DETAILED ACTION
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on February 3, 2025 has been reviewed and considered by the Examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 16-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cortesi (WO 2018137758 A1).
Cortesi discloses a vehicle comprised of a cross-sectionally reduced portion, as shown in the center of figure 1 and between the carriages of the train. An air-guiding element, shown in figure 3, and disposed in said cross-sectionally reduced portion and extending outward in a transverse direction of the vehicle, shown at the top of figure 3, where the element extends horizontally from the center of the carriage to the side, and causes an airflow guidance of an airflow which enters said cross-sectionally reduced portion during travel, such that a part of the airflow being guided from an inside back to an outside and at a same time is deflected obliquely downward. The ducts, shown in figure 3, extend downward and angle to the bottom of the carriage.
The air-guiding element is disposed in terms of height in a central area, also shown in figure 3, between an upper end of said air-supply element and a lower end of said air-supply element and segments said at least one cross-sectionally reduced portion into an upper flow portion with an upward flow direction of the airflow and into a lower flow portion with a downward flow direction of the airflow.
The air-guiding element is further formed by a sheet metal part bent several times.
Conclusion
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/Robert J McCarry Jr/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
RJM
September 25, 2026
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