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 .
Drawings
Figure 1 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the vehicle instrument panel must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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)(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) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2014/0085796 to Matthew et al.
Regarding claim 1, Matthew ‘796 discloses an assembly for receiving at least one display device comprising: a façade 202 made of a glass material with a first coefficient of expansion which is designed to be placed in front of the display device 206; a support 402 made of a metal material with a second coefficient of expansion, the second coefficient of expansion being higher than the first coefficient of expansion (para 0069 and it is well known in the art that metals generally have a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than glass), the support 402 being designed to support the façade 202 and the support being formed by a succession of at least two portions 402 of support positioned in a main direction of expansion of the assembly; and at least one adhesive 404 which secures the façade 202 on the at least two portions 402 of support (Fig. 5; paras. 0068-0069).
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, 4 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over US 2014/0085796 to Matthew et al.
Regarding claim 2, Matthew ‘796 discloses comprising a cradle 408, which is designed to be secured in a rigid manner on the façade 202 (via connection to plate 402; see Fig. 4) by means of the at least one adhesive 404.
Matthew ‘796 is silent as to the cradle 408 being made of metal. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time the invention was made to form the bracket of metal, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Regarding claim 4, Matthew ‘796, as modified, discloses comprising at least one sliding connection 604 which is configured to connect the cradle 408 and one of the portions of support 402, such as to permit translation of the portion of support with respect to the cradle 408 in the main direction of expansion (para 0070).
Regarding claim 11, Matthew ‘796 discloses an assembly 400 and a display device 206 positioned facing the facade 202 of the assembly.
Matthew ‘796 is silent as to the assembly being incorporated with a vehicle instrument panel. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time the invention was made to incorporate the display assembly of Matthew ‘796 into a vehicle instrument panel since it is well known in the art to incorporate display devices into vehicle instrument panels.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 5-10 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Matthew ‘796 does not disclose or make obvious the components of the cradle which secure the façade and support portions of the support. Matthew ‘796 does not disclose or make obvious the components of the pivot-sliding connection that cooperates with the portions of the support.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and will be used in subsequent office action rejections, as applicable.
The list of supports is as follows: US-9680975-B2 OR US-9733670-B2 OR US-9864403-B2 OR US-8743309-B2 OR US-8611077-B2 OR US-8390412-B2 OR US-7965498-B2 OR US-12656832-B2 OR US-8848130-B2 OR US-20060047426-A1 OR US-20240025258-A1 OR US-20140085563-A1 OR US-20130140965-A1 OR US-20110217455-A1 OR US-20110164372-A1 OR US-20070193096-A1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONICA E MILLNER whose telephone number is (571)270-7507. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-4:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Terrell McKinnon can be reached at 571-272-4797. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MONICA E MILLNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
