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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0022641 to Engelland et al. (hereinafter referred to as Engelland).
As best shown in figures 3 and 5, Engelland discloses a projection (85, 86) that can be considered to form a clamping wedge capable of clamping a filter element within a filter. A housing wedge side (91, 99) is capable of facing a housing stop of a filter housing of the filter in a mounted state of the clamping wedge in the filter. A filter element wedge side (92, 98) is capable of facing a filter element stop of the filter element in the mounted state of the clamping wedge. The housing wedge side (91, 99) can be considered to have a first bearing surface (91a, 99a) and a second bearing surface (91c, 99c) separated from each other by a first step (91b, 99b). The first and/or second bearing surface (91a, 99a, 91c, 99c) of the housing wedge side (91, 99) can be considered to extend parallel to a joining direction of the clamping wedge upon insertion in the filter housing, as discussed in paragraph [0052]. As further discussed in paragraph [0052], the first bearing surface (91a, 99a) of the housing wedge side can be parallel to the second bearing surface (91c, 99c) of the housing wedge side. As shown in figures 3 and 5, the filter element wedge side (92, 98) includes a first bearing surface at the base (89, 96) and a second bearing surface separated from the first bearing surface by a second step. As shown in figure 5, the first step (91b, 99b) of the housing wedge (91, 99) side is offset relative to the second step of the filter element wedge side (92, 98) in the joining direction.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 25 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0252688 to Wuebbeling (hereinafter referred to as Wuebbeling).
In regard to claim 25, as best shown in figures 3 – 5 and 10, Wuebbeling discloses a filter element (3) capable of being used in an arrangement in a filter together with a clamping wedge. The seal (7) forms a seal surface capable of resting gas-tightly against a filter housing of a filter when clamped in the filter by a clamping wedge in a clamping direction. The contact surface (11) forms a filter element stop at a side of the filter element facing away from the seal surface (7). The filter element stop (11) includes a first filter element stop section (15) capable of contacting a first bearing surface of a filter element wedge side of a clamping wedge, and a second filter element stop section (16) capable of contacting a second bearing surface of the filter element wedge side of the clamping wedge. The first and second stop section (15, 16) are arranged offset relative to each other in a joining direction of the clamping wedge for insertion of the clamping wedge in the filter and are configured to receive a step of the filter element wedge side of the clamping wedge therebetween.
The first and second stop sections (15, 16) are formed by angled surfaces. Wuebbeling does not disclose the stop sections to be formed by a plurality of stop projections. One of ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect that a plurality of projections that are separated along the insertion and have heights in a direction transverse to the insertion direction that match the height of the ramps at the corresponding position along the insertion direction would function similarly when interacting with the clamping surfaces (30) of the cover (4). Therefore, the use of a plurality of projections versus a continuous surface for the stop sections can be considered an aesthetic design change and/or an obvious change in shape as the change does not affect the function of the stop surface for interacting with a clamp surface to translate the filter element a certain distance in the flow direction.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wuebbeling to form the stop sections from a plurality of stop projections rather than a continuous surface as this does not affect the function of the stop sections and can be considered an aesthetic design change and/or an obvious change in shape, see MPEP 2144.04(I) and MPEP 2144.04(IV)(B). In this case, the stop projections heights correspond to the surface of the ramp sections (15, 16) in Wuebbeling such that the plurality of first stop projections have a reduced height opposite to the clamping direction relative to a projection height of the plurality of second stop projections.
In regard to claim 26, the guide projection (24) can be considered to form a positioning projection capable of pre-positioning the filter element (3) in a clamping direction in a filter housing during insertion of the filter element into the filter housing.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed December 12, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant’s arguments that the amendments to independent claims 24 and 25 place them in condition for allowance. In regard to independent claim 24, as discussed in the above rejection, Engelland can be interpreted differently from the previous rejection and is considered to disclose all of the features in amended claim 24. In regard to independent claim 25, as discussed in the above rejection, the examiner agrees that Wuebbeling does not disclose stop sections formed by a plurality of stop projections. The examiner, however, does not consider this change to affect the function of the stop sections and considers it to be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 – 23 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims 1 – 23 were allowed in the previous office action (Non-Final Rejection mailed September 26, 2025) and a statement of the reasons for allowance was provided therein.
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 Robert Clemente whose telephone number is (571)272-1476. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/ROBERT CLEMENTE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1773