DETAILED ACTION
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 16 January 2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. Patent No. 11,633,775 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 16 January 2026 is acknowledged.
Election/Restrictions
Claim 8 is allowable, and so the restriction between Species A-B as set forth in the Office action mailed on 25 April 2025 has been reconsidered pursuant to MPEP § 821.04(a) and is hereby withdrawn due to the amendment of withdrawn species claims to depend from claim 8.
In view of the above noted withdrawal of the restriction requirement, applicant is advised that if any claim presented in a divisional application is anticipated by, or includes all the limitations of, a claim that is allowable in the present application, such claim may be subject to provisional statutory and/or nonstatutory double patenting rejections over the claims of the instant application.
Once a restriction requirement is withdrawn, the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 121 are no longer applicable. See In re Ziegler, 443 F.2d 1211, 1215, 170 USPQ 129, 131-32 (CCPA 1971). See also MPEP § 804.01.
Allowable Subject Matter
The pending claims would be considered allowable upon addressing the 35 U.S.C. 112 issues set forth below, in particular for the reasons set forth at Pages 3-4 of the Office action issued 16 October 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. In particular:
While the specification provides for an output member rotatable “in response to rotation of an input member” configured to receive rotational input from a motor shaft (spec. p. 2 [0005], original claim 8, etc.), the specification as originally filed does not support the claim 27 recitation of an output member rotatable “in response to rotation of” the motor shaft itself.
Absent persuasive argument contesting this issue, appropriate correction by amendment is required.
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.
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. In particular:
Since antecedent basis is not clearly conveyed, it is unclear at lines 9 and 11 of claim 27 exactly what the recited gear ratios are provided between. If these gear ratios are provided between previously recited components, then a fully supported amendment should be made identifying these components explicitly after each instance of “gear ratio”. If these gear ratios are provided between one or more components that are not recited but are essential therefor, then these one or more unrecited components must be added to the claim.
Absent persuasive argument contesting this issue, appropriate correction by amendment is required.
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 Atul P. Khare whose telephone number is (571)270-7608. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-6pm.
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/Atul P. Khare/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742