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 with traverse of Group I (Claims 14-15) in the reply filed on 12/2/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the restriction is allegedly improper under MPEP 1893.03(d), specifically, under unity-based restriction requirements. The Examiner respectfully notes that the prior restriction requirement contained an inadvertent omission. Therefore, to further elaborate/provide clarification to address Applicant’s traversal, Groups I - XI lack unity of invention because even though the inventions of these groups require the technical feature of Claim 1, this technical feature is not a special technical feature as it does not make a contribution over the prior art in view of US4720248A which discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1(as discussed in the prior restriction requirement and also below). To summarize, the common technical feature for/between each group is Claim 1, this technical feature not being a special technical feature due to not making a contribution over the prior art, therefore Groups I-XI lack unity of invention. The restriction requirement is therefore still deemed proper with Claims 16-30 withdrawn from further examination.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Para 8 references claim 1 which is canceled. References to any/all claim numbers in the specification should be removed.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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.
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dernedde et al. (US 4,720,248 A) hereinafter referred to as Dernedde.
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Regarding Claim 15, Dernedde discloses a pump arrangement (see figure 1 also reproduced/annotated above, comprising,
a pump housing (1a, figure 1);
a motor housing (2a, figure 1); and
a coupling unit (see annotated figure 1) configured to connect the pump housing and the motor housing to each other (see annotated figure 1),
wherein the coupling unit includes at least one thermal conduction barrier (thermal barrier 5, figure 1).
Regarding Claim 16, Dernedde discloses that the at least one thermal conduction barrier includes at least one thermal conduction barrier between the pump housing and the motor housing at all axial sections of the coupling unit (see thermal barrier 5 covering all axial/vertical sections of the coupling unit, figure 1).
Internet/E-mail Communication
In order to permit communication regarding the instant application via email, Applicant is invited to file form PTO/SB/439 (Authorization for Internet Communications) or include the following statement in a filed document or remarks of a filed response (see MPEP 502.03 Il): Recognizing that Internet communications are not secure, I hereby authorize the USPTO to communicate with the undersigned and practitioners in accordance with 37 CFR 1.33 and 37 CFR 1.34 concerning any subject matter of this application by video conferencing, instant messaging, or electronic mail. I understand that a copy of these communications will be made of record in the application file. If such authorization is provided, please include an email address in the remarks of a filed response. The examiner’s e-mail address is sabbir.hasan@uspto.gov.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 6634854 B1 discloses a pump unit with an integrated heat barrier (see 15, figure 1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sabbir Hasan whose telephone number is (571)270-7651. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 11am-7pm.
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, Nathaniel Wiehe can be reached at 571- 272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Sabbir Hasan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745