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 .
DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This is in response to the amendment file on 08/20/2025 for Application No. 18/423,848. By the amendment, claims 1-3, 5-14 and 16-22 are pending with claims 1 and 9 being amended, claims 4 and 15 being canceled and newly claims 21-22 being added.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) received on 07/18/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment / Arguments
The amendment filed on 08/20/2025 has been entered. Applicant’s amendments have overcome the rejections of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C §102(a)(1) by Zheng and claims 2-3, 9-11 and 13-14 under 35 U.S.C §103 over Zheng and Harvey, and claims 9, 10 and 16 over Botti in view of Harvey, set forth in the prior Office action. Further, applicant’s arguments, see the Remarks filed 08/20/2025, with respect to the claims mentioned above have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of the claims have been withdrawn. However, the amendment has raised new issues indicated below.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the --sleeve-- in claims 1 and 20, and the --sun gear(s)--, --ring gear(s)--, --planet gears--, and –carrier(s)-- in claims 8, 9, 19 and 22 must be shown or the features canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered.
Further, the drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the limitation - -a second reduction gearing coupled between the thermal engine shaft and the second clutch- - in claims 6 and 18 must be shown or the features canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Furthermore, the drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show - -a sun gear coaxial to a ring gear, a plurality of planet gears meshed between the sun gear and the ring gear, and a carrier coaxial to the sun gear and the ring gear. The planet gears are rotatably mounted to the carrier, around individual rotation axes which are radially offset from the central axis. Two or three of the sun gear, ring gear, and carrier may rotate around the central axis. In the illustrated embodiment, the ring gears of both epicyclic gearing are fixed relative to a casing, cowling, housing or other non-rotary structure of the power plant, the sun gears are made integral to the thermal engine shaft 122 and to the rotor shaft 124, respectively, and the carriers are directly coupled to the first clutch 136 and second clutch 138, respectively. In alternate embodiments, the configuration of the epicyclic gearing may be different, such as the carrier or sun being fixed instead of the ring gear, the sun being coupled to a clutch rather than to a shaft- - as described in the specification, see paragraph [0029]. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in paragraph [0029], - -a sun gear coaxial to a ring gear, a plurality of planet gears meshed between the sun gear and the ring gear, and a carrier coaxial to the sun gear and the ring gear. The planet gears are rotatably mounted to the carrier, around individual rotation axes which are radially offset from the central axis. Two or three of the sun gear, ring gear, and carrier may rotate around the central axis. In the illustrated embodiment, the ring gears of both epicyclic gearing are fixed relative to a casing, cowling, housing or other non-rotary structure of the power plant, the sun gears are made integral to the thermal engine shaft 122 and to the rotor shaft 124, respectively, and the carriers are directly coupled to the first clutch 136 and second clutch 138, respectively. In alternate embodiments, the configuration of the epicyclic gearing may be different, such as the carrier or sun being fixed instead of the ring gear, the sun being coupled to a clutch rather than to a shaft- - are not shown/found in the any of the Drawings.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 21 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 21 recites the limitations "the first reduction gearing" and “the second reduction gearing” in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 22 is rejected upon dependent from a rejected base claim and it inherits its deficiencies.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 5-14 and 16-20 are allowed. As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Claim 21 is rejected but would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claim 22 is rejected but would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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 Tinh T Dang whose telephone number is (571)270-1776. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9AM - 5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at Mon-Friday from 8AM-4:30PM at (571) 272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TINH T DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655