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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Aitcin et al. WO 2019/123432.
Aitcin et al. discloses a snowmobile comprising: a frame 4 including a tunnel 6;
a driver seat 8 supported by the frame;
a rear suspension assembly 18connected to the frame, the rear suspension assembly being disposed at least partly beneath the tunnel;
an endless track 20 supported by the rear suspension assembly;
a motor 22 supported by the frame, the motor being operatively connected to the endless track for propulsion of the snowmobile;
a drive shaft (shaft along pulley axis 50) driven by the motor;
a driven shaft (shaft along pulley axis 54) operatively connected to the endless track; and
a continuously variable transmission (CVT) 40 operatively connecting the drive shaft to the endless track, the CVT comprising:
a drive pulley 44 mounted to the drive shaft, the drive pulley being operatively connected to the motor via the drive shaft;
a driven pulley 46 mounted to the driven shaft, the driven shaft operatively connecting the driven pulley to the endless track;
a belt 48 operatively connecting the drive pulley to the driven pulley; and
a CVT housing 58 enclosing the drive pulley, the driven pulley and the belt, the CVT housing having a rigid mounting portion 61 connected to the frame and to the motor; wherein the rigid mounting portion is connected to the tunnel; wherein the rigid mounting portion is made of a metallic material (see paragraph 0093); wherein the CVT housing defines an air inlet 78 and an air outlet 88.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5-7, 9-11, 13-14, 17-22, and 24 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.
Conclusion
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/KEVIN HURLEY/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3611
December 10, 2025