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 .
The amendment filed December 12, 2025 has been entered.
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.
(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 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.
Claims 15-17 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by He (CN 103192612; paragraph references to attached English language translation) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over He in view of Gatenholm (US 2018/0326665).
Claim 15: He discloses a field control system for controllably delivering magnetic fields to a ferrofluid (¶ 3). The system includes a reversibly hardenable ferrofluid (¶ 46), a magnetic field chamber (¶¶ 61-63; fig. 2), a processor and memory communicably coupled to the processor and storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to: receive an input from a user for the reversibly hardenable ferrofluid, the input being for a novel object (¶¶ 59-60); provide a magnetic field to the reversibly hardenable ferrofluid in the magnetic field chamber (¶¶ 59-60); and harden the reversibly hardenable ferrofluid in a shaped form corresponding to the novel object, the shaped form being removable from and usable outside of the magnetic field chamber (¶¶ 59-60, 85-87, 103). The deposition stage (1) and magnetic poles (2) together form at least a partial chamber including a defined region in which the ferrofluid is subjected to a magnetic field. Alternatively, if He’s disclosure is determined to not include a chamber, Gatenholm discloses a chamber for 3D printers (abstract). As taught by Gatenholm, an airtight chamber provides a clean environment for 3D printing (abstract). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to have included the chamber of Gatenholm in the system including the magnetic field of He to provide a magnetic field chamber for clean printing.
Claim 16: Gatenholm discloses a plurality of chamber walls (fig. 3), and He discloses an array of magnets positioned in connection with at least the bottom wall (deposition stage) of the partial chamber (fig. 2), a plurality of actuators positioned in connection with the magnets (¶¶ 70, 78; magnetic field generation system to switch the magnets on and off), a reservoir configured to receive and dispense a reversibly hardenable magnetic substance (¶ 64).
Claim 17: He discloses a ferrofluid and a reversible hardening agent dispersed in the ferrofluid, the reversible hardening agent being capable of repeatedly transitioning the ferrofluid between a liquid state and a solid state (¶ 9).
Claim 20: He discloses computer-controlled delivery of the reversibly hardenable ferrofluid to the magnetic field chamber from a reservoir (¶¶ 22-23).
Claim 21: He is silent as to the claimed shape. However, He teaches than any desired shape can be produced (¶ 103). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to have selected any desired shape for the object being produced depending simply on the desired design choice.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He, as applied to claim 15 above, in view of Zlokamik (US 6,594,630).
Claim 19: He is silent as to receiving voice commands. However, Zlokamik discloses a voice-activated control apparatus for receiving user voice commands (abstract.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to have included the well-established voice-recognition front end, yielding predictable benefits (hands-free operation, safety, convenience) in controlling the underlying user input.
Claims 15-17 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as anticipated by Lamprecht (US 2012/0225252).
Claim 15: Lamprecht discloses a field control system for controllably delivering magnetic fields to a ferrofluid (abstract). The system includes a reversibly hardenable ferrofluid (¶ 44), a magnetic field chamber (¶ 43; fig. 1), a processor (logic circuit 50) and memory communicably coupled to the processor and storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to: receive an input from a user for the reversibly hardenable ferrofluid, the input being for a novel object (¶¶ 57-58); provide a magnetic field to the reversibly hardenable ferrofluid in the magnetic field chamber (¶ 85); and harden the reversibly hardenable ferrofluid in a shaped form corresponding to the novel object, the shaped form being removable from and usable outside of the magnetic field chamber (¶ 89).
Claim 16: Lamprecht discloses a plurality of chamber walls (chip body 20 forming a bottom wall, a sealing lip 41 forming side walls, and a cover layer 70 or sealing cover 75 forming a top wall), and an array of micromagnets positioned in connection with at least one wall of the chamber (OCCs arranged as a pixelated electromagnet array), a plurality of actuators positioned in connection with the micromagnets (the CMOS drive circuits and current control circuitry individually actuate each OCC/micromagnet), a reservoir configured to receive and dispense a reversibly hardenable magnetic substance (the enclosure of the device, which holds the ferrofluid and from which the cured shape is released, functions as a reservoir).
Claim 17: Lamprecht discloses a ferrofluid and a reversible hardening agent dispersed in the ferrofluid, the reversible hardening agent being capable of repeatedly transitioning the ferrofluid between a liquid state and a solid state (¶ 64; UV or thermal curing polymer).
Claim 20: Lamprecht discloses computer-controlled delivery of the reversibly hardenable ferrofluid to the magnetic field chamber from a reservoir (¶ 83).
Claim 21: Lamprecht discloses the object is a mold tool for surface replication (¶ 89).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lamprecht, as applied to claim 15 above, in view of Zlokamik (US 6,594,630).
Claim 19: Lamprecht is silent as to receiving voice commands. However, Zlokamik discloses a voice-activated control apparatus for receiving user voice commands (abstract.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to have included the well-established voice-recognition front end, yielding predictable benefits (hands-free operation, safety, convenience) in controlling the underlying user input.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims 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
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 LARRY THROWER whose telephone number is (571)270-5517. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm MT M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Susan Leong can be reached at 571-270-1487. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LARRY W THROWER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1754
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