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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 - 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by R. Rikkert, CN 219727829 (“Rikkert”). Rikkert discloses a vehicle shade apparatus (abstract) provided on a roof of a vehicle (abstract; page 2, first paragraph beginning with “According to the present utility model …”), the vehicle shade apparatus comprising:
a shade (rolling screen 4);
a winding member (2) that winds the shade;
a spool member (6) attached to the winding member so as to rotate coaxially and integrally with the winding member;
a string (7) that has one end fixed to the spool member and is wound around the spool member;
a drive device (abstract, electric motor 11) that pulls the string to rotate the spool member and the winding member in a winding direction of the shade (abstract); and
a position adjustment mechanism (16 and 34, fig. 7A) that enables adjustment of a fixing position of the string (fig. 5) in the spool member in a circumferential direction of the winding member (fig. 4).
In reference to claims 2 – 3, Rikkert further discloses [[claim 2] wherein the winding member is a cylindrical body (fig. 2), the spool member (6) includes an insertion portion (fig. 7A) to be inserted into the winding member (2), and the position adjustment mechanism includes a plurality of protrusions (34) or recesses provided on one of the winding member or the insertion portion of the spool member (fig. 7A), and at least one recess or protrusion provided on another one of the winding member or the insertion portion of the spool member so as to be fitted to any of the plurality of protrusions or recesses (fig. 7A); and
[[claim 3]] wherein the position adjustment mechanism (fig. 7A) includes a plurality of protrusions (34) formed at intervals in the circumferential direction on an inner peripheral surface of the winding member (fig. 7B), and a pair of recesses formed at an interval of 180° in the insertion portion of the spool member (2) so as to be fitted to any of the plurality of protrusions.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Prior art references do not disclose or teach the vehicle shade apparatus comprising, inter alia, a position adjustment mechanism including a plurality of protrusions or recesses provided on a winding member or an insertion portion of a spool member, and [[claims 4 and 5]] a slack absorbing mechanism that is disposed inside the winding member and biases the spool member in a direction opposite the direction to the winding of the shade. P. Lin, U.S. 2008/0006373 teaches a slack absorbing mechanism, but if modifying the closest prior art Rikkert, would remove the plurality of protrusions or recesses of the position adjustment mechanism on a winding member. The combination of the two references would not meet the limitations of claims 4 and 5 with their dependencies upon claim 2.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREN BECK whose telephone number is (571)272-6212. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday from 8:30AM - 4:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason Shanske can be reached at 571-270-5985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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KAREN BECK
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3614
/KAREN BECK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614
