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 .
1) 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.
2) 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.
3) Claims 1-4, 6-8 and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Japan 211 (JP 06-024211) in view of Japan 209 (JP 04-110209), Takusagawa et al (US 4,915,150) and/or Umstot et al (US D713,328).
Japan 211 discloses a pneumatic heavy load tire having a tread comprising a circumferential groove 6 and a shoulder portion 3 comprising shoulder blocks separated by shoulder lateral grooves 7. Each section A of a shoulder portion 3 is provided with ridges 4 wherein each ridge 4 has a triangular cross section. The ridges 4 define peaks B and valleys C. Ridges 4 of sections A1 and A2 adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction are displaced in the radial direction in an amount corresponding to approximately half a mountain. Generation of eccentric wear and occurrence of wandering phenomenon is suppressed. See FIGURES 1-11 and machine translation. An annotated copy of FIGURE 5 of Japan 211 is provided below:
PNG
media_image1.png
393
472
media_image1.png
Greyscale
The markings in the above MARKED UP FIGURE were added by examiner to facilitate discussion of Japan 211. In the MARKED UP FIGURE, TE1 is a first tread end of a first portion of a first shoulder block, TE2 is a second tread end of a second portion of the first shoulder block, X is a first tire circumferential end of the first shoulder block, Y is a second circumferential end of the first shoulder block, Z is an edge and R is a recess. As can be seen from FIGURE 5, the first portion includes a first tread surface configuring the first tread end TE1 and a first sidewall surface extending inward in a radial direction from the first tread end TE1 and the second portion includes a second tread surface configuring the second tread end TE2 and a second sidewall surface extending inward in a radial direction from the second tread end TE2. As can be seen from the MARKED UP FIGURE, the second tread surface includes a recessed portion between edge Z and second tread end TE2, which is at least partially recessed inward of the first tread surface in the radial direction such that the second tread end TE2 is inward of the first tread end TE1 in the radial direction. As can be seen from the MARKED UP FIGURE, a recess R being hollowed inward in a axial direction, defining a valley C and extending in the circumferential direction is formed in the second side wall surface in the section A2. Japan 211 substantially discloses the claimed invention except for the recess R extending from one shoulder lateral groove.
As to claim 1, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide indented portion comprising the recess R in the buttress of Japan 211’s shoulder block such that the indented portion is a one end open indented portion; the recess R thereby being a one end open recess (one end opening to a shoulder lateral groove and the other end being closed in the shoulder block) since (1) Japan 209 teaches providing a pneumatic tire (heavy load size 1000R20) having a tread comprising shoulder blocks separated by shoulder lateral grooves such that an indented portion in a buttress of a shoulder block for improving rut wandering resistance and side slip resistance on low friction road surface [translation] is either a one end open indented portion [FIGURE 3] or a both end closed indented portion [FIGURE 4], (2) Takusagawa et al teaches providing a pneumatic tire (heavy load size 10.50R15) having a tread comprising shoulder lugs separated by shoulder lateral grooves such that an indented portion in a buttress of a shoulder lug for obtaining stable running on any kind of road is a one end open indented portion [FIGURE 3], and/or (3) Umstot et al teaches a tire [title] and shows the tire having a tread comprising shoulder blocks separated by shoulder lateral grooves such that an indented portion in a buttress of a shoulder block is a one end open indented portion [FIGURES 1-6].
As to claims 2 and 3, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide Japan 211’s pneumatic tire such that the plurality of shoulder blocks include at least one second shoulder block, the second shoulder block is adjacent to the first shoulder block via one of the plurality of shoulder lateral grooves, and the second shoulder block has a line-symmetrical shape about a groove center line of one of the shoulder lateral grooves, with respect to the first shoulder block [claim 2], a length in the tire circumferential direction of the first shoulder block is 20% to 60% of a separation distance in the tire circumferential direction between the first tire circumferential end of the first shoulder block and a second tire circumferential end of the second shoulder block [claim 3] since Umstot et al shows providing alternating pairs of first and second shoulder blocks such that indented portions of the first and second shoulder blocks of each pair face each other and the second shoulder block has a line symmetrical shape about a groove centerline of one of the shoulder lateral grooves with respect to the first shoulder block [FIGURES 1-2, 4-6].
