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 .
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 1 objected to because of the following informalities: claim(s) should be amended to recite “a door handle provided on a door outer panel [[side]], the door handle being configured to become operable through a transition from a first state in which the door handle is pulled in along a surface of [[a]] the door outer panel to a second state in which the door handle protrudes from the surface of the door outer panel”. Appropriate correction or clarification is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rhein (US-20210332620-A1).
With regards to claim 1, Rhein discloses a door handle device (3 Figure 1), comprising:
a door handle (4 Figure 1) provided on a door outer panel side (outer side of 2, Figure 1), the door handle being configured to become operable through a transition from a first state (Figure 21) in which the door handle is pulled in along a surface of a door outer panel (2 Figure 1) to a second state (Figure 25) in which the door handle protrudes from the surface of the door outer panel (Para. 0074);
a mechanical portion (15 Figure 5) configured to cause a transition to a third state (Figure 30) in which the door handle is further pulled out by a first stroke amount from the second state in response to an operation from a user in the second state (Para. 0075), and to cause a transition to a fourth state (Figure 37) in which the door handle is further pulled out by a second stroke amount from the third state in response to an operation from the user in the third state (Para. 0076);
a signal generation unit (77 Figure 31) configured to generate an electric signal based on a movement of the door handle from the second state to the third state (Para. 0075);
a door latch device (5 Figure 1) mechanically connected to the mechanical portion (Para. 0076); and
a door latch drive unit (19 Figure 5 and “drive motor”, Para. 0075) configured to electrically drive the door latch device to be unlocked based on the electric signal (Para. 0075), wherein the mechanical portion includes a first bell crank (75 Figure 5), a second bell crank (76 Figure 5), and a lever (18b Figure 22), the first bell crank rotates from a first rotation position (Figure 27) to a second rotation position (Figure 32) about a first rotation shaft (21 Figure 5) in response to a transition of the door handle from the second state to the third state (Para. 0075), and rotates from the second rotation position to a third rotation position (Figure 39) about the first rotation shaft in response to a transition of the door handle from the third state to the fourth state (Para. 0076), the second bell crank rotates from a fourth rotation position (Figure 32) to a fifth rotation position (Figure 39) about a second rotation shaft (18a Figure 22) in response to the transition of the door handle from the third state to the fourth state (Para. 0076), the lever is coupled to the first bell crank and the second bell crank such that the second bell crank rotates from the fourth rotation position to the fifth rotation position in conjunction with rotation of the first bell crank from the second rotation position to the third rotation position, and rotation of the second bell crank from the fourth rotation position to the fifth rotation position causes the door latch device to mechanically operate to be unlocked (Para. 0076).
With regards to claim 2, Rhein discloses the door handle device according to claim 1, wherein the lever (18b Figure 22) is coupled to the first bell crank (75 Figure 5) such that rotation of the second bell crank (76 Figure 5) in conjunction with rotation of the first bell crank from the first rotation position (Figure 27) to the second rotation position (Figure 32) does not occur (Para. 0075).
With regards to claim 4, Rhein discloses the door handle device according to claim 1, wherein the rotation of the first bell crank (75 Figure 5) from the first rotation position (Figure 27) to the second rotation position (Figure 32) causes the signal generation unit (77 Figure 31) to generate the electric signal (Para. 0075).
With regards to claim 5, Rhein discloses the door handle device according to claim 2, wherein the rotation of the first bell crank (75 Figure 5) from the first rotation position (Figure 27) to the second rotation position (Figure 32) causes the signal generation unit (77 Figure 31) to generate the electric signal (Para. 0075).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 6 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: Although the references of record show some features similar to those of applicant's device, the prior art fails to teach or make obvious the claimed invention. With regards to claim 1, Rhein discloses the door handle device according to claim 2. However, the prior art does not teach wherein the first bell crank has a protrusion in an upper-lower direction, the lever has, at one end, a hole into which the protrusion is inserted, and at the other end, a supported portion rotatably supported by the second bell crank, the hole is an elongated hole in which the protrusion is displaceable along a longitudinal direction of the hole, and the protrusion is displaced with respect to the hole in conjunction with the rotation of the first bell crank from the first rotation position to the second rotation position, and on the other hand, is not displaceable with respect to the hole when the first bell crank rotates from the second rotation position to the third rotation position. Therefore, such an arrangement is not taught by the prior art, nor can the Examiner can find teaching or motivation to suggest such a modification to one of ordinary skill in the art without fundamentally altering the principles of operation of the device or otherwise relying upon the benefit of impermissible hindsight reasoning.
Additional Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US-11692377-B2: A related motor vehicle handle arrangement.
US-11643856-B2: A related motor vehicle handle arrangement.
US-10954702-B2: A related motor vehicle handle arrangement.
US-10760307-B2: A related motor vehicle handle arrangement.
US-10655371-B2: A related motor vehicle handle arrangement.
US-12454852-B2: A related motor vehicle handle arrangement.
US-11753855-B2: A related motor vehicle handle arrangement.
US-11391073-B2: A related motor vehicle handle arrangement.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Noah Horowitz, whose telephone number is (571)272-5532. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 11:00AM - 7:00 PM.
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/NOAH HOROWITZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3675
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