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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on February 1, 2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 1, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 1, 16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shibayama (US 8,911,271) in view of Scaringe (US 12,397,879).
Shibayama discloses a marine vessel, as shown in Figures 1-19C, which is comprised of a marine vessel, defined as Part #1, with a hull, defined as Part #2, a water inlet, defined as Part #41, a jet nozzle outlet, defined as Part #42, and a flow path, defined as Part #43, that connects said water inlet and said jet nozzle outlet, as shown in Figure 5, a drive source in the form of an electric motor, defined as Part #30, that is disposed within said hull, a power storage battery, defined as Part #54, for supplying power to said drive source or electric motor, a jet propulsion mechanism including an impeller, defined as Part #35, that is disposed in said flow path and is driven by said drive source or electric motor in order to generate a water flow in said flow path so as to generate a propulsive force, electrical equipment disposed on said hull, as shown in Figure 10, and a controller in the form of a main electronic control unit (ECU), defined as Part #62, that is configured to control said drive source or electric motor to function as a generator when water flow rotates said impeller in order to charge said power storage battery, as described in lines 60-64 of column 14, and to supply power generated from said power storage battery to said drive source or electric motor and to said electrical equipment, as shown in Figure 10. Said flow path has a branched flow path, defined as Part #60, for cooling water, as shown in Figure 5. Said power storage battery may include a plurality of batteries, each defined as Part #54, as shown in Figures 19A-C.
Shibayama, as set forth above, discloses all of the features claimed except for the use of a power generator that is disposed in a flow path in order to use a water flow to generate power.
Scaringe discloses a drive assembly for a boat, as shown in Figures 1-3, which includes a motor/generator, defined as Part #40, that is disposed within a drive tunnel, defined as Part #30, that defines an inlet, a jet outlet, and a flow path that connects said inlet and said jet outlet, as shown in Figure 1, and a controller or power electronics, defined as Part #90, that controls the distribution of power from said motor/generator to a plurality of batteries, each defined as Part #80, to charge said plurality of batteries, as described in lines 46-62 of column 9. Said motor/generator is further comprises of a propeller, defined as Part #50, that is rotatable by a water flow in said flow path in order to allow said motor/generator to generate power.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art, to utilize a motor/generator that is disposed within a flow path to generate power that is stored in a battery, as taught by Scaringe, in combination with the marine vessel as disclosed by Shibayama for the purpose of providing a power generator that is disposed within a flow path of a jet propulsion mechanism as a means to generate power that is stored in one or more batteries.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-15 and 17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lafreniere et al. (US 9,321,516) discloses a hybrid propulsion system for a watercraft which includes an internal combustion engine, an electric motor/generator, a driveshaft, and an impeller or propeller, where power generated by said motor/generator is stored in a battery. Takahashi et al. (US 4,941,854) also discloses a small watercraft which includes an internal combustion engine, a generator, a driveshaft, and an impeller, where power generated by said generator is stored in a battery.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LARS A OLSON whose telephone number is (571) 272-6685. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 8:00am - 4:00pm.
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March 12, 2026
/LARS A OLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615B