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 . This Office Action is responsive to the Applicant's communication filed July 13, 2026. In view of this communication and the amendment concurrently filed: claims 1-6 were previously pending; no claims were cancelled and no claims were added by amendment; and thus, claims 1-6 are now pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed July 13, 2026 have been fully considered.
The Applicant's first point (page 4-9 of Remarks) amends claim 1 to include the limitation, “the refrigerant supply hole configured to extend in a circumferential direction around the shaft.” This limitation overcomes the current grounds of rejection and is deemed to contain allowable material. However, the newly added limitation contains subject matter not supported by the disclosure of the present invention. More detail on allowability and new subject matter is provided below.
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.
Claim 1 is 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 1 was amended to include limitation, “the refrigerant supply hole configured to extend in a circumferential direction around the shaft” this limitation is found by the examiner to have new material not previously prevented in the application. The present application has been found to contain sources of, “a circumferential length of the refrigerant supply hole 31 as L2”[0026], but no indication of the refrigerant supply hole 31 extending in the circumferential direction. Stating that the refrigerant supply hole 31 has a circumferential dimension L2 does not teach the refrigerant supply hole 31 “to extend in a circumferential direction around the shaft”.
The Applicant has not pointed out where the new (or amended) claim is supported, nor does there appear to be a written description of the claim limitation ‘the refrigerant supply hole configured to extend in a circumferential direction around the shaft’ in the application as filed. See Hyatt v. Dudas, 492 F.3d 1365, 1370, 83 USPQ2d 1373, 1376 (Fed. Cir. 2007) or [MPEP] § 2163.04.
Claims 2-6 are rejected solely for being dependent to claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 are allowed.
The following is an examiner' s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding Claim 1: The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowance:
The prior art teaches:
A rotor, the rotor comprising :
a rotor core;
a shaft that is hollow and that supports the rotor; and
an end plate that is disposed on an end of the rotor in a rotational axis direction, and that forms a passage through which a refrigerant flows, between the end plate and the rotor core, wherein the end plate includes a plurality of ribs that come into contact with the shaft, the passage includes a refrigerant entry portion that is provided between the plurality of ribs and the shaft, and a refrigerant exit portion that communicatively connects the refrigerant entry portion to an outer peripheral surface of the end plate, wherein the refrigerant entry portion abuts an outer circumference of the shaft;
the shaft has a refrigerant supply hole perpendicular to the shaft and the refrigerant entry portion and directly connecting the refrigerant entry portion to an internal portion of the shaft, the refrigerant supply hole configured to supply refrigerant to the refrigerant exit portion about the outer circumference of the shaft via the refrigerant entry portion, and
a circumferential length of the refrigerant entry portion along an innermost diameter is larger than a circumferential length of the refrigerant supply hole.
However, the prior art does not teach: the refrigerant supply hole configured to extend in a circumferential direction around the shaft (The underlined is allowable subject matter.)
Claim 1 is allowed, and not rejected, because the limitation of the refrigerant supply hole configured to extend in a circumferential direction around the shaft is too specific which makes it novel.
Claims 2-6 are also allowed because they depend from allowed claims 1.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
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 NICHOLAS L SETZER whose telephone number is (571)272-3021. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm EST.
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/N.L.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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