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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 09 March 2026. These drawings are acceptable.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 11-13, filed 09 March 2026, with respect to claims 3-6 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 3-6 under 35 USC 112(b) has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments/arguments, filed 09 March 2026, with respect to claims 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 3-6 under 35 USC 112(b) has been withdrawn.
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 11-12 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.
Newly added claims 11 and 12 recite limitations that are not expressly disclosed within the specification. Applicant argues that the limitations of claims 11 and 12 would be well-known to one of ordinary skill in the art, pages 13-14; however, it is not clear whether or not this is true or not; and it is also unclear whether the inventors of the invention knew or were aware of the limitations that were added to the application prior to the filing of said application. Applicant has provided no evidence other than a conclusionary statement that they would have known about the limitations; and the Examiner argues that it is inappropriate to claim subject matter that is not expressly recited in the specification. With respect to the limitation of claim 11, some websites suggest that a soft magnetic material is a material having a coercivity less than 1000 A/m; and other websites suggest that soft magnetic material “typically” has a coercivity less than 1000 A/m, thus creating some inconsistency in the definition and the claim language. With respect to the limitations of claim 12, it is inappropriate to bring non-disclosed subject matter into the application. There is no way to determine what Applicant knew and when they knew it regarding this subject matter. Thus, it is the position of the Examiner that 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.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
See Applicant’s arguments, pages 16-19, regarding the amendments made to independent claim 1.
Claims 2-10 would be allowable based on their dependency from claim 1.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claims 1-10 are allowed.
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 DANIEL SEAN LARKIN whose telephone number is 571-272-2198. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Laura Martin can be reached at 571-272-2160. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL S LARKIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855