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 .
Specification
The Specification is objected to because of the following informalities:
The description of new figures 3A and 3B is missing in the “Brief Description of the Drawings” section
Appropriate correction is requested.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 4, 8, 10-11, 13, 17 and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Bourret et al. (US 7,841,915 B2).
Re claims 1 and 11, Bourret et al. disclose a water engagement device [110] attached to a marine vessel, comprising: a rotary actuator [196] connected to a support structure [95, 161] (see Fig 10-18) so that a longitudinal axis of the rotary actuator is disposed transversely to a longitudinal axis of the marine vessel, where the rotary actuator includes a driven shaft [202] (see Fig 9-10). In one embodiment (see col. 15, lines 7-20 and lines 25-28), the water engagement device is directly connected to the driven shaft, wherein the water engagement device has an arced blade oriented such that, when deployed, a concave surface of the arced blade faces a direction toward a direction of forward motion of the marine vessel (see Fig 12). A controller [77, 80, 147] is communicatively connected to the rotary actuator to command rotation of the driven shaft (see col. 12, lines 42-59). Further, regarding claim 11, the rotary actuator is disposed between a seal plate [95] of a support structure and an outer wall of the hull, which is broadly considered to be an actuator plate (see Fig 9).
Re claims 4 and 13, in the embodiment described on col. 15, lines 7-20 and lines 25-28, the hydrodynamic forces generated from the deployment of the water engagement device would intersect at a center of rotation of the driven shaft.
Re claims 8 and 17, the support structure is capable of being installed either above or below the water line of a marine vessel.
Re claims 10 and 19, the rotary actuator is capable of allowing, and therefore configured to enable, deployment of the water engagement device at a speed of 100 mm/s or more.
Re claim 20. the rotary actuator comprises a first actuator arm and a second actuator arm integrated to the driven shaft at a first end and at a second end respectively; and wherein the first actuator arm and the second actuator arm extend in a radial direction from the rotary actuator along a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rotary actuator (see Fig 12).
Re claim 21, in the embodiment described on col. 15, lines 7-20 and lines 25-28, the arced blade would be rotatably connected to the rotary actuator via the first actuator arm and the second actuator arm.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 22-23 are allowed.
Claims 5-7, 9, 14-16 and 18 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 4, 8, 10-11, 13, 17 and 19-21 have been considered but they are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AJAY VASUDEVA whose telephone number is (571)272-6689. The examiner can normally be reached 6:00 am - 3:00 pm.
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, Marc Jimenez can be reached at 571-272-4530. 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.
/AJAY VASUDEVA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
Prosecution Insights