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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 8-13 and 15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 12/30/2025.
Applicant's election with traverse of Claims 1-7 and 14 in the reply filed on 12/30/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there is no serious search burden. This is not found persuasive because the different inventions require different fields of search where results for one invention are unlikely to result in pertinent art for the other.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Laib et al. (DE102017108080A1).
Regarding Claims 1-2, Laib teaches a substrate plate 44 for an interchangeable container, where a 3D object 14 is built on the surface; a connection interface 23 opposite of the surface 44 where a transmission element 38 is capable of being connected to the connection interface; where an actuator 34 is capable of being connected 42 in a force-fitting manner to the transmission element 38 fastened to the substrate plate 44 (See Fig 4); the actuator limitations of being capable of being connected and of being capable of being excited to oscillate by a generator is not considered to have patentable weight by further limiting the substrate plate which is being claimed.
Regarding Claim 3, this limitation is considered optional and does not add patentable weight as the sound conductor is not required to be connected to the substrate plate
Regarding Claim 4, this limitation is considered optional and does not add patentable weight as the generator is not required to be connected to the substrate plate
Regarding Claim 5, this limitation is considered optional and does not add patentable weight as the actuator is not required to be connected to the substrate plate
Regarding Claim 6, the apparatus comprises an interchangeable container 12 comprising the building cylinder 12 and substrate plate (which can move up and down) and where the object is built on the substrate plate 44 (See Claims and Figures 3-4);
Regarding Claim 7, the substrate plate 44 is connected to a transmission element 38 pointed towards an outerside (bottom) of the building cylinder 12; where the transmission element and substrate are capable of being moved up and down together in the building cylinder (See Figure 6)
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 14 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art of record is Laib et al. (DE1020170108080A1) as used above which teaches an apparatus for additive manufacturing where the container and substrate plate may be turned with a turning device (Page 3) causing n a movement can be used to turn the substrate plate from a upright position to an emptying position (Page 2), however the apparatus does not teach the generator as claimed.
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/RICARDO D MORALES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1738