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
Applicant's election with traverse of Species A, claims 1-3, 7 and 17 in the reply filed on February 19, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that claim 1 is generic and therefore the prior art search for the additional species would not require an undue burden. This is not found persuasive because even if claim 1 is generic, there would still be an undue burden if all the species were examined. As explained in the prior action, and regardless of whether or not claim 1 is generic, the species still require a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search strategies or search queries) and additional examination time. Furthermore, the Applicant has cancelled all claims drawn to the non-elected species making this traversal moot. 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.
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U. S. Patent Publication 2006/0159568 to Lutz.
Referring to claim 1, Lutz discloses a multi-port flow control actuator, said multi-port flow control actuator comprising:
a housing (2, 3) having an internal chamber (comprises 8); a first fluid passageway connected to the internal chamber; a second fluid passageway connected to the internal chamber; a first port (27) connected to the first fluid passageway; a second port (28) connected to the second fluid passageway; and an oscillating membrane (5) in the internal chamber and the first and second passageways configured such that oscillation of the oscillating membrane (5) causes fluid to enter one of the first port (27) and second port (28) and exit one of the first port (27) and second port (28) (Figures 3-5, Fig. 3 annotated below; paragraphs [0028], [0029] and [0038]-[0046]).
[AltContent: textbox (Surface)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Internal Chamber)][AltContent: textbox (Second Fluid Passageway)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (First Fluid Passageway)][AltContent: arrow]
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Annotation of Lutz Figure 3.
Referring to claim 3, Lutz discloses a multi-port flow control actuator comprising all the limitations of claim 1, as detailed above and further discloses a multi-port flow control actuator wherein:
the first port (27) is an inlet port that generates net suction and the second port (28) is an outlet port that generates net blowing (Figures 3-5, Fig. 3 annotated above; paragraphs [0028], [0029] and [0038]-[0046]).
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 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U. S. Patent Publication 2006/0159568 to Lutz in view of U. S. Patent 11,111,025 to Zha.
Referring to claim 2, Lutz teaches an actuator comprising all the limitations of claim 1, as detailed above, including the first and second ports being positioned on a surface, but does not teach that the surface is an aerodynamic surface. Zha teaches a surface wherein:
at least one of a first port (826) and a second port (824) is positioned on an aerodynamic surface (844) (Fig. 10; col 14 line 43 - col. 16 line 20).
It would have been obvious before the invention was effectively filed, to a person having ordinary skill in the art, to use the actuator taught by Lutz with the aerodynamic surface taught by Zha in order to use the pump of Lutz to prevent the formation of ice on an aerodynamic surface.
The Examiner notes that Zha is silent as to the details of pump 903 which is between a first port 826 and second port 824 on the aerodynamic surface 844, and that it would have been obvious before the invention was effectively filed, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to use the pump taught by Lutz in the device of Zha because it has been held that a simple substitution of one known element, the Lutz pump, for another, the generic Zha pump, to obtain predictable results, the intake and exhaust of fluid from the surface, was an obvious extension of prior art teachings, KSR, 550 U.S. at 419, 82 USPQ2d at 1396, MPEP 2141 III B.
Referring to claim 7, Lutz teaches an actuator comprising all the limitations of claim 1, as detailed above, including the first and second ports being positioned on a surface, but does not teach that the surface is an aerodynamic surface. Zha teaches a surface wherein:
a multi-port flow control actuator is positioned on an aerodynamic surface (844) and a first (826) and second (824) port are positioned along a line that is one of parallel and perpendicular to a fluid flow across the aerodynamic surface (844) (Fig. 10; col 14 line 43 - col. 16 line 20).
It would have been obvious before the invention was effectively filed, to a person having ordinary skill in the art, to use the actuator taught by Lutz with the aerodynamic surface taught by Zha in order to use the pump of Lutz to prevent the formation of ice on an aerodynamic surface.
The Examiner notes that Zha is silent as to the details of pump 903 which is between a first port 826 and second port 824 on the aerodynamic surface 844, and that it would have been obvious before the invention was effectively filed, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to use the pump taught by Lutz in the device of Zha because it has been held that a simple substitution of one known element, the Lutz pump, for another, the generic Zha pump, to obtain predictable results, the intake and exhaust of fluid form the surface, was an obvious extension of prior art teachings, KSR, 550 U.S. at 419, 82 USPQ2d at 1396, MPEP 2141 III B.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U. S. Patent 11,111,025 to Zha in view of U. S. Patent Publication 2006/0159568 to Lutz.
Referring to claim 17, Zha teaches a multi-port flow control actuator, said multi-port flow control actuator comprising:
a housing (812) having an internal chamber (828), the housing (812) having an aerodynamic surface (844) having a fluid flow across the aerodynamic surface (844); an inlet port (826) positioned on the aerodynamic surface (844); an outlet port (824) positioned on the aerodynamic surface (844); a first fluid passageway, the first fluid passageway connecting the inlet port (826) to the internal chamber (828); a second fluid passageway, the second fluid passageway connecting the outlet port (824) to the internal chamber (828); and an actuator (903) positioned in the internal chamber (828) that generates net suction at the inlet port (826) and net blowing at the outlet port (824) (Fig. 10, annotated below; col 14 line 43 - col. 16 line 20).
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Annotation of Zha Figure 1.
Zha is silent as to the details of actuator 903 between first port 826 and second port 824 on the aerodynamic surface 844.
Lutz teaches a multi-port flow control actuator, said multi-port flow control actuator comprising:
an oscillating membrane (5) positioned in an internal chamber that generates net suction at an inlet port (27) and net blowing at an outlet port (28) when the oscillating membrane (5) is oscillated (Figures 3-5, Fig. 3 annotated above; paragraphs [0028], [0029] and [0038]-[0046]).
It would have been obvious before the invention was effectively filed, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to use the pump taught by Lutz in the device of Zha because it has been held that a simple substitution of one known element, the Lutz pump, for another, the generic Zha pump, to obtain predictable results, the intake and exhaust of fluid from the surface, was an obvious extension of prior art teachings, KSR, 550 U.S. at 419, 82 USPQ2d at 1396, MPEP 2141 III B.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Blum teaches a similar actuator as claimed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRYAN MATTHEW LETTMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7860. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.
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/BRYAN M LETTMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746