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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
Applicant’s information disclosure statements filed 12/18/2024 and 6/27/2025 have been considered and are included in the file.
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.
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.
Claims 1 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamei et al. (JP 2022/184594, machine translation attached) in view of Tsuyuzaki et al. (US 11370287) and Arai (JP 2023178084, machine translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Kamei et al. discloses a vehicle lower portion structure including: a first frame member (73) that is disposed at an end in a vehicle width direction in a lower portion of a vehicle (Figs. 3 and 12), and includes a first absorbing member (120) with a shaped cross-section in the first frame member (Fig. 12); a second frame member ((20),(21)) that is connected to a vehicle-width-direction inner side of the first frame member (Fig. 12 shows the connection); and a cross member ((25A),(25B),(25C)) that is disposed on a vehicle-width-direction inner side of the second frame member (Fig. 3), extends in the vehicle width direction and is connected to the second frame member (Fig. 3), wherein the first absorbing member (120) and the cross member ((25A),(25B),(25C)) are disposed at positions that overlap each other in a side view of the vehicle.
Kamei et al. does not explicitly disclose the first absorbing member has a hat-shaped cross-section, a second absorbing member in the second frame member, and the second absorbing member disposed at a position that overlaps the first absorbing member and the cross member.
Tsuyuzaki et al., like Kamei et al., teaches a vehicle lower portion structure, and further teaches the first absorbing member has a hat-shaped cross-section (Fig. 5).
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 vehicle lower portion structure of Kamei et al. because using a known technique of shaping the first absorbing member in a hat-shape would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill, since they would have recognized that applying the known technique of Tsuyuzaki et al. would yield predictable results for absorbing forces within the first frame member.
Arai, like Kamei et al., teaches a vehicle lower portion structure, and further teaches a second absorbing member (300) in the second frame member (108).
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 vehicle lower portion structure of Kamei et al. modified by Tsuyuzaki et al. to include the second absorbing member as taught by Arai, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to provide force absorption for any frame protecting vital equipment in the case of a collision. Please note, in the combination, the second absorbing member would be in the second frame member as taught by Kamei et al, and therefore would be disposed at a position that overlaps the first absorbing member and the cross member.
Regarding claim 5, Kamei et al. as modified by Tsuyuzaki et al. and Arai teaches the vehicle lower portion structure of claim 1, and teaches (references to Kamei et al.) wherein the second frame member is a battery frame ((20),(21)) to which a battery case (10) that is disposed in the lower portion of the vehicle and houses a battery is fastened (Figs. 3 and 12, ((20),(21)) are side ends of the battery case framing the battery case), and the first frame member is a rocker extending in a vehicle front-rear direction ((73) is a side sill also known as a rocker).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 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: Although the references of record show features similar to those of Applicant’s vehicle lower portion, the prior art fails to teach or make obvious the combined limitations of applicant’s claimed invention. Specifically, the structure of the second absorbing member as recited in claim 2.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Yoshida (WO 2025/047137) teaches partitioned absorbing members for frames.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLY W. LYNCH whose telephone number is (571)272-5552. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:30am-5:30pm, Eastern Time, alternate Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Peter M Poon can be reached at 571-272-6891. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CARLY W. LYNCH/Examiner, Art Unit 3643
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