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/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of the invention of Group I, Claims 1 through 14, in the reply filed on March 26, 2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 15 through 20 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 March 26, 2026.
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.
Claims 1 through 6 and 11 through 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication 2014/0204599 to Miura et al1 (hereinafter “Miura”) in view of U.S. Patent 7,182,375 to Shoen (hereinafter “Shoen”).
Claim 1: Miura discloses a status indicator light assembly for a vehicle (e.g. ¶ [0001]), the status indicator light assembly (see Fig. 1) comprising:
a housing (e.g. 3) comprising:
a mounting member having an interface surface configured to face a portion of a corner of the vehicle;
a support member connected to the mounting member; and
at least one opening (e.g. 32) in the support member;
at least one status light (e.g. 22) accommodated in the at least one opening of the housing; and
a wiring harness having one end coupled to the at least one status light and another end configured to be coupled to an electrical system (e.g. power supply, switch, etc., ¶ [0017]) of the vehicle.
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Claim 2: Miura discloses the status indicator light assembly of claim 1, wherein the interface surface is a curved surface.
Claim 3. Miura discloses the status indicator light assembly of claim 2, wherein the curved surface is a radiused surface (e.g. Fig. 1).
Claim 4: Miura discloses the status indicator light assembly of claim 1, wherein the interface surface is an angled surface (e.g. Fig. 1).
Claim 5: Miura discloses the status indicator light assembly of claim 1, further comprising at least one visor (e.g. 4) accommodated in the at least one opening, the at least one visor covering at least a portion of an outer side of the at least one status light (e.g. Figs. 1, 2).
Claim 6: Miura discloses the status indicator light assembly of claim 5, wherein the at least one visor comprises an annular flange (e.g. 31, 341, 342) accommodated in the at least one opening and a semi-annular lip (e.g. edge of 2) extending forward from the annular flange and circumferentially around a portion of the annular flange (e.g. Fig. 1).
Claim 11: Miura discloses the status indicator light assembly of claim 1, wherein the at least one status light comprises a plurality of status lights (e.g. 22, 22C, Fig. 1).
Claim 12: Miura discloses the status indicator light assembly of claim 11, wherein the support member comprises a plurality of semi-cylindrical projections, each semi-cylindrical projection of the plurality of semi-cylindrical projections supporting one of the plurality of status lights (e.g. 22).
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Claim 13: Miura discloses the status indicator light assembly of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of fastener openings [see first annotated Figure above] in the mounting member of the housing.
Claim 14: Miura discloses the status indicator light assembly of claim 1, wherein the support member of the housing comprises a substantially planar surface and a tapered surface [see first annotated Figure above] extending rearward from the substantially planar surface.
Miura does state that the status indicator light assembly is configured for many vehicle applications including a fender (e.g. ¶ [0001]). Miura does not state that the housing of the status indicator light is configured for a trailer [as required in Claim 1]
However, trailers are known to have fenders with housings that include a status indicator light assembly. An example of this is shown in Figure 3 of Shoen, which discloses a trailer (e.g. 12) having a status indicator light assembly (e.g. 60) mounted on a fender (e.g. 10).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the housing of Miura by allowing the mounting member to be configured to face a portion of a corner of the trailer, or an end of the status light be configured to coupled to the electrical system of a trailer through a fender, as taught by Shoen, to provide status to a driver that is behind the vehicle/trailer when driving.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miura in view of Shoen, as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Publication 2013/0051059 to Abai et al (hereinafter “Abai”) .
Miura, as modified by Shoen, disclose the claimed status indicator light assembly, as relied upon above in Claim 1. The modified status indicator light assembly does not teach a flexible gasket.
Abai disclose that it is well-known for a status indicator light assembly (e.g. Fig. 2) to have a flexible gasket (e.g. 114) coupled to an interface surface of a housing (e.g. 12, ¶ [0029]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the status indicator light assembly of Miura by adding a flexible gasket, as taught by Abai, to seal the status indicator light assembly against moisture or water, and from weather elements.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. The prior art does not teach that the flexible gasket is an accordion gasket, as recited in Claim 8.
Therefore, Claims 8 through 10 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.
a) Japanese Patent Publication 2007-314106, discloses a trailer (e.g. Fig. 2) having a status indicator light assembly (e.g. 77).
b) Non-Patent Literature IEEE Publication to Dubois et al, entitled "Automotive lighting facing the design trend: From former basic conception to reliable and sustainable advanced development", discloses a housing and mounting member for a status light (e.g. Fig. 7, see entire document).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to A. DEXTER TUGBANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4570. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JESSICA HAN can be reached at (571) 272-2078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A. DEXTER TUGBANG/Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2896
1 The claim elements emphasized (in bold) are have been annotated in a partial view of Figure 1 of Miura.
Prosecution Insights