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 .
Response to Amendment
Pursuant to the applicant’s response filed 24 September 2025, the amendments to the claims have been entered into the application. By this amendment, no claims have been added or cancelled, and claims 1-8 remain pending in the application with claims 4-8 withdrawn from further consideration as being directed to non-elected inventions as previously indicated. The section 102 and 112 rejections in the Non-Final Rejection mailed 24 June 2025 have been overcome by the amendment and are hereby withdrawn. After additional search and/or consideration, the following rejections are presented to address the new claim limitations.
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.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over World Intellectual Property Organization Document WO 2016/142652 A1 by Baxter et al (Baxter) in view of U.S. Pre-Grant Publication 2022/0260353 by Yates (Yates).
Regarding claim 1, Baxter discloses a centerfire fastener gun propellant cartridge (See at least Figure 2, clearly illustrated), comprising: a casing (12’), the casing having a side wall (16), the side wall having a front edge (30/38), and a back end (18’), the side wall extending inward so that each portion of the front edge abuts an opposing portion of the front edge to form a front end (At element 38, See at least Figure 2, clearly illustrated, and Page 1 Line 22-Page 2 Line 6) the back end defining a primer pocket (20’), the casing further having an interior defined within the side wall between the front end and the back end (See at least Figure 2, clearly illustrated); a propellant (36) within the interior of the casing the front edge of the side wall directly retaining the propellant within the casing (See at least Figure 2, clearly illustrated); and a primer (32) secured within the primer pocket (20’).
Baxter does not disclose the specific details of the primer.
Yates, a related prior art reference, discloses a primer secured within the primer pocket (See at least Figure 5, clearly illustrated), the primer comprising: a substrate (12, Figure 4) having a deposition surface (20) and a rear surface (22); alternating layers of metal oxide and reducing metal deposited upon the substrate, the alternating layers of metal oxide and reducing metal being structured to react with each other in response to an impact applied to the rear surface of the substrate (See at least Paragraphs 0007 and 0016-0019); and at least one carbide-containing ceramic layer (16, Figure 2) within the alternating layers of metal oxide and reducing metal (See at least Paragraph 0007); whereby, when the alternating layers of metal oxide and reducing metal react with each other, the carbide-containing ceramic layer is ignited by the reaction between the reducing metal and metal oxide, resulting in ignition of the propellant (See at least Paragraphs 0019-0025).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the noted teachings of Baxter with the noted teachings of Yates. The suggestion/ motivation for doing so would have been to utilize a more stable, less toxic primer assembly in the ammunition assembly as indicated by Yates.
Regarding claim 2, Yates further discloses wherein the propellant further comprises: alternating layers of metal oxide and reducing metal deposited upon the substrate (32/34, Figure 2); and a carbide-containing ceramic layer within the alternating layers of metal oxide and reducing metal (See at least Figure 2, clearly illustrated); whereby, when the alternating layers of metal oxide and reducing metal react with each other, the carbide-containing ceramic layer is ignited by the reaction between the reducing metal and metal oxide, and the carbide-containing ceramic layer reacts with adjacent metal oxide and reducing metal layers to produce a gas to create pressure (See at least Paragraph 0025).
Regarding claim 3, Yates further discloses wherein the gas produced when the carbide-containing ceramic layer reacts with adjacent metal oxide and reducing metal layers is carbon dioxide (See at least Paragraph 0025).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 JONATHAN C WEBER whose telephone number is (571)270-5377. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8AM-5PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Troy Chambers can be reached at 571-272-6874. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jonathan C Weber/Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 3641
JONATHAN C. WEBER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3641