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 .
Status of the Application
Claims 1-2 are pending and have been examined in this application. As of the date of this application, the Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS) filed on 12/13/2024 has/have been taken into account.
Response to Amendment
In the amendment dated 03/31/2026, the following has occurred: Claim 1 has been amended; No claims have been canceled; No claims have been added. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-2 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any citation applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. See following section for further explanation.
Applicant's arguments filed 03/31/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument that: “Kobylinski describes a first hanger member 22 and a second hanger member 24 are that directly connected to the vehicle 23 and the exhaust pipe 26, respectively, and that the first hanger member 22 and the second hanger member 24 are connected to the coupling member 30 via fasteners, such as bolts 36 and nuts 38. Kobylinski fails to disclose "the supporting member comprises a first through-hole in which the first suspension member is inserted so as to connect the supporting member to the first suspension member, and the supporting member comprises a second through-hole in which the second suspension member is inserted so as to connect the second suspension member to the supporting member". Therefore, claim 1 is patentable over the cited art. Dependent claim 2 is patentable over the cited art for at least the same reasons as claim 1 by virtue of its dependency therefrom.” – Elements 36 of Kobylinski read on the cited suspension members and therefore as a result of the amendment, this new interpretation has been made and applicants arguments no longer apply.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kobylinski et al. (US 5,507,463).
In regards to Claim 1, Kobylinski discloses a supporting device for an engine peripheral structure, the supporting device comprising: a first suspension member (Kobylinski: Fig. 2; 36 - lower) that is attached to the engine peripheral structure; a supporting member (Kobylinski: Fig. 2, 6; 60) that is connected to the first suspension member, the supporting member being an elastic body and being an electric conductor (Kobylinski: Col. 3, Ln. 51-65); and a second suspension member (Kobylinski: Fig. 2; 36 - upper) that is connected to the supporting member and a vehicle body, the second suspension member being grounded to the vehicle body, wherein the engine peripheral structure is supported by the vehicle body, through the first suspension member, the supporting member, and the second suspension member; the supporting member comprises a first through-hole in which the first suspension member is inserted so as to connect the supporting member to the first suspension member, and the supporting member comprises a second through-hole in which the second suspension member is inserted so as to connect the second suspension member to the supporting member (Kobylinski: Fig. 3; shows through holes).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kobylinski et al. (US 5,507,463) in view of Signorino (US 2003/0161087).
In regards to Claim 2, Kobylinski discloses the supporting device for the engine peripheral structure according to claim 1, but fails to disclose the second suspension member is grounded with a battery that is provided in a vehicle.
However, Signorino teaches a member that is grounded with a battery (Signorino: Fig. 4; 7 or [0018]; main battery) that is provided in a vehicle.
Kobylinski and Signorino are analogous because they are from the same field of endeavor or a similar problem solving area e.g. grounding vehicle components. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the second suspension member of Kobylinski with the battery from Signorino, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to provide a means for routing unwanted charge on a vehicle frame to a main or additional battery of a vehicle, thereby helping prevent issues caused by charged components in a vehicle (Signorino: [0017]-[0018], [0020]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Taylor Morris whose telephone number is (571)272-6367. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10AM-6PM PST / 1PM-9PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached at (571) 272-8227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Taylor Morris/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631
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