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Claims 1-9 remain in the application as withdrawn.
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.
Claims 10-11 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ampferer (US 4,510,898). In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, Ampferer discloses an indexing bolt (24) for joining forms comprising a first threaded barrel portion (25) receiving an adjustable retainer in the form of a flanged nut (29) engaging a first form assembly (at 31), a second smaller threaded barrel portion (25) threadably coupled to a second form (at 26) and, an indexing section including a tapered portion engaging the second form (at 28) and a non-threaded cylindrical portion indexing the first from. The nut would provide length adjustments for clamping the second form (7) to the first form (16).
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Claims 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by applicant’s admitted prior art as shown in Fig. 6. In Fig. 6 of the instant application the AAPA discloses a from for a composite assembly (110) comprising: first and second forms (112 and 114) for engaging composite materials; the first from including and first alignment plate (120); the second form including a second alignment plate (132); an indexing bolt (138) extending through openings in the first and second alignment plates; a retainer (139) mounted to the indexing bolt engaging the first mounting plate for pushing the first form assembly to second form assembly; and the indexing bolt further includes a non-threaded cylindrical portion (166) and a tapered portion (164).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ampferer. Ampferer does not discuss any dimension of in regards to a length of the flange nut can adjust over the first barrel portion. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have the minimum and maximum adjustment within the claimed range because it is well known to make fasteners in different dimension based on the design requirements for a particular application.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: while the prior art does disclose the indexing bolt for at least the reasons as explained above, it does not disclose or make obvious the indexing bolt in combination with first and second from assemblies which could be used for forming a composite part. Additionally, while the prior art also does disclose an indexing bolt clamping first and second form assemblies (applicant’s admitted prior art), there would be no motivation for combining it with a threaded retainer as taught in the indexing bolts of the prior art because claimed invention is at least a solution to a different problem not recognized in the similar prior art indexing bolts. See MPEP 2141.02 III.
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 FLEMMING SAETHER whose telephone number is (571)272-7071. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 - 7:00 eastern.
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, Christine Mills can be reached at 571-272-8322. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FLEMMING SAETHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3675
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