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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/03/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 9-12 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salter et al. (US 2018/0154822 A1), hereinafter referred to as Salter, in view of Aftanas (US 2011/0240695 A1) and VanEpps (US 9,783,122 B1).
Regarding claim 1, Salter teaches a rail adapted for mounting on a vehicle equipped with an electrical harness, comprising:
a light emitting diode (LED) array comprising a plurality of LEDs (see paragraph [0041] where plurality of LEDs is disclosed) affixed to an outer frame of the rail (48 and 52), wherein the outer frame of the rail is configured to be mounted to an exterior of a vehicle (see figure 2 where rails 48 and 52);
a driver circuit to selectively activate individual LEDs of the plurality of LEDs, the driver circuit comprising software that provides for a plurality of lighting modes (see paragraph [0044] where drive circuity is disclosed; and paragraph [0058] where processor is disclosed).
Salter does not explicitly teach wiring to provide electrical communication with the vehicle electrical harness.
Aftanas teaches wiring (plurality of conductors 52a, 52b, 52c; paragraph [0029]) to provide electrical communication with the vehicle electrical harness (paragraph [0029] where wiring harness of vehicle 12 is disclosed).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the rail of Salter to include wiring and wiring harness as taught by Aftanas as an alternative way to provide an electrical connection to illuminate the light sources within the rails (see paragraph [0029] of Aftanas).
Salter modified by Aftanas does not explicitly teach the driver circuit and its software fully sealed within the frame of the rail to be weatherproof.
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VanEpps teaches bracket 500 comprising a driver circuit (pcb, conduits; see column 18, lines 60-67) and software (see column 20, lines 32-45 where hardware/software within the brackets 100 and 500 is disclosed) fully sealed within the frame (brackets 100 and 500) of the rail to be weatherproof (see column 13, lines 50-65 where waterproof and weatherproof characteristics are disclosed).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the rail of Salter seal the driver circuit and software within the frame of the rail for weatherproofing as taught by VanEpps to effectively shield the components within the frame from water, dirt dust and other debris that could damage the components of the frame (See column 13, lines 50-65 of VanEpps).
Regarding claim 2, Salter teaches the rail of claim 1 wherein the frame of the rail is configured to be a mounted parallel to a lengthwise axis of the vehicle (see first side rail 48 and second side rail 52 in at least figure 2 and at least paragraph [0035]).
Regarding claim 3, Salter teaches the rail of claim 1 wherein the plurality of LEDs (paragraph [0041] discloses that the light assembles 64 are a plurality of LEDs) form more than one row along a length of the LED array (paragraph [0041] discloses one or more LED strips 90).
Regarding claim 4, Salter teaches the rail of claim 1 wherein the plurality of LEDs (see paragraph [0041] where light assemblies 64 may include a plurality of light emitting diodes) are part of a light pipe, an elongated light strip (light strip 90; paragraph [0041]), or a combination thereof.
Regarding claim 5, Salter teaches the rail of claim 1 but does not explicitly teach wherein the plurality of LEDs are high-intensity LEDs (see paragraph [0058] where plurality of light sources 64 is disclosed and an intensity of the light sources is disclosed).
Regarding claim 6, Salter teaches the rail of claim 1 wherein the driver circuit is a printed circuit board (see paragraph [0044] where printed circuit board is disclosed).
Regarding claim 7, Salter teaches the rail of claim 1 wherein the printed circuit board (paragraph [0044] where printed circuit board is disclosed) is entirely sealed to be weatherproof (see paragraph [0051] where overmold 114 protects light sources 94 from physical and chemical damage arising from environmental exposure. Paragraph [0052] discloses 114 is substantially resistant to weathering).
Regarding claim 8, Salter teaches the rail of claim 1 wherein the driver circuit is integrated into the frame of the rail (see paragraph [0044] where driver circuit is disclosed).
Regarding claim 9, Salter teaches the rail of claim 1 further comprising a controller (134; paragraph [0057]) operating with a key fob or smart phone app for remotely activating the driver circuit (see paragraph [0056]-[0057], [0061, 0066]).
Regarding claim 10, Salter teaches the rail of claim 7 further comprising an on board control unit configured to provide a user interface for controlling the driver circuit (see paragraph [0058] where user interface is disclosed).
Regarding claim 11, Salter teaches the rail of claim 1 wherein the plurality of lighting modes includes at least two of static, dynamic monochrome, dynamic polychrome, and message forming (see paragraph [0049] where light sources 94 create static and dynamic patterns of light by independently illuminating certain light source(s) 94).
Regarding claim 12, Salter teaches the rail of claim 1 wherein polychrome activation of the plurality of LEDs occurs and includes at least two colors from among: red, yellow, blue, green, and white (see paragraph [0041] where light assemblies by include white, amber, red, green and /or blue LEDs).
Regarding claim 15, Salter teaches a vehicle system comprising: a first rail and a second rail of claim 1 configured to be mounted parallel to each other on a vehicle (see figure 2 where first rail 48 and second rail 52 are mounted parallel to each other on a roof of a vehicle) and parallel to a lengthwise axis of the vehicle (see figure 2).
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salter et al. (US 2018/0154822 A1) in view of Aftanas (US 2011/0240695 A1) and VanEpps (US 9,783,122 B1) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Michie et al. (US 2013/0135880 A1).
Regarding claim 14, Salter modified by Aftanas and VanEpps teaches the rail of claim 1 but Salter fails to teach further comprising a solar panel configured to at least partially power the plurality of LEDs of the rail.
Michie et al. teaches a solar panel (see abstract where solar panel is disclosed) configured to at least partially power the plurality of LEDs of the rail (see paragraph [0007] where a light formed in the support rail is powered by the solar energy collected by the solar panel).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the rail of Salter to include a solar panel as taught by Michie et al. as an alternative way to provide power to illuminate the light sources within the rails (see paragraph [0007] and Abstract of Michie et al.).
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-6, 9-12, 14 and 15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection necessitated by applicant’s amendment of independent claim 1.
Applicant amended claim 1 to remove the a “roof of” and added the limitation of “a running board”. Applicant argues that the prior art of record, Salter, does not teach the limitation of the “outer frame of the rail configured to be mounted to a running board of a vehicle”. Applicant further argues that the roof rack and a running board solve different technical problems.
A new reference, VanEpps (US 9,783,122 B1), teaches the newly recited limitations which includes “the driver circuit and its software fully sealed within the frame of the rail to be weatherproof” in independent claim 1. See rejection above. Therefore, claim 1 is now rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salter et al. (US 2018/0154822 A1) in view of Aftanas (US 2011/0240695 A1) and VanEpps (US 9,783,122 B1).
Claims 2-12, 14 and 15 remain rejected based on dependency on a rejected base claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA MCMILLAN APENTENG whose telephone number is (571)272-5510. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pm.
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/JESSICA M APENTENG/Examiner, Art Unit 2875
/EVAN P DZIERZYNSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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