Detailed Action
The following is a non-final rejection made in response to claims received on May 10th 2023. 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 § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The claims reference “the article of manufacturing”, but cite dependency to claims (i.e. claims 1 and 2) that are directed to “a stepped trailing edge bullet”. Further amendment is required for compliance with this section.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
The claims cited in this section are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Pat. No. 4,674,706 (hereinafter referred to as “HALL” or simply as “the reference”).
Regarding claims 1, 61, and 11, Hall teaches a stepped trailing edge bullet, the stepped trailing edge bullet comprising: a body cylinder; a leading edge (3) of the stepped trailing edge bullet positioned proximate to a first end of the body cylinder; and a trailing edge of the stepped trailing edge bullet positioned proximate to a second end of the body cylinder opposite the leading edge of stepped trailing edge bullet, where more than one stepped concentric indentations are formed upon the trailing edge of the stepped trailing edge bullet (see Fig. 2 which illustrates the tail end of the projectile 1 having a series of concentric indentations that are formed along the length of the tail portion).
Regarding claims 2, 7 and 12, Hall teaches that the trailing edge of the stepped trailing edge bullet comprises a first trailing edge end located proximate to the second end of the body cylinder and a second trailing edge end tocated distal to the second end of the body cylinder, where the more than one stepped concentric indentations are formed with a descending radius from a longitudinal axis of the trailing edge beginning at the first trailing edge end (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claims 3, 8, and 13, Hall teaches that the more than one stepped concentric indentations have a greatest radius from the longitudinal axis at the first trailing edge end, decreasing to a least radius from the longitudinal axis at the second trailing edge end (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claims 4, 5, 9, 10, 14 and 15, Hall teaches that the more than one stepped concentric indentations have a linear or curvilinear descending profile along the trailing edge (the reference teaches that the tail may “form a ‘beehive’ or cone configuration”2, which is considered to coincide to both linear and/or curvilinear profiles).
Conclusion
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/Samir Abdosh/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3641
1 Claims 1 and 6 present the same structural apparatus and rely on a difference of phrasing and terminology to distinguish themselves from each other. Claim 6 is considered to be a generic presentation of the bullet embodied in claim 1.
2 See col. 4, ll. 5-9
