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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species IIB (claims 1-2) in the reply filed on 11/24/25 is acknowledged. Claims 3-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species (e.g., species IA-IB, IIA, IIIA-B and IV), there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/24/25.
An OA on the merits of claims 1-2 as follows:
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-2 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Since the scope of the claims 1-2 is clearly directed to” the method of manufacturing an adhesively laminated core”, therefore the preamble should be updated to the following for clarity of the claims scope.
“An adhesively-laminated core manufacturing method which is a method for manufacturing an adhesively-laminated core by punching a plurality of steel sheet parts while a strip-shaped steel sheet is fed and laminating the steel sheet parts via an adhesive, the adhesively-laminated core manufacturing method comprising:” (preamble of claim 1) has been updated to the following form:
-- A method for manufacturing an adhesively-laminated core comprising steps of:
punching a plurality of steel sheet parts from a strip-shaped steel sheet while feeding the strip-shaped steel sheet; and
laminating the steel sheet parts by an adhesive;”--, for clarity of the method claim limitation. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Since the scope of the claims clearly drawn to “a method of manufacturing an adhesively laminated core” as clearly represented in the preamble therefore the following changes to the claims were necessary to correct minor informalities with the claim language by ensuring that certain terms or phrases were recited consistently throughout all of the claims. In no way do these changes affect the scope of the claimed invention.
“a step of” (claim 1, lines 5 and 8) should be deleted to reflect changes as suggested in line 1 of the preamble above.
“before a pressing oil is applied” (claim 1, about line 6) should be updated to:-- “prior to applying a pressing oil to a surface of the curing acceleration portion”--
“to a surface” (claim 1, line 8) should be updated to :--“to the surface”--, to reflect changes as suggested above.
“The adhesively-laminated core manufacturing method according to claim 1” (see claim 2, line 1) should also be updated to: -- “The method for manufacturing an adhesively-laminated core according to claim 1”--
“wherein each of the steel sheet parts includes a first steel sheet part and a second steel sheet part, the adhesively-laminated core manufacturing method comprising:” (claim 2, line 2) should be updated to: --“wherein each of the plurality of steel sheet parts includes a first steel sheet part and a second steel sheet part; and the punching of the plurality of steel sheet parts further comprising: “ --
“a first step of” (claim 2, line 4); “a second step of” (claim 2, line 7); ”a third step of”(claim 2, line 9) should be deleted to reflect changes as suggested in base claim 1 undersection of “claim objection to above”.
Further, it is also suggested that Applicant should carefully revise their disclosure and correct other typos in the claims and/or specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-2 as best understood is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP6164029B2 hereinafter the ‘029 in view of Haraguch (JP 2006334648A).
The ‘029 discloses substantially every aspect limitation includes as adhesively-laminated core manufacturing method which is a method for manufacturing an adhesively-laminated core by punching a plurality of steel sheet parts while a strip-shaped steel sheet is fed and laminating the steel sheet parts via an adhesive, the adhesively-laminated core manufacturing method comprising:
a step of forming a curing acceleration portion by applying and drying a curing accelerator on one or both surfaces of the strip-shaped steel sheet before a pressing oil is applied (see discussed in ¶¶ [001-002] of the translation provided by applicants (IDS));
The ‘029 is in silent regarding to the step of applying the pressing oil to a surface of the curing acceleration portion. However, the Takura discloses such above (see discussion in light of the abstract under solution). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having an ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to employ the Haraguchi’s teaching as mentioned above onto invention of the ‘029 in order to facilitate the bonding and adherent process by utilizing the known and available techniques. The motivation for the combination above can be found in either reference since both reference in same endeavor field invention.
As applied to claim 2, as best under stood appears to meet by the combination teaching as set forth above since “preparing the first steel sheet part having a first surface, the curing acceleration portion formed on the first surface, and the pressing oil disposed on the surface of the curing acceleration portion” appears to be a repeat process as set forth in base claim 1, and no inventive method feature existed in claim 2 because “preparing” is not an inventive feature.
Conclusion
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/MINH N TRINH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729 mt