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 .
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 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Campbell (US 2007/0193401 A1) in view of Kihara et al. (US 11,543,848 B2).
Regarding claim 20, Campbell discloses a pedal device comprising:
a pedal (50);
an elastic member (160, 170) that is elastically deformed by a force applied by the pedal associated with displacement of the pedal, to apply an elastic force to the pedal as a reaction force against the force; and
a housing (32, 38) that defines an accommodation chamber (the inner area of the housing) in which the elastic member is accommodated,
wherein the elastic member is supported by the housing while being accommodated in the accommodation chamber (see Figure 2A).
Campbell does not disclose that the housing includes at least one passage that allows foreign matter to pass from an inside of the accommodation chamber to an outside of the accommodation chamber,
wherein the at least one passage is formed in an inner wall of the housing so as to be recessed inward from an outer surface of the elastic member,
the at least one passage is made to discharge the foreign matter from an outlet to the outside of the accommodation chamber, and
the at least one passage is provided to extend downward toward the outlet in a state where the pedal, the elastic member, and the housing are installed in a vehicle.
Kihara et al. teaches a housing (300) that includes at least one passage (321, 322) that allows foreign matter to pass from an accommodation chamber (the inner area of 300) to an outside of the housing,
wherein the at least one passage is formed in an inner wall (the wall that 321 and 322 are formed in) of the housing so as to be recessed inward from an outer surface of an elastic member (430) (321 and 322 are below 430 when view in a cross-sectional view thus meeting the claim limitation),
the at least one passage is made to discharge the foreign matter from an outlet (the outlet of 321/322) to the outside of the accommodation chamber, and
the at least one passage is provided to extend downward toward the outlet in a state where the pedal, the elastic member, and the housing are installed in a vehicle (the at least one passage must be downward to allow foreign debris to directed out of the housing).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the housing of Campbell to includes at least one passage that allows foreign matter to pass from the accommodation chamber to an outside of the housing, to have the at least one passage be formed in an inner wall of the housing so as to be recessed inward from an outer surface of the elastic member, to have the at least one passage be made to discharge the foreign matter from an outlet to the outside of the accommodation chamber, to have the at least one passage provided to extend downward toward the outlet in a state where the pedal, the elastic member, and the housing are installed in a vehicle, as taught by Kihara et al., for the purpose of aiding increasing the life of the pedal device by allowing foreign debris to exit the housing.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-17, 22, and 24 are allowed over the prior art of record.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see the Remarks, filed April 24, 2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-17, 22, and 24 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The previous rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed April 24, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant argued on Page 14 of the Remarks that “The combination of Campbell in view of Kihara fails to disclose "the at least one passage is formed in an inner wall of the housing so as to be recessed inward from an outer surface of the elastic member, the at least one passage is made to discharge the foreign matter from an outlet to the outside of the accommodation chamber, and the at least one passage is provided to extend downward toward the outlet in a state where the pedal, the elastic member, and the housing are installed in a vehicle" as recited by independent claim 20 as amended and its dependents. This claim feature is supported by, for example, original paragraph [0500] and FIG. 27 of the present application.”
The claim currently only requires a passage (i.e. an opening) formed in an inner wall of the housing, the passage having an outlet, and the passage extending downward. Furthermore, Figure 9B of Kihara shows a passage that is substantially Z-shaped in a similar manner as Applicant’s passage (13a-13c) shown in Figure 27. Is the Applicant trying to claim that the passage is at least partially formed in or recessed in the elastic member itself? If so, the Applicant is advised to amend the claim to make that structure clear.
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 ADAM D ROGERS whose telephone number is (571)272-6561. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 6AM-2:00PM EST.
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/ADAM D ROGERS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3617
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