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 .
An amendment was filed by the applicant on December 12, 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Losev et al. (US 11,433,973) in view of Cooper (US 10,479,449).
Losev et al. discloses an inflatable motor boat, as shown in Figures 1-18, which is comprised of an inflatable boat with a hull, defined as Part #1, having an inflatable bottom, defined as Part #2, a tunnel in said inflatable bottom, defined as Part #3, with an upper inclined surface or cover and a pair of side walls, each defined as Part #13, that forms a channel, a stern section, defined as Part #4, and a transom, defined as Part #5, for mounting an outboard motor with a propeller, or an water jet engine with a water jet inlet, which is not shown, as shown in Figures 1-7. Water flow at an outlet of said tunnel is directed at an upward angle and enters a propeller of an outboard engine, which is not shown, such that a water flow motion vector at said outlet of said tunnel passes through an axis of rotation of said propeller, as described in lines 23-29 of column 9.
Losev et al., as set forth above, discloses all of the features claimed except for the use of an inflatable boat with a drop-stitch inflatable bottom having a cutout.
Cooper discloses an inflatable watercraft, as shown in Figures 1-9, which includes a hull, defined as Part #12, which can be constructed from an inflatable bottom member, defined as Part #28, and an inflatable top member, defined as Part #36, each having a bow, defined as Part #14, and a stern, defined as Part #16. A mounting bracket, defined as Part #24, for an outboard motor, defined as Part #26, with a propeller is provided on said hull, as shown in Figure 1. Said inflatable bottom member is constructed from drop-stitch material, defined as Part #78, with a plurality of drop-stitch threads, each defined as Part #80, that extend between a top sheet, defined as Part #82, and a bottom sheet, defined as Part #84, of composite fabric, as shown in Figure 9. Said inflatable bottom member includes an open space or cutout, defined as Part #48, near said stern, as shown in Figure 2. The drop-stitch construction of said inflatable bottom member allows for inflation to a much higher pressure, in the range of 10 to 30 PSI, as described in lines 47-49 of column 7, to provide increased stiffness to said hull of said inflatable watercraft.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art, to utilize an inflatable boat with an inflatable bottom member constructed from drop-stitch material with an open space or cutout, as taught by Cooper, in combination with the inflatable boat as disclosed by Losev et al. for the purpose of providing an inflatable boat with an inflatable bottom member made from drop-stitch material and having a cutout for a tunnel to allow for the inflation of said inflatable bottom member to higher pressures for increased stiffness.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on December 12, 2025 regarding claims 1-4 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues that neither Losev et al. (US 11,433,973) nor Cooper (US 10,479,449) disclose an inflatable boat with an inflatable bottom constructed from drop-stitch material and having a cutout near a stern of said boat, or a cover over said cutout.
In response to the applicant’s argument, Losev et al. discloses an inflatable motor boat which is comprised of an inflatable boat with a hull (1) having an inflatable bottom (2), a tunnel (3) in said inflatable bottom with an upper inclined surface or cover and a pair of side walls (13) that forms a channel, a stern section (4), and a transom (5). However, Losev et al. does not disclose the use of an inflatable bottom member that is constructed from drop-stitch material and includes a cutout near a stern of said inflatable bottom member. As a result, the examiner has relied upon the teachings of Cooper to demonstrate that the use of an inflatable hull with an inflatable bottom member that is attachable to an inflatable top member is known in the art. Said inflatable bottom member is shown to be constructed from drop-stitch material and includes a cutout (48) located near a stern of said inflatable bottom member. The drop-stitch construction of said inflatable bottom member allows for inflation to a much higher pressure, in the range of 10 to 30 PSI, to provide increased stiffness to a hull of an inflatable watercraft. Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art, to utilize an inflatable bottom member that is constructed from drop-stitch material and includes a cutout, as taught by Cooper, in combination with the inflatable boat with a tunnel having an upper surface or cover as disclosed by Losev et al. for the purpose of providing an inflatable boat with means to allow for the inflation of an inflatable bottom member to higher pressures for increased stiffness. Therefore, for the reasons given above, the rejection of claims 1-4 is deemed proper and is not withdrawn.
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.
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December 31, 2025
/LARS A OLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615