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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claim 7 objected to because of the following informalities:
“an opening” is recited in line 3 but the limitation is already introduced in line 1; and
“an edge” is recited in the last line while the limitation is introduced earlier in the base claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 11-19 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 11 recited the limitation “wherein the carrier body and the annular soft component define a horizontal plane that, prior to activation, is positionable above the opening” in lines 6-7. Such limitation is not supported by the original disclosure, and are considered new matter.
Claims 12-19 are rejected due to their dependency on the rejected claim 11.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see the third paragraph on page 7 of Applicant’s Reply, filed 4/13/2026, with respect to claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of 12/16/2025 has been withdrawn.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The primary reason for the allowance of the claims is the inclusion in the claims of the limitations directed to the soft component has a structure on the closing side, and wherein discharge channels are configured in the structure which extend at least in sections approximately outwardly towards an edge of the carrier body as claimed in claim 1. Such limitations, in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claims, are not disclosed or suggested by the prior art of record. There are limitations that teaches discharge channels such as JP 3311546 B2, which teaches channels 9, but they are formed by the hard component or the carrier body, not by the soft component as required by claim 2.
Regarding claim 11, Schaty (US 7870648 B2) discloses a horizontal plane formed by the carrier body 21 and soft component 1 in the right half portion of Fig. 3, but it is not prior to activation as required by the claim. Kuhm et al. (US 20160244104 A1) also teaches the same limitation with carrier body 16 and soft component 14 in the right half portion of Fig. 7, but it is again not prior to activation as required by the claim. Lastly, Sydney (FR 2507277 A1) discloses in Fig. 4 a horizontal plane formed by the carrier body 3 and the soft component 15, but also fails to disclose it is prior to activation as required by the claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references that are not relied upon all disclose closing discs with a carrier and a soft component.
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 Wenwei Zhuo whose telephone number is (571)272-5564. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivek Koppikar can be reached at (571) 272-5109. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WENWEI ZHUO/Examiner, Art Unit 3612
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