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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 2/28/24 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(3)(i) because it does not include a concise explanation of the relevance, as it is presently understood by the individual designated in 37 CFR 1.56(c) most knowledgeable about the content of the information, of each reference listed that is not in the English language. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
As submitted in the petition under 37 CFR 1.59(b) filed 2/28/24 (which was dismissed on 4/15/25), Applicant inadvertently submitted the 2/28/24 IDS and documents therewith for the pending instant application. As such, while the IDS has been placed in the application file, the information referred to therein has not been considered.
The IDS’s dated 2/8/24 and 3/7/24 have been reviewed and considered.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Typographical errors in paras 0030 disclosing “piecesMare” and 0035 disclosing “Mare”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 “cutting edge” (See claim 3) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference numbers “11” and “12” have all both been used to designate a “mold roller”; reference numbers “61”, "62", "63", “64”, “65” and “66” have all been used to designate a “conveyor”; reference numbers “71” and “73” have all both been used to designate a “scrap conveyor”; reference numbers “72” and “74” have all both been used to designate a “chute”; reference numbers “31” and “32” have all both been used to designate a “rotary cutter”; reference numbers “21” and “23” have all both been used to designate a “press roller”; and reference numbers “51” and “52” have all both been used to designate a “powder spreading machine”.
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.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which he applicant regards as his invention.
GROUND 1: Claim 1-13 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.
Claims 1 and 8 recite “a mold roller being a cylindrical body” (line 2 of both claims) and “a center part being a depth in the female mold” (see lines 11-12 of claim 1 and line 12 of claim 8) which appears to be a literal translation of the foreign application to which priority is claimed, and leads to confusion. Applicant is advised to amend the claim to reflect the current specification and be grammatically correct, for example: “a mold roller configured as a cylindrical body” and “a center part comprising a first depth within the female mold”.
Claims 1 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential structural cooperative relationships of elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the necessary structural connections. See MPEP § 2172.01. The omitted structural cooperative relationships are: “press roller” (21). Claims 1 and 13 recite “wherein the mold roller is configured to form the noodle skin pieces on the surface of the noodle band by pressing the noodle band with the outer peripheral surface while rotating” without requiring the “press roller” as disclosed in paras 0025 and 0029 and seen in Figs 1 and 10. As disclosed, it is understood that the press roller 21 is pressed against the out peripheral surface of the mold roller 11, sandwiching the noodle band therebetween, to form the noodle skin pieces. The current claim language leads one to assume the noodle skin pieces may be formed without press roller 21, which is not supported by the current specification.
Claims 1 and 8 recite “a depth at the outer peripheral edge part being zero” leads to confusion. If the depth of the edge part is zero as claimed, it has no depth. Applicant is advised to claim the depth of the female mold with respect to the mold roller body to avoid confusion.
Claims 2-7 and 9-13 are rejected as being necessarily dependent upon claim 1 and 8, respectively, appropriate clarification and correction is required.
Claim 2 recites in part “wherein the female mold is formed to have the depth being changeable from the outer peripheral edge part to the center part step by step” which leads one to assume the depth is capable of being changed, which is contrary to the support which shows a constant stepped configuration in Figure 7-9. That is, once the female mold is formed, the step-by-step shape is not capable of being changed again. Claim 2 also recites “wherein each of the plurality of steps is different in height and arranged in parallel to each other” which leads to confusion as to how circular steps are considered to be “in parallel to each other”. Appropriate clarification and correction is required.
Claim 3 recites “herein the first cutter is a rotary cutter having a cutting edge formed on an outer peripheral surface of the mold roller” which leads to confusion nas does not appear to be supported by the disclosure. The rotary cutters 31 and 32 are disclosed and illustrated as being located downstream from the mold roller 11 and press roller 21. Figure 13 illustrates the press roller and rotary cutter being configured as a single component; however, the cutting edge (not shown) is not disclosed as being on the mold roller as claimed. Furthermore, claim 3 recites “wherein the first cutter is
configured to cut off noodle skin pieces on the outer peripheral surface one by one from the noodle band” which adds to the confusion as to how noodle pieces are cut off the outer peripheral surface (of the mold roller” if the cutting edges is also formed on the outer peripheral surface. Appropriate clarification and correction is required.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the rotary cutter" in line 3 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the rotary cutter" in line 2 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the scrap conveyor" in line 2 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 13 recites “further comprises a punch cutter configured to punch the stacked noodle bands” which leads one to assume there are three cutters along the apparatus, which does not appear to be supported. Claim 8, from which claim 13 is dependent upon, recites a “rotary cutter” 32 and a “first cutter” 33. Claim 13 recites an additionally “punch cutter”, which is also labeled with reference number 33 in Figure 10. Examiner assumes Applicant intended to recites “the first cutter is a punch cutter” in claim 13. Appropriate clarification and correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(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.
