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
1. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/20/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
2. Claims 1-3, 5-11, and 13-14 are currently pending.
3. Claims 4 and 12 are canceled.
4. Claims 1, 6, and 13 are currently amended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
5. Claims 1-3, 5-11, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Any claim not specifically mentioned, including Claims 2-3, 5-11, and 14 have been included based on its dependency.
6. The limitation in Claim 1 with new matter recites: “the reference variable is determined in an outer control loop of the control system for controlling the aircraft, the outer control loop comprising a flight control device, the flight control device receiving an outer-control-loop reference variable and an outer-control-loop controlled variable and determining therefrom an outer-control-loop manipulated variable, the outer- control-loop manipulated variable being the reference variable indicated by the first input data; the outer-control-loop reference variable describes a target flight status of the aircraft; the outer-control-loop controlled variable describes an actual flight status of the aircraft.”
The Applicant has not specifically pointed out where the amended claim is supported, nor does there appear to be a written description of the amended claim limitation in the application filed. The amendment narrows the determination of the reference variable by determining in an outer control loop comprising a flight control device receiving an outer-control-loop reference variable and outer-control-loop controlled variable to determine an outer-control-loop manipulated variable. Additionally, the amendment narrows that the outer-control-loop reference variable describes a target flight status and the outer-control-loop controlled variable describes an actual flight status.
The specification explains that a reference variable for controlling an actuator of an aircraft is determined in an outer control loop and the outer control loop comprises a reference variable and manipulated variable. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the outer control loop comprises the references variable and manipulated variable, but does not determine the manipulated variable from the outer-control-loop controlled variable. Additionally, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the reference variable is calculated as a function of an actual flight status and target flight status, but does not describe a target flight status or actual flight status. Describing a flight status is broader than calculating a variable as a function of the flight statuses and is therefore not supported by the specification. As such, there is no indication in the specification that the invention had possession of amendments to Claim 1.
7. Claim 13 has the same limitations as Claim 1 except for they are separate independent claims but are rejected for the same reasoning.
Response to Arguments
8. Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 8-9, filed 2/20/2026, with respect to the U.S.C 103 rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The U.S.C 103 rejections of Claims 1-3, 5-11, and 13-14 has been withdrawn.
Allowable Subject Matter
9. Claims 1 and 13 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(a), set forth in this Office action.
10. Claims 2-3, 5-11, and 14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if the independent claims are rewritten or amended to overcome their own rejections.
11. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Independent Claim 1 contains allowable subject matter as the closest prior art references do not teach or render an obvious combination for the following limitations: "the reference variable is determined in an outer control loop of the control system for controlling the aircraft, the outer control loop comprising a flight control device, the flight control device receiving an outer-control-loop reference variable and an outer-control-loop controlled variable and determining therefrom an outer-control-loop manipulated variable, the outer-control-loop manipulated variable being the reference variable indicated by the first input data” and “the device provides closed-loop control of the actuating system by determining, using the reference variable and the controlled variable, the manipulated variable from the difference between the reference variable and the controlled variable, wherein the device is configured to determine the manipulated variable without considering an actual actuator position of the actuating system, and without determining a target actuator position of the actuating system.”
Independent Claim 13 contains allowable subject matter as the closest prior art references do not teach or render an obvious combination for the following limitations: " the reference variable is determined by the flight control device, the flight control device receiving an outer-control-loop reference variable describing a target flight status of the aircraft and an outer-control-loop controlled variable describing an actual flight status of the aircraft, and determining from the outer-control-loop reference variable and the outer-control-loop controlled variable an outer-control-loop manipulated variable as the reference variable indicated by the first input data” and “determining a manipulated variable for an actuating system of the aircraft taking into account the reference variable and the controlled variable from the difference between the reference value and the controlled variable without considering an actual actuator position of the actuating system, and without determining a target actuator position of the actuating system.”
Conclusion
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL T SILVA whose telephone number is (571)272-6506. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Tues: 7AM - 4:30PM ET; Wed-Thurs: 7AM-6PM ET; Fri: OFF.
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/MICHAEL T SILVA/Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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