DETAILED ACTION
The following is a response to the amendment filed 12/9/2025 which has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1-14 are pending in the application.
-The drawing objection has been withdrawn due to applicant submitting replacement drawings accordingly which have been approved.
-The specification objection has been withdrawn due to applicant amending the abstract and content of specification accordingly.
-The 112(b) rejection has been withdrawn due to applicant amending claims 1 and 6 accordingly.
Note: Upon further consideration during follow up examination for allowance of application, the examiner came across other issues that need to be addressed that were missed during initial examination.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: Ro1: design pitch circle radius of inner tooth gear and ro1: design rolling circle radius of inner tooth gear. 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. 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 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 1-14 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.
-Claim 1 recites the limitation "the theoretical value" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
-Claim 6 recites the limitation "the theoretical rolling circle radius" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
-Claim 4 recites the limitation "the theoretical eccentric amount (e)" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim due to this limitation not being recited (introduced) in claim 1.
-Claim 9 recites the limitation "the theoretical eccentric amount (e)" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim due to this limitation not being recited (introduced) in claim 6.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention lacks patentable utility. MPEP 2106.04(a)(2), section III describes that: “the courts consider a mental process (thinking) that "can be performed in the human mind, or by a human using a pen and paper" to be an abstract idea.” The original and amended limitations of claims 1 and 6 seem to be written in an “abstract idea” form in which the claims recite limitations that can practically be performed in the human mind, with or without the use of a physical aid such as pen and paper, the limitations fall within the mental processes grouping, and the claims seem to recite an abstract idea. Please review the section of the MPEP indicated above and respond accordingly via amendment and/or rebuttal (examiner recommends applicant further review section I. Mathematical Concepts in case applicant chooses to amend claims 1 and 6 with equations described in original specification to overcome rejection).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 are still allowed via prior art purposes. Reasons for allowance will not be provided at this time due to the 112(b) and 101 rejections above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
-JP 2014037851 (IDS cited art) has been reviewed again and found to be more pertinent to applicant’s disclosure than examiner initially thought (per use as “inventive step” prior art in PCT office action). JP discloses a cycloid design method and shows that it is well known in the art to add backlash value (m) to an inner tooth gear theoretical pitch circle (122) to obtain a rolling circle radius of tooth gear larger than the theoretical pitch circle radius (page 8, lines 26-30 in machine translation). JP, however, still lacks the limitations pertaining to forming design pitch circle and subtracting/adding predetermined backlash as recited in claims 1 and 6.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TISHA D LEWIS whose telephone number is (571)272-7093. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 8:30am to 5:00pm.
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Tdl
/TISHA D LEWIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619 February 27, 2026