). Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by NISHIKAWA et al. (US 5,501,289).
Regarding Claim 1, NISHIKAWA et al. discloses a battery mounting structure in a frame vehicle (Figs. 1-5), the battery mounting structure comprising: a vehicle body frame (Fig. 3) including a pair of right and left side rails (5) extending in a vehicle front and rear direction (Fig. 3), a first cross member (6) coupling vehicle front-side parts of the side rails to each other in a vehicle width direction (Fig. 3), and a second cross member (7) coupling vehicle rear-side parts of the side rails to each other in the vehicle width direction (Fig. 3); a sub-frame (Fig. 5) including a first frame (19) extending in the vehicle front and rear direction at a central part of the vehicle body frame in the vehicle width direction (Fig. 5) and a second frame (middle element (20) shown in Fig. 5) extending in the vehicle width direction at a central part of the first frame in the vehicle front and rear direction (Fig. 5), the sub-frame being provided between the first cross member and the second cross member (Figs. 2, 3 and 5); and a battery pack (Fig. 4) supported on the sub-frame from a vehicle lower side (Figs. 1 and 2).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NISHIKAWA et al. (US 5,501,289).
Regarding Claim 7, NISHIKAWA et al. discloses the battery mounting structure according to Claim 1, described in detail above, but does not disclose the first frame is higher in stiffness than the second frame. Note, a difference in “stiffness” between two elements may be caused by either a different material selection between the elements or a result effective variable (e.g., element thickness varying between the two elements when a common material is used).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the battery mounting structure of NISHIKAWA et al. with the first frame higher in stiffness than the second frame, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Additionally, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the battery mounting structure of NISHIKAWA et al. with the first frame higher in stiffness than the second frame, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 and 8 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
ISHIZAKI et al. (US 2024/0322339 A1) discloses a battery pack assembly (see Fig. 3).
KANG et al. (US 2023/0144195 A1) discloses a vehicle center frame module (see Fig. 3).
INAMI et al. (US 2023/0094304 A1) discloses an electric vehicle body structure with raised center frame (see Fig. 2).
KLOMBERG et al. (US 2021/0129651 A1) discloses a battery system for a vehicle (see Fig. 7).
TANAKA (US 2020/0215895 A1) discloses a vehicle lower structure assembly (see Fig. 2).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDWIN YOUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-4781. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm (CST).
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, Jacob S Scott can be reached at (571)270-3415. 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.
EDWIN YOUNG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3655
/Edwin A Young/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
Prosecution Insights