GROUND 2: Claim(s) 1-3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 63-126475 to Hidefumi.
In regard to claim 1, Hidefumi discloses an apparatus for producing noodle skin pieces, the apparatus comprising: a mold roller 13 being a cylindrical body or a column body being rotatable around a center line of the cylindrical body or the column body as a rotational axis (See Figs. 5-6),
a first cutter 34 for cutting the noodle skin pieces from a noodle band, the noodle skin pieces are formed on a surface of the noodle band (See Figs.7-8); and
a plurality of female molds 15 formed on an outer peripheral surface of the mold roller and configured to form the noodle skin pieces, wherein the mold roller is configured to form the noodle skin pieces on the surface of the noodle band by pressing the noodle band with the outer peripheral surface while rotating (See Figs. 5-6),
wherein each of the plurality of female molds has a center part being a depth in the female mold and has a peripheral part, the depth in the female mold becoming gradually shallow from the center part to an outer peripheral edge part of the female mold, a depth at the outer peripheral edge part being zero (See Fig. 4), and
wherein the mold roller has a blank part on the outer peripheral surface where the female molds do not exist, the blank part having an outer diameter that is the same as that of the outer peripheral edge part of the female mold (See Fig. 4).
In regard to claim 2, Hidefumi discloses an apparatus for producing noodle skin pieces, wherein the female mold is formed to have the depth being changeable from the outer peripheral edge part to the center part step by step, wherein a slope of a mountain-shaped cross section of the noodle skin piece is formed having a plurality of steps, and wherein each of the plurality of steps is different in height and arranged in parallel to each other (See Figs. 4-8).
In regard to claim 3, Hidefumi discloses an apparatus for producing noodle skin pieces, wherein the first cutter is a rotary cutter 34 (i.e. circular) having a cutting edge formed on an outer peripheral surface of the mold roller, wherein a shape of the cutting edge corresponds to an outer shape of the female mold, and wherein the first cutter is configured to cut off noodle skin pieces on the outer peripheral surface one by one from the noodle band (See Figs. 7-8).
In regard to claim 5, Hidefumi discloses an apparatus for producing noodle skin pieces, further comprises a press roller located adjacent to the mold roller, wherein a rotation of the press roller in combination with a rotation of the rotary cutter are synchronized with a rotation of the mold roller (See Figs. 4-8).
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.
GROUND 3: Claim(s) 4, 8 and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 63-126475 to Hidefumi in view of JP 50-095491 to Kyowa.
In regard to claims 4 and 8, Hidefumi discloses an apparatus for producing noodle skin pieces with first and second conveyors (see Figs. 5-6) but is silent with respect a second cutter configured to cut the noodle band in a predetermined length. Kyowa teaches of an analogous noodle producing apparatus comprising a cutter 4 configured to cut the noodle band in a predetermined length (See Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus of Hidefumi to include a second cutter to enable noodle bands to be cut into desired lengths as taught by Kyowa.
In regard to claims 10-11, Hidefumi discloses an apparatus for producing noodle skin pieces, further comprising a shaft (not labeled) positioned on a centerline of the cylindrical body about which the mold roller is configured to rotate (See Figs. 5-6).
GROUND 4: Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 63-126475 to Hidefumi in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0200428 to Yuasa et al.
In regard to claims 6-7, Hidefumi discloses an apparatus for producing noodle skin pieces (see rejections above) but is silent with respect to a scrap conveyor located adjacent to an outer peripheral surface of the rotary cutter. Yuasa et al. teach of an analogous noodle producing apparatus comprising a scrap conveyor 27 configured to collect and move the scrap to a scrap storage for recycling into a noodle band (See Figs. 1-3 and paras 0078-0084). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus of Hidefumi to include a scrap conveyor to reduce wasted food product as taught by Yuasa et al.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW J KASZTEJNA whose telephone number is (571)272-6086. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7AM--3PM.
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/MATTHEW J KASZTEJNA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3993
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