DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 5, line 4, “the second impact absorbing member” has no antecedent basis in the claims. It appears that Applicant intended claim 5 to depend on claim 2. For purposes of expediting examination, this is how the claim will be interpreted. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Spangler et al. (US 2023/0117003) in view of Tochigi (US 2025/0289503).
With respect to claim 1, Spangler et al. disclose the claimed vehicle base structure except that they are silent on whether the protection subject component is disposed a lower side of a floor panel of a vehicle. Spangler et al. disclose a vehicle base structure, comprising:
a protection-subject component 12 that is disposed on a vehicle (Spangler et al., paragraph [0002]; Fig. 1);
a first impact absorbing member 338a that is made up of a single first plate member that is bent one or more times and also that is seamless (Spangler et al. paragraph [0045]; Fig. 5); and
a second impact absorbing member 338b that is disposed adjacent to the first impact absorbing member 338, on an outer side of the first impact absorbing member in a vehicle width direction (as shown in Fig. 5 of Spangler et al., wherein
the first impact absorbing member 338A includes two or more closed spaces that are surrounded by the first plate member, and that are arrayed in an up-down direction or a horizontal direction as shown below in the image taken from Fig. 5 of Spangler et al.:
[AltContent: textbox (second closed space)][AltContent: textbox (first closed space)][AltContent: ][AltContent: ]
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and
the protection-subject component and a vehicle body 316/318 are fastened to the first impact absorbing member 338a (as show in Figs. 1 and 5 of Spangler et al.).
Tochigi teaches a similar vehicle base structure including a protection-subject component disposed on a lower side of a floor panel 16 of a vehicle (as shown in Fig. 1 of Tochigi.
It 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, with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the teaching of Tochigi with the vehicle base structure disclosed by Spangler et al. for the advantage of locating the heavy battery on the lowest portion of the car to provide greater vehicle stability.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 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:
Claims 2-5 have been indicated as containing allowable subject matter primarily for the second impact absorbing member is made up of a single second plate member that is bent one or more times and also that is seamless, and includes two or more closed spaces that are surrounded by the second plate member, and also that are arrayed in the up-down direction or the horizontal direction.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kuipers and Ranga are cited to show other examples of first and second impact absorbing members that are each made up of a single plate member that is bent one or more times and includes two or more closed spaces surrounded by the plate member. However, neither Kuipers nor Ranga teach first impact absorbing members that are seamless. Both references teach at least one weld line along the first impact absorbing member.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL J COLILLA whose telephone number is (571)272-2157. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 - 4:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amy Weisberg can be reached at 571-270-5500. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Daniel J Colilla/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612
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