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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2020/0202020.
Regarding claim 1, WO 2020/0202020 discloses:
A resin rail garnish (20; Fig. 4; see page 3 of the translation, the first line of the third full paragraph) provided along both an A pillar (portion 20A in Fig. 4) and a roof side rail (portion 20B in Fig. 4) of a vehicle (see the Abstract, line 3) comprising;
a garnish inner member (elements 30 and 39 (two occurrences) as pointed out in annotated Fig. 4 below) disposed on a vehicle interior side of the rail garnish (20; Figs 2-4), wherein
the garnish inner member (elements 30 and 39 (two occurrences) as pointed out in annotated Fig. 4 below) is divided into at least two or more parts (three parts: 30 and 39 (two occurrences) as pointed out in annotated Fig. 4 below) in a vehicle longitudinal direction (such direction is left to right in Fig. 4).
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Regarding claim 2, WO 2020/0202020 discloses:
The rail garnish according to claim 1, as explained above,
wherein the garnish inner member is divided at least at a boundary (circled with a dotted line in annotated Fig. 4 above) between the A pillar (12; Fig. 1) and the roof side rail (15; Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, WO 2020/0202020 discloses:
The rail garnish according to claim 2, as explained above,
wherein the garnish inner member (elements 30 and 39 (two occurrences) as pointed out in annotated Fig. 4 below) is further divided at a position located on a vehicle rear side (this rear side direction is indicated by the arrow near the bottom edge of annotated Fig. 4 above) of the boundary (the divided position being between the elements 39 in annotated Fig. 4 above) between the A pillar (12; Fig. 1) and the roof side rail (15; Fig. 1), and
a division gap formed at the position on the vehicle rear side of the boundary between the A pillar and the roof side rail (as pointed out near the bottom right edge in annotated Fig. 4 above) is smaller than a division gap formed at the boundary between the A pillar and the roof side rail (as pointed out at the bottom left corner of annotated Fig. 4 above).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
DE 19806531 discloses a garnish (2; Fig. 2) with an inner garnish member (4; Fig. 2. However, the garnish is not a “rail garnish” as required by claim 1.
Sukegawa et al. US 6,435,602 discloses a rail garnish (3; Figs. 1 and 2) which is secured to the vehicle by a plurality of clips (17; Figs. 1 and 2). However, the reference lacks “ a garnish inner member divided into two or more parts” as required by claim 1.
WO 2005102781 discloses a rail garnish (2; Figs. 1 and 2) with a garnish inner member (8; Fig. 2). However, the reference lacks “ a garnish inner member divided into two or more parts” as required by claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Joseph D. Pape whose telephone number is (571)272-6664. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 7 AM-3:30 PM.
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/Joseph D. Pape/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612
