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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 13–15 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.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 26 May 2026. These drawings are acceptable.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
On p. 18, l. 5 of the submitted specification, “pump housing 18” should be “pump housing 12.”
The use of the term “Kapton MT,” which is a trade name or a mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, ℠, or ® following the term.
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks.
Claim Objections
Claims 13–15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
The last two lines of claim 13 should be amended to recite “at least one of the first heat capturing plate portion and the second heat capturing plate portion” to comport with the limitation language earlier in the claims.
Claims 14 and 15 are objected to due to dependency upon an objected-to claim.
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.
Claims 13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the Simpson Strong-Tie NPL (provided by the Office).
Comment: The Simpson Strong-Tie Amazon page provides a “Date First Available” of “April 20, 2012.”
Claim 13: The Simpson Strong-Tie NPL discloses a heat conducting plate assembly (see the figure) for use in a heating system component of a conveyor pump (understood as intended use, see MPEP §2111.02.II.), the heat conducting plate assembly comprises:
a first heat capturing plate portion (e.g. the left plate of the structure as depicted) that is configured to be thermally coupled to a heating unit of a conveyor pump (said portion is capable of being thermally coupled as claimed, e.g. via a clamp or adhesive);
a second heat capturing plate portion (e.g. the right plate of the structure is depicted) that is configured to be thermally coupled to a medium leading section of a carrier unit of a conveyor pump (said portion is capable of being thermally coupled as claimed, e.g. via a clamp or adhesive);
a first heat releasing plate portion (e.g. the top portion of the left plate);
a second heat releasing plate portion (e.g. the top portion of the right plate);
at least one recess that extends between the first heat releasing plate portion and the second heat releasing plate portion (the gap between the top portions of each of the left and right plates); and
a positioning portion (see the hook-like portion projecting out of the right plate) which projects out of a plane defined by at least one of the first heat capturing portion and the second heat capturing portion.
Comment: Claim 13 is broad because the term “portion” is able to be ascribed to any cohesive area of a structure. Furthermore, Applicant discloses a “recess” as like a hole, whereas the term “recess” ordinarily means something like a groove or blind hole. Should Applicant choose to amend the claim, Applicant should understand that it understands the term “recess” to read on all of at least holes, aperture, gaps, grooves, and blind holes.
Claim 15: The Simpson Strong-Tie NPL discloses that the second heat capturing plate portion has at least a curved portion having a radius R (formed where the left and right plates meet, the portion itself of which can be ascribed to the second heat capturing plate portion on the right side as described for the rejection of claim 13), and wherein a recess (the gap between the top portions of the left and right plates)) extends at least substantially coaxial to the curved portion of the second heat capturing plate portion.
Comment: The Office understands “extends at least substantially coaxial to the curved portion” to mean that the extension substantially shares an axis around which the curved portion is formed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1–4, 6–12, and 16 are allowed.
Claim 14 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding dependent claim 14, although the Simpson Strong-Tie NPL discloses other recesses that extend transverse to the curved portion of the second heat capturing plate portion, these recesses are not also between the first and second heat releasing plate portions as required by claim 13.
Regarding claim 16, although the Simpson Strong-Tie NPL shows first and second heat releasing plate portions that are fully separated from each other by a recess, it does not disclose anything that can fairly be considered a second recess that extends partially between the plate portions and is joined with the first recess to form a single continuously extending recess.
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 John J. Norton whose telephone number is (571)272-5174. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edward (Ned) F. Landrum 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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/JOHN J NORTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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