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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on April 2, 2025 has been considered by the Examiner.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hiroyuki (JP 2616069).
Hiroyuki discloses and shows at Fig. 3 a vehicle drive transmission device comprising:
an input member (6) drivingly coupled to a driving force source (not shown);
an output member (16) drivingly coupled to a wheel (not shown); and
a power transmission mechanism (see Fig. 3) configured to transmit power between the input member and the output member, wherein
the power transmission mechanism includes
a first member (Fig. 1, item 35) and a second member (Fig. 1, items 12,34) disposed coaxially with each other, and
a meshing type engagement device (Fig. 1) configured to perform engagement and engagement release between the first member and the second member,
a direction along a reference axis that is an axis on which the first member and the second member are disposed is defined as an axial direction,
the engagement device includes
a first engaged portion (31) provided at the first member,
a second engaged portion (38,39) provided at the second member,
an engagement member (41) rotatable about the reference axis and configured to change, by moving in the axial direction, between a first state in which the engagement member is engaged with both of the first engaged portion and the second engaged portion and a second state in which engagement with at least one of the first engaged portion and the second engaged portion is released,
a connection member (43) that is engaged with the engagement member in a state where relative rotation about the reference axis with respect to the engagement member is allowed and relative movement in the axial direction is restricted, and
a drive mechanism (not shown, pg. 4, paragraph starting with, “A holding portion 43a…”) configured to move the engagement member in the axial direction via the connection member by driving the connection member in the axial direction, and
a speed sensor (32) configured to detect a rotational speed of the engagement member is attached to the connection member so as to move in the axial direction together with the connection member.
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.
Claims 2-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hiroyuki, as applied to claim 1, in view of Awakawa (US 8,936,303).
Hiroyuki discloses and shows the invention of claim 1 to include a case (2) accommodating the power transmission mechanism; a signal wire (Figs. 1-2, not labeled) extending from the speed sensor (32). Hiroyuki does not specify a fixing member disposed apart from the speed sensor and configured to fix the signal wire to the case. Awakawa discloses and shows a vehicle drive device having fixing members (20) configured to fix wiring and cabling to the case (see Fig. 1, for example), which prevents the wiring/cabling from being broken or damaged and can reduce manufacturing and repair costs (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add wire fixing members to the Hiroyuki device to prevent the wiring/cabling from being broken or damaged and reduce manufacturing and repair costs as taught by Awakawa.
Cl. 3 – Awakawa further comprises a holding member (16) configured to hold the signal wire, wherein the wire includes a curved portion (Figs. 1, 5-6, for example) that is curved between a terminal end and the fixing member (20), and the holding member includes a pair of guide walls disposed so as to sandwich the curved portion from both sides in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction.
Cl. 4 – the holding member further includes a coupling wall (Figs. 3-4) coupling the pair of guide walls to each other, and an opening formed between the pair of guide walls so as to open on a side opposite to the coupling wall, and is formed to have a U-shaped cross section orthogonal to the axial direction, and at least one of the pair of guide walls includes a deformable portion that is elastically deformable from a state where a width of the opening is smaller than a diameter of the wire to a state where the width of the opening is equal to or larger than the diameter of the wire.
Cl. 5-6 – neither Hiroyuki nor Awakawa disclose or shows the holding member having lip portions as claimed. However, such would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention in view of the following:
· MPEP 2144.04(IV)(B) states, “[I]t has been noted that limitations relating to the shape are not sufficient to be patentably distinguishable over the prior art” in citing In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966).
· MPEP 2144 clearly states that “The rationale to modify or combine the prior art does not have to be expressly stated in the prior art; the rational may be expressly or impliedly contained in the prior art or it may be reasoned from knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art, established scientific principles, or legal precedent established by prior case law" (emphasis added).
· MPEP 2144 also states, “If the applicant has demonstrated the criticality of a specific limitation, it would not be appropriate to rely solely on case law as the rationale to support an obviousness rejection” (emphasis added). However, Applicant’s disclosure, and all other evidence of record, fails to set forth any unexpected result (i.e., criticality) from having the lip portions. Accordingly, the claimed lip portion lacks any criticality such that a rejection based solely on case law is appropriate.
Conclusion
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/BOBBY RUSHING, JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618