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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested:
Vehicle front structure with temperature adjustment unit for front luggage compartment and washing solution tank.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 1, lines 25-26, the sentence “Therefore, there is room for improvement cooperation of functions” is incomplete.
Page 8, line 3, it is unclear what is meant by “a vehicle using a cold value”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: The phrase “able to adjust both temperatures of the washing solution in the tank and inside of the front luggage compartment” is somewhat unclear. The limitation could be read as if the tank and the luggage compartment both contain a washing solution. It is suggested that this limitation be changed to --able to adjust both a temperature of the washing solution in the tank and a temperature of an inside of the front luggage compartment--. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mercedes-Benz Group AG (WO 2024/227557 A1, hereinafter Mercedes) in view of Gruber (US 2020/0108688).
With regard to claim 1, Mercedes discloses a vehicle front structure comprising:
a tank (18) that is disposed at a vehicle front portion and stores a washing solution (20) therein; and
a front luggage compartment (10, V) that is disposed at the vehicle front portion.
Mercedes fails to teach a temperature adjustment unit that is able to adjust both temperatures of the washing solution in the tank and inside of the front luggage compartment.
Gruber teaches a climate-controlled front trunk (40). Gruber teaches a temperature adjustment unit (54) which is a “thermal exchange plate” disposed at the bottom surface of the front trunk.
It would have been considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to have modified Mercedes by providing the temperature adjustment unit of Gruber, in order to utilize the front trunk for “transporting hot or cold food items” (Gruber, paragraph 0032).
Furthermore, in adding the temperature adjustment unit of Gruber into Mercedes in order to control the climate inside the front trunk, the temperature adjustment unit would also adjust the temperature of the washing solution in the tank—at least a small amount—given that the washing solution would be positioned directly adjacent to the temperature adjustment unit.
With regard to claim 2, Mercedes in view of Gruber teaches that at least parts of a tank wall of the tank and a luggage compartment wall of the front luggage compartment are integrated (the walls of the tank also form the walls of the front trunk in Mercedes) or are caused to abut each other, and the temperature adjustment unit is disposed in a region including the integrated or abutting parts (the temperature adjustment unit of Gruber is added onto the bottom wall of the front trunk, which is also an integral wall of the tank).
With regard to claim 3, Mercedes in view of Gruber teaches that the tank wall on an upper side of the tank (i.e. the upper wall of the double-walled tank 18 in Mercedes) and the luggage compartment wall on a lower side of the front luggage compartment are integrated or are caused to abut each other (the upper wall of the tank 18 is also the lower wall of the front trunk as shown in Fig. 3 of Mercedes).
With regard to claim 4, Mercedes teaches that the tank wall of the tank on one side in a vehicle width direction and the luggage compartment wall of the front luggage compartment on the other side in the vehicle width direction are integrated or are caused to abut each other (the inner side wall of cavity 18 is also the outer side wall of the front luggage compartment, as shown in Fig. 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT E FULLER whose telephone number is (571)272-6300. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30AM - 5:30PM.
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, Tara Schimpf can be reached at 571-270-7741. 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.
/ROBERT E FULLER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3676
Prosecution Insights