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 .
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 1, 2 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Haustein et al. (US 2017/0335910).
Regarding claim 1, Haustein discloses an actuator assembly for a vehicle brake (see Abstract, FIGS. 1-3), comprising a carrier assembly (2, 7) (see also, annotated FIG. 1, below, element (A)), which comprises a first transmission plate (7) and a second transmission plate (A) (see Annotated FIG. 1, below), wherein the two transmission plates are connected to one another via a carrier component (2), are mounted in an actuator housing (1) and carry a transmission unit (5, 20), wherein the first transmission plate has a fastening interface (10) for an electric motor (4) (see ¶ 0027) and is mounted in an elastically damped manner on the carrier component (via (9)) (see, ¶ 0036), wherein at least one elastic arm (9) is formed on the first transmission plate (see FIG. 3), and the first transmission plate is coupled to the carrier component via the at least one elastic arm (see FIG. 4, ¶ 0036), and the second transmission plate is rigidly coupled to the carrier component (see Annotated FIG. 2, below; element (5) is coupled to carrier component (2) without any intervening damping members).
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Regarding claim 2, Haustein discloses that at least one bearing journal (25) for a gear wheel is arranged on the carrier component (see FIG. 2), and the first transmission plate and the carrier component and/or the second transmission plate and the carrier component are aligned with respect to one another, by the at least one bearing journal (see FIG. 2).
Regarding claim 10, Haustein discloses that an electric motor (4) is fastened to the first transmission plate (see ¶ 0030; FIG. 2), and the first transmission plate is mounted elastically in the actuator housing (see ¶ 0036; FIG. 4).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 20-Apr-2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding independent claim 1, Applicant argues that “[t]he holding frame 7 includes damping or spring elements (e.g., spring tongues 9) that act between the holding frame and the housing cover, not between a transmission plate and a carrier component” (see Amendment, page 7). Element (7) of Haustein, however, corresponds to the claimed first transmission plate because it has a fastening interface for an electric motor and element (2) of Haustein corresponds to the carrier component because it is connected to the first transmission plate (7) and the second transmission plate (A) (see Annotated FIG. 1, above).
Applicant further argues that “Haustein does not disclose a second transmission plate that is rigidly coupled to a carrier component” (see Amendment, page 7). Element (A) (see Annotated FIG. 1, above) is relied upon as disclosing a second transmission plate rigidly coupled to a carrier component.
Applicant further argues that “[n]or does Haustein disclose or suggest a structure in which two transmission plates are connected to one another through a carrier component to provide different compliance characteristics for motor-side vibration damping and brake-side reaction force transmission” (see Amendment, pages 7-8). The claims, however, do not recite this subject matter.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-19 are allowed.
Claims 6-9 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
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 NICHOLAS J LANE whose telephone number is (571)270-5988. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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, Robert Siconolfi can be reached at (571)272-7124. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NICHOLAS J LANE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616
May 16, 2026
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