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 .
Response to Amendment
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The response filed on July 30, 2026 is acknowledged.
The response filed on July 30, 2026 fails to indicate whether newly added claim 20 is readable on the elected invention as required by paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Election/Restriction Requirement mailed on January 13, 2026. In the interest on compact prosecution, newly added claim 20 has been presumed to be readable on the election invention. Applicant is required to affirm this presumption in the next response. Future responses failing to comply with the Election/Restriction Requirement mailed on January 13, 2026 will be held non-responsive.
The response filed on July 30, 2026 fails to properly indicate the changes to the claims. 37 CFR 1.121(c). Claim 20 shows a claim status identifier: New. Yet, the claim shows strike through (indicating deleted text) and underlining (showing added text). A newly added claim cannot have deleted text or added text. The listing of the claims fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.121(c). In the interest of compact prosecution, the strike through text has been omitted from consideration in this Office action. The underlined text has been considered as original text in this Office action. Future amendments failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.121(c) will be held non-responsive.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention III in the reply filed on January 18, 2026 is acknowledged.
Applicant elected with traverse Species D (figure 9) in the reply filed on January 18, 206. The traversal was on the ground(s) that claims 11-19 are generic to Species C and Species D and that Species C and Species D are obvious variants of each other. This was found persuasive and the election requirement between Species C and Species D was withdrawn. The election requirement between Species A, Species B and Species C/D remained in effect.
The requirement among Species A, Species B and Species C/D was made FINAL in the Office action mailed on February 23, 2026.
Priority
The current application claims priority to Provisional Application Number 63/345,075. Claims 11-19 are not entitled to the benefit of the earlier filing date of Provisional Application Number 63/345,075 because the provisional application does not support/disclose the currently claimed subject matter of claims 11-19.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 11, 14-19 and 20 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.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “a donut shaped face” in line 6. Donuts come in a variety of shapes. Donuts are not limited to any shape. Donuts can be made into any limitless shape. Donuts are made with a hole in the middle, with no hole in the middle, into a Q shape, into a ball shape, into an elongated shape, just to name a few. Therefore, it is uncertain what shape is limited by the recited “donut shaped.”
Claim 11 recites the limitation “wherein each of the individual loops converge at the center of the donut shaped face” in lines 7-8. The recitation is grammatically incorrect.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the center" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 16 recites the limitation "the donut shape" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 16 recites the limitation “pass perpendicularly through the donut shape” in line 3. The claim fails to define a reference to determine “perpendicularly.”
Claim 20 recites the limitation “heat-resistant” in line 2. The determination of what constitutes “heat-resistant” is subjective. What one of ordinary skill in the art would consider “heat-resistant” may not be considered “heat-resistant” by another of ordinary skill in the art. The claim fails to provide an objective standard to determine “head-resistant.”
Applicant should not misconstrue the lack of art rejection as an indication of allowable subject matter.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 11, 14-19 and 20 have been considered but are moot based on the new grounds of rejections.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 CHRISTOPHER S KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4905. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-3:30.
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, Arthur O Hall can be reached at (571) 270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER S KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752 CHRISTOPHER S. KIM
Examiner
Art Unit 3752
CK
