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 January 23, 2026.
Claims 16-19 have been added.
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 1-2, 4-8 and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Frejaville et al. (US 9,032,894) in view of Liu et al. (CN 109353455A).
Frejaville et al. discloses an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), as shown in Figures 1-5, which is comprised of a vehicle, defined as Part #1, with a main body, defined as Part #3, having a back or aft end, defined as Part #3a, a front or forward end, defined as Part #3b, and an outer surface, defined as Part #3c, a sonar detection unit, defined as Part #6, for guiding said vehicle toward a lifting cable, defined as Part #2, and a front or forward gripper or pincer member with first and second grippers or pincers, defined as Parts #9a-b, that are disposed on opposites sides of a longitudinal centerline of said vehicle, as shown in Figure 2, and are configured to move between an open position, as shown in Figure 2, and a closed position, as shown in Figure 1. Said sonar detection unit is configured to send signals to an electronic control unit, which is not shown, in order to direct and guide said vehicle and said pair of grippers or pincers into engagement with said cable, as described in lines 35-41 of column 4, so that a recovery device on a surface craft, which is also not shown, can lift said vehicle by means of said cable.
Frejaville et al., as set forth above, discloses all of the features claimed except for the use of a back or aft gripper or pincer member with first and second grippers or pincers on an aft end of said vehicle for engaging with a second cable of a recovery device.
Liu et al. discloses an automatic launching and retrieval device and method for underwater carriers, as shown in Figures 1-8, which is comprised of an underwater carrier or vehicle, defined as Part #6, with a hull having a forward end and an aft end, and a hook or pincer member with first and second hooks or pincers, defined as Parts #25 and 26, that are disposed toward said aft end of said underwater carrier or vehicle, as shown in Figure 4. A mother ship, defined as Part #1, is fitted with a lifting crane, defined as Part #4, that is configured with a control unit and a pair of winding drums or winches, defined as Parts #21 and 22, to raise or lower a pair of lifting cables, defined as Parts #17 and 18, each with a retaining means, defined as Parts #19 and 20. Said underwater carrier or vehicle is configured to be guided automatically to said pair of lifting cables until they are brought into engagement with said back or aft hook or pincer member with first and second hooks or pincers that are disposed on either side of a longitudinal centerline of said underwater carrier or vehicle, as shown in Figure 1.
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 underwater vehicle with a pair of hook or pincer members that are disposed at an aft end of said vehicle for engagement with a pair of lifting cables of a launching and retrieval device, as taught by Liu et al., in combination with the underwater vehicle as disclosed by Frejaville et al. for the purpose of providing an AUV and a recovery method with first and second pairs of hooks, grippers or pincers for engagement with a pair of lifting cables and retaining means of a launching and retrieval device in order to solve the problem of said AUV rotating and colliding with a mother ship during a lifting process due to wind and wave motion.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-19 are allowed.
Claims 3, 9 and 14-15 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on January 23, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues that it would not be obvious to utilize an underwater vehicle with a pair of aft hooks or grippers for engagement with first and second aft cables, as taught by Liu et al. (CN 109353455A), in combination with the autonomous underwater vehicle with a pair of forward grippers or pincers for engagement with a forward lifting cable as disclosed by Frejaville et al. (US 9,032,894).
In response to the applicant’s argument, Frejaville et al. discloses an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)(1) with a main body (3) having an aft end (3a), a forward end (3b), and an outer surface (3c), a sonar detection unit (6) for guiding said AUV (1) toward a lifting cable (2), and a front or forward gripper or pincer member with first and second grippers or pincers (9a-b) that are disposed on opposites sides of a longitudinal centerline of said vehicle and are configured to move between an open position and a closed position. Said sonar detection unit is configured to direct and guide said AUV (1) and said pair of forward grippers or pincers (9a-b) into engagement with said lifting cable (2) so that a recovery device on a surface craft can lift said AUV (1) by means of said lifting cable (2). However, Frejaville et al. does not disclose the use of aft grippers or pincer members for engagement with an aft lifting cable. As a result, the examiner has relied upon the teachings of Liu et al. to demonstrate that the use of an underwater vehicle (6) with a hull having a forward end and an aft end, and a hook or pincer member with first and second hooks or pincers (25, 26) that are disposed toward said aft end of said underwater vehicle (6) is known in the art for engagement with one or more aft lifting cables (17, 18). 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 underwater vehicle with forward and aft grippers or pincer members for engagement with forward and aft lifting cables in order to solve the problem of said underwater vehicle rotating and colliding with a mother ship during a lifting process due to wind and wave motion. Therefore, for the reasons given above, the rejection of claims 1-2, 4-8 and 10-13 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LARS A OLSON whose telephone number is (571) 272-6685. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 8:00am - 4:00pm.
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February 9, 2026
/LARS A OLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615B