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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muller (US 20100190392 A1) in view of Vanhee (US 20230093220 A1)
Regarding Claim 1, Muller discloses an electromotive sail drive comprising: a drive unit (Element P); an electromotive motor that is configured to drive the drive unit; and a pump (Element 1) that is configured to circulate, via the electromotive motor, a lubricant oil inside the drive unit (Element 3) wherein the electromotive motor has a motor cool oil path configured to enable flow of the lubricant oil. (Element F). Muller does not explicitly disclose wherein the cool oil path is inside the electric motor.
Vanhee discloses disclose wherein the cool oil path is inside the electric motor (paragraph 16) with and a pump (Element 116) that is configured to circulate, via the electromotive motor, a lubricant oil inside the drive unit. It would have been obvious at the time of filing for a person of ordinary skill in the marine art to add the oil path inside the electromotive motive and the pump of Vanhee to the drive unit of Muller which can be accomplished with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify Muller, as disclosed by Vanhee paragraph 5, is the motor's cooling arrangement may exhibit greater compactness than previous motor cooling systems.
Regarding Claim 12, Muller in view of Vanhee discloses an ship comprising the electromotive sail drive according to claim 1. (paragraph 001)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 3, 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muller (US 20100190392 A1) in view of Vanhee in view of Sewell (US 20220315174 A1)
Regarding Claim 3, Muller in view of Vanhee disclose the electromotive sail drive according to claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose further comprising: a motor control unit configured to control the electromotive motor, and wherein the pump is configured to circulate the lubricant oil via the motor control unit.
Sewell discloses an electromotive sail drive further comprising: a motor control unit configured to control the electromotive motor, and wherein the coolant is circulated the lubricant oil via the motor control unit. (paragraph 64) It would have been obvious at the time of filing for a person of ordinary skill in the marine art to use the oil system of Muller to also circulate oil to a motor controller which can be accomplished with a reasonable expectation of success. The motivation to modify Muller is that the motor controller also generates heat that needs dissipating. (Sewell, paragraph 56)
Regarding Claim 5, Muller in view of Vanhee in view of Sewell discloses electromotive sail drive according to claim 3, wherein the motor control unit includes: an inverter that is configured to supply power to the electromotive motor; and a controller that is configured to control the inverter. (Sewell, paragraph 57)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3 August 2026 have been fully considered but does not apply to the combination of references.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-19, 6 are allowed.
Claims 4, 7-11 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW POLAY whose telephone number is (408)918-9746. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 Pacific.
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/ANDREW POLAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615 24 Sept 2026
