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 .
Double Patenting
A rejection based on double patenting of the “same invention” type finds its support in the language of 35 U.S.C. 101 which states that “whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process... may obtain a patent therefor...” (Emphasis added). Thus, the term “same invention,” in this context, means an invention drawn to identical subject matter. See Miller v. Eagle Mfg. Co., 151 U.S. 186 (1894); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Ockert, 245 F.2d 467, 114 USPQ 330 (CCPA 1957).
A statutory type (35 U.S.C. 101) double patenting rejection can be overcome by canceling or amending the claims that are directed to the same invention so they are no longer coextensive in scope. The filing of a terminal disclaimer cannot overcome a double patenting rejection based upon 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as claiming the same invention as that of claim 14 of prior U.S. Patent No. 11,750,124 B2. This is a statutory double patenting rejection.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 11-20 are allowed.
Upon further consideration and in a view of the limitation, the prior art does not explicitly teach or fairly suggest alone or in combination the following:
Claims 11-20 are allowable among other elements and details, but for at least the reason, “wherein in the low-speed commutation scheme, within a present sector of the plurality of sectors, the control unit pauses commutation of the present sector, applies a first voltage pulse to the present sector and a second voltage pulse to a next sector of the plurality of sectors, detects whether a transition of the rotor from the present sector to the next sector has occurred based on motor current measurements associated with the first voltage pulse and the second voltage pulse, resumes commutation of the present sector if the transition of the rotor from the present sector to the next sector is not detected, and starts commutation the next cycle if the transition of the rotor from the present sector to the next sector is detected.”
Claims 2-10 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. Claims 2-10 depend on claim 1, which is allowable for reason “the control unit being configured to compare amplitudes of motor current measurements and detect the transition from the present sector to the next sector when the current measurement associated with one of the first plurality of voltage pulses has a larger amplitude than the current measurement associated with a corresponding one of the second plurality of voltage pulses.”
Conclusion
(No prior art rejection has been made for claim 1. Claim 1 has only been rejected under Double patenting as indicated above)
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Mackay (US 20070069677 A1) disclose commutation based on back emf and sector change.
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/BICKEY DHAKAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896