Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed February 9, 2026in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on February 2, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 5 recites the limitations, “the preloading element [is in abutting contact with the friction disk] and provides axial preload on the friction disk indirectly via the holding element.” Applicant has not pointed out where this combination of limitations supported, nor does there appear to be a written description of this combination of limitations in the application as originally filed.
Claim 6 recites the limitations, “a rotational securing contour is formed on the friction ring, and a rotational securing contour is formed on the holding element, each of said contours corresponding to one another and providing a connection for conjoint rotation under axial preload [and the preloading element is in abutting contact with the friction disk].” Applicant has not pointed out where this combination of limitations supported, nor does there appear to be a written description of this combination of limitations in the application as originally filed.
Claim 9 is 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 9 recites the limitation "the rotational securing contour". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because neither such contour is previously identified as “the rotational securing contour”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3-4 & 10 are allowed.
Conclusion
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/Greg Binda/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3679
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