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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 9, 2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 (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 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 95 and 100 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Briscoe (USP 7,171,771).
Regarding claim 95: Briscoe discloses a wear member assembly for attaching to a support structure of earth working equipment (as seen in figures 1-16) comprising:
a wear member assembly (as seen in figures 1, 12 and 13) for attaching to a support structure of earth working equipment (as seen in figures 12 and 13, at 76) comprising:
a wear member (as seen in figure 12, at 17) comprising a body having a first end, an opposite second end that incorporates a cavity configured to receive the support structure, and a locking hole (as seen in annotated figure below) extending in the body along a locking hole axis to the cavity;
a lock (as seen in figure 12, generally 10a) movable within the locking hole, the lock comprising a lock body having a first end region (as seen in annotated figure below) for engaging with the support structure to secure the wear member with the support structure, and a retaining arrangement (as seen in figure 8, at 58, 62, 63) operative to resist movement of the lock in the wear member under loading in a direction of the hole axis, the retaining arrangement comprising a plurality of retainers (as seen in figure 4, at 58) angularly spaced apart about the lock hole axis when the lock body is in a locked position.
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Regarding claim 100: Briscoe discloses a wear member (as seen in figures 1-16) for attaching to a support structure of earth working equipment (as seen in figures 12 and 13, at 76), the wear member comprising:
a body (as seen in figure 12, at 17) comprising a first end, an opposite second end that incorporates a cavity configured to receive the support structure (as seen in annotated figure above), and a locking hole having a locking hole axis (as seen in annotated figure above) extending in the body to the cavity, the locking hole being arranged to receive a lock (as seen in figure 12, generally 10a) to secure the wear member to the support structure and being defined by an interior wall surface that incorporates a component of an engaging structure (as seen in figure 8, at 62, 63) arranged to engage with a complementary component of the engaging structure disposed on an exterior surface of the lock (as seen in figure 8, at 58 and 40) to form at least part of a retaining arrangement to resist movement of the lock in the wear member under loading in a direction of the hole axis, the component of the engaging structure is formed as one or more ribs (as seen in figure 7, at 66) that projects into the locking hole, the engaging structure is helical, or part helical (as seen in figure 8 and 9, “thread” portion 40,40a) and the pitch of the engaging structure promotes rotation and axial movement of the lock under loading on the lock a direction of the locking hole axis (as seen in figures 8 and 9, inherent in “threads” 40, 40a as an axial force is applied thereto).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed February 9, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claim 95: Applicant’s representative argues: “Claim 95 recites a retaining arrangement comprising "a plurality of retainers angularly spaced apart about the locking hole axis when the lock body is in a locked position." Thus, claim 95 is not satisfied by a single retainer, nor by features that are merely capable of being arranged in some unspecified way; rather, the claim requires a plurality of retainers that are "angularly spaced apart about the locking hole axis when the lock body is in a locked position." As discussed in the above rejection, the Briscoe lock device contains a plurality of teeth about is circumference, these teeth in concert with members 62 and 63 or broadly 60 (as seen in figure 7) form a “retaining arrangement” with the teeth 58 acting as “retainers” being both “a plurality” and “angularly spaced apart about the locking hole axis” (as discussed above) and therefore allow Briscoe to anticipated claim 95 as currently written.
Regarding claim 100: A newly written rejection is set forth above better pointing out how Briscoe has been applied to the claims, the structural makeup of the retaining arrangement and retainers as well as the inherent “spin” caused by Briscoe’s thread means.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 80-94, 99 and 101-104 are allowed.
Claims 96-98 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT ERIC PEZZUTO whose telephone number is (703)756-1320. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-3:30pm.
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/ROBERT E PEZZUTO/ Examiner, Art Unit 3671