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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on March 30, 2026 has been entered.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 49-51 and 59-62 remain allowed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “fluidic switch comprising a piston; a bobbin within which the piston can slide; an input port and output port pair arranged at a first end of the bobbin and, the input port and output port arranged on a radial side of the bobbin; an electromagnetic coil around at least a portion of the bobbin for sliding the piston within the bobbin toward and away from the first end of the bobbin; and a magnet arranged at the first end of the bobbin to retain the piston at the first end of the bobbin when no power is applied to the electromagnetic coil, wherein when the piston is retained at the first end of the bobbin fluid flow between the input port and the output port is blocked and when the piston is located away from the first end of the bobbin, fluid can flow between the input port and the output port passing through at least a portion of the bobbin” in claim 63 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
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 of carrying out his invention.
Claims 63-69 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.
New claim 63 recites, in part, “a piston; a bobbin within which the piston can slide; an input port and output port pair arranged at a first end of the bobbin and, the input port and output port arranged on a radial side of the bobbin; an electromagnetic coil around at least a portion of the bobbin for sliding the piston within the bobbin toward and away from the first end of the bobbin; and a magnet arranged at the first end of the bobbin to retain the piston at the first end of the bobbin when no power is applied to the electromagnetic coil, wherein when the piston is retained at the first end of the bobbin fluid flow between the input port and the output port is blocked and when the piston is located away from the first end of the bobbin, fluid can flow between the input port and the output port passing through at least a portion of the bobbin.” The application, as originally filed, does not reasonably convey possession of this combination of claim features. The only figures with radial ports are Figs. 21A and 21B. These figures do not show a distinct bobbin and there is no discussion of a bobbin in paragraphs [00113] or [00114]. Even if a bobbin was placed in the unnumbered structure that surrounds coils 2110 and 2120, the fluid flow between the input port and the output port would not pass through at least a portion of the bobbin.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 63-69 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Eric Keasel whose telephone number is (571) 272-4929. The examiner works a part-time schedule and can normally be reached on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors, Kenneth Rinehart and Craig Schneider can be reached on 571-272-4881 and 571-272-3607, respectively. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC KEASEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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