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 .
Election/Restriction
Claims 3-7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on August 12, 2026.
Claim Objection
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informality: wording in Line 2. Replacing “the output shaft” with “the motor output shaft” is suggested. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejection - 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)(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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nuttall (US 5127887 A). [Note that prior art citations below are italicized and enclosed in brackets.]
Regarding Claim 1, Nuttall teaches a reducer for an electric vehicle, connecting a driving motor including a motor output shaft and a driving wheel, the reducer comprising: a first gear part including an inside internal gear internally meshed with a motor output gear mounted on the motor output shaft, and an inside external gear coaxial with the inside internal gear; and a second gear part including an outside internal gear that is internally meshed with the inside external gear and a reducer output shaft that transmits power to the driving wheel [Annotated Nuttall Fig. 7, below; Nuttall Paragraphs 17-19: “This invention therefor provides 1. transmission, in the form of reduction gearing, through which rotary motion is carried and whose reactive torque is held in balance by 2. a traction balance, which connects reactive members of the transmission through which rotary motion is carried to or from individual wheels, or groups of wheels”].
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Annotated Nuttall Fig. 7
Claim Rejection - 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.
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nuttall (US 5127887 A) in view of Zhao et al. (CN 205202730 U) (hereinafter “Zhao”). [Note that prior art citations below are italicized and enclosed in brackets.]
Regarding Claim 2, Nuttall teaches reducers for an electric vehicle, a motor, and driving wheels, but does not teach a second motor. Zhao teaches an electric vehicle driving system, wherein the driving motor comprises a first driving motor and a second driving motor, wherein the output shaft is arranged on an outside of the first driving motor and an outside of the second driving motor, and wherein the reducer of claim 1 comprises a first reducer configured to transmit output of the first driving motor to a first driving wheel and a second reducer configured to transmit output of the second driving motor to a second driving wheel [Zhao Fig. 1, Reference Characters 4 (first driving motor, 5 (second driving motor), 3 (first speed reducer), 6 (second speed reducer), and driving wheels (not shown)]. It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the reducer for an electric vehicle, of Nuttall, to include, with a reasonable expectation of success, a second motor in view of Zhao. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Nuttall and Zhao because this would have achieved the desirable result of increasing driving system rigidity and efficiency, and decreasing driving system volume and weight, as recognized by Zhao [Zhao Paragraph 0009: “the whole structure is simple, firm, small volume, light weight, high transmission efficiency, energy-saving and improves the endurance mileage”]. It should be noted that while Zhao does not explicitly describe the arrangement of gears according to Nuttall’s invention, Zhao’s invention could accommodate Nuttall’s invention without substantial change in shape or functionality of Zhao’s invention. It should be further noted that combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results is likely to be obvious. (See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, USPQ2d 1385, 1395 – 97 (2007); see MPEP § 2143, A.).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL T WALSH whose telephone number is 303-297-4351. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 5:30 pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, J. Allen Shriver II, can be reached at 303-297-4337. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL T. WALSH/Examiner, Art Unit 3613
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