As to claim 4, note recessed portion between edge Z and tread end TE2 [FIGURE 5, MARKED UP FIGURE].
As to claim 6, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide Japan 211’s pneumatic tire such that a length in the tire axial direction of the recessed portion is 15% to 30% of a length in the tire circumferential direction of the first shoulder block since Japan 211 shows forming a short recessed portion (the portion between edge Z and tread end TE2) in a shoulder block wherein the length in the axial direction of the recessed portion is a small percentage of the length in the circumferential direction of the shoulder block [FIGURE 5]. While patent drawings are not to scale, relationships clearly shown in the drawings of a reference patent cannot be disregarded in determining the patentability of claims. See In re Mraz, 173 USPQ 25 (CCPA 1972).
As to claim 7, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide Japan 211’s pneumatic tire such that the recess includes an outward surface facing outward in the tire axial direction, and on a tire meridional cross section passing through the outward surface, an angle between the outward surface and the second side wall surface is 45 to 120 degrees since Japan 211 shows a V shaped recess R in section A2 [FIGURE 5, MARKED UP FIGURE].
As to claim 8, the second side wall surface in section A2 is inward of the first side wall surface in section A1 [FIGURE 5].
As to claim 10, the second side wall surface in section A2 is raised with respect to a groove bottom of the shoulder lateral groove 7 adjacent to the second side wall surface [FIGURE 5].
As to claim 11, the first tread surface and the recessed portion (between edge Z and tread end TE2) of the second tread surface are connected to each other via a step surface [MARKED UP FIGURE].
As to claim 12, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide Japan 211’s pneumatic tire such that a length in the tire circumferential direction of the recessed portion is 20% to 80% of a length in the tire circumferential direction of the first shoulder block since Japan 211 shows the length in the circumferential direction of the recessed portion (between edge Z and tread end TE2) being about one third of the length in the circumferential direction of the shoulder block [FIGURE 5, MARKED UP FIGURE]. While patent drawings are not to scale, relationships clearly shown in the drawings of a reference patent cannot be disregarded in determining the patentability of claims. See In re Mraz, 173 USPQ 25 (CCPA 1972).
4) Claims 5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Japan 211 (JP 06-024211) in view of Japan 209 (JP 04-110209), Takusagawa et al (US 4,915,150) and/or Umstot et al (US D713,328) as applied above and further in view of Maehara (US 2014/0130949).
As to claims 5 and 9, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide Japan 211’s pneumatic tire such that the separation distance in the radial direction between the first surface and the recessed portion is 5% or less of a tread width [claim 5], a separation distance between the first side wall surface and the second side wall surface is 1 mm or more [claim 9] since (1) Japan 211 shows (a) the separation distance in the radial direction between the first tread surface and the recessed portion (between edge Z and tread end TE2) being less than the depth of the lateral groove of the pneumatic heavy load tire [FIGURE 5, MARKED UP FIGURE] and (b) the separation distance between the first side wall surface and the second side wall surface being a small percentage of the depth of the lateral groove of the pneumatic heavy load tire [FIGURE 5] and (2) Maehara discloses that it is known in the tire art to provide a pneumatic heavy load tire with a tire size of 315/80R22.5 (tread width = 270 mm) [paragraphs 104, 106] and lateral grooves having a depth of 10-15 mm [paragraph 76]. MPEP 2143 Part I.
Remarks
5) The remaining references are of interest.
6) No claim is allowed.
7) Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN D MAKI whose telephone number is (571)272-1221. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:30AM-6PM.
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, Katelyn B Smith (Whatley) can be reached at 571-270-5545. 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.
/STEVEN D MAKI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749
July 10, 2026
Prosecution Insights