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 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 1, 4-5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Kissel (US 2,153,626 A)
Kissel shows an outboard motor, comprising: a cooling water flow path [53, 54, 55] including an intake port [42] to take in cooling water from outside the outboard motor and through which cooling water flows; and a water pump [34] including an impeller [37] and a pump shaft [32] to rotate together with the impeller to pump the cooling water into the cooling water flow path. An inlet channel of the cooling water flow path from the intake port to the water pump extends along a rotation axis of the pump shaft in front of the water pump (see Fig 7), wherein a filter [44] is located inside the inlet channel to allow passage of the cooling water and prevent entry of foreign objects.
Re claim 4, the water pump with a spinning impeller is considered to be a non-volumetric centrifugal pump.
Re claim 5, the water pump is located on the rotation axis of the propeller shaft.
Re claim 9, the filter is located at the intake port, and on a rotation axis of the pump shaft in front of the water pump.
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.
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kissel (US 2,153,626 A) in view of Honda (US 12,103,653 B2).
Kissel shows an outboard motor a drive shaft [22] rotationally driven by a drive unit in the form of an engine (see p-1, col. 1, line 13), a propeller shaft [24] to rotate together with a propeller [27], and a non-volumetric centrifugal water pump [34].
Kissel however fails to disclose the drive shaft as being rotatable in both forward and reverse directions (claim 2), or the drive unit being an electric motor to be driven by electric power supplied from a power source (claim 3).
Honda shows an outboard motor having a drive shaft [18] rotationally driven by a drive unit [15], and a propeller shaft [23] rotatable together with a propeller [26], wherein the drive shaft is rotatable in both a forward and reverse directions (see col. 10, lines 15-18), and wherein the drive unit can be either an internal combustion engine or an electric motor (col. 5, lines 14-15), thereby establishing an equivalence between the two types of drive units.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to make the drive shaft of Kissel rotatable in both forward and reverse directions, as taught by Honda. Having such an arrangement would have allowed one to move a boat rearwardly, thereby allowing greater maneuverability for a safe and precise control during docking and navigating tight spaces.
It would have also been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use an electric motor as a drive unit for powering the drive shaft and the propeller, as further taught by Honda. Having such an arrangement would have provided an eco-friendly option with low-noise operations, zero emissions, low maintenance, quick acceleration, and low operational costs. It would have also been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide a power source that would have been necessary to power the electric motor.
Claims 6-8 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kissel (US 2,153,626 A).
Kissel shows an outboard motor, comprising: a filter [44] located inside an inlet channel, as described above. The filter includes a retaining holder [45] having a through hole and fixed inside the inlet channel, and a filter body [44] inside the through hole (see p-2, col. 1, lines 50-53) to allow the passage of the cooling water and prevent entry of foreign objects.
Kissel however is silent on the material used for making the filter or the filter holder. Specifically, Kissel is silent on making the filter with resin (claim 6), glass fiber reinforced plastic (claim 7) or metal (claim 8). Kissel is also silent on making the filter holder with resin (claim 8).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use any one of resin, glass fiber reinforced plastic and metal for making the filter and the holder of Kissel as a matter of routine design choice because use of all such materials for making outboard motor components is common and well known in the marine art. Making the filter of Kissel with resin would have resulted in an inexpensive, light-weight and durable product, while making such filter with glass fiber reinforced plastic would have yielded an extremely strong and durable product. Likewise, alternatively making such filter with metal would have provided an inexpensive and durable product. Similarly, making the filter holder of Kissel with resin too would have resulted in an inexpensive, lightweight and durable product.
Re claims 10-11, although not expressly disclosed by Kissel, mounting outboard motors on boat transoms is old and extremely well known in the marine art. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to mount the outboard motor of Kissel on a boat transom at a rear end of the boat hull. Having such an arrangement would have provided a cost-effective and versatile solution for powering small boat, which would have freed-up interior deck space within the hull and allowed excellent low-speed maneuverability of the boat.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Nanjo et al (US 11208189; see Fig 7) and Foster (US 3025824) each shows a water pump driven by and located on a rotation axis of a propeller shaft.
Sugiyama et al. (US 10106236; see Fig 2) show a water intake port 54 comprising a water filter 541 removably installed by a filter holder 542.
Sugiyama (US 9145193), McChesney et al. (US 8333629 B2), Karls et al. (US 6146223), Ogino (US 5766046) and McCormick (US 4832635) each shows a cooling water intake and a water pump for an outboard motor.
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/AJAY VASUDEVA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615