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 .
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.
NOTICE TO APPLICANT
It appears the inventor(s) filed the current application pro se (i.e., without the benefit of representation by a registered patent practitioner). While inventors named as applicants in a patent application may prosecute the application pro se, lack of familiarity with patent examination practice and procedure may result in missed opportunities in obtaining optimal protection for the invention disclosed. The inventor(s) may wish to secure the services of a registered patent practitioner to prosecute the application, because the value of a patent is largely dependent upon skilled preparation and prosecution. The Office cannot aid in selecting a patent practitioner.
A listing of registered patent practitioners is available at https://oedci.uspto.gov/OEDCI/. Applicants may also obtain a list of registered patent practitioners located in their area by writing to Mail Stop OED, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed December 4, 2023 fails to comply with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609 because it does not list any references. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to or lack thereof therein has not been considered as to the merits. Applicant is advised that the date of any re-submission of any item of information contained in this information disclosure statement or the submission of any missing element(s) will be the date of submission for purposes of determining compliance with the requirements based on the time of filing the statement, including all certification requirements for statements under 37 CFR 1.97(e). See MPEP § 609.05(a).
Drawings
Note to Applicant: Under 37 CFR 1.83(a) the drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Due to the current claims being non-compliant (see Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 below) and therefore no drawing objections are raised in this office action. However, upon correction of the claims be advised that specific limitations recited in the claims such as bearings, belts, pulleys, and driveshafts, for example, must be shown with reference characters or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). 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.
Abstract
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract contains the form and legal phraseology “comprising” and “said” and phrases “The claims discussed hereinbefore” and “The present invention reveals.” A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Paragraph 0005, “as well as in in the marine industry” should be changed to “as well as in [[in]] the marine industry”
Paragraph 0007, “There are three types of hydraulic if motors that may be used” appears to be a grammatical error.
Paragraph 0013, “We’re the inventor to attach” should be changed to “Were the inventor to attach”
Paragraph 0018, “work in this particular. Application after discovering” should be changed to “work in this particular application after discovering”
Paragraph 0118, “Claim 1” references to the claims should be deleted.
Paragraph 0127, “to reveal the though process of the inventor” should be changed to “to reveal the thought process of the inventor”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
The numbering of claims is not in accordance with 37 CFR 1.126 which requires the original numbering of the claims to be preserved throughout the prosecution. When claims are canceled, the remaining claims must not be renumbered. When new claims are presented, they must be numbered consecutively beginning with the number next following the highest numbered claims previously presented (whether entered or not).
Misnumbered claims 21 and 22 have been renumbered 20 and 21 respectively.
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 the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-19 and 21-22 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.
Claims 1-19 and 21-22 are rejected as failing to define the invention in the manner required by 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
The claim(s) are narrative in form and replete with indefinite language. The structure which goes to make up the device must be clearly and positively specified. The structure must be organized and correlated in such a manner as to present a complete operative device. The claim(s) must be in one sentence form only. Note the format of the claims in the patent(s) cited.
For examining purposes the Examiner is interpreting the claims, in light of the specification and as best understood, to be an initial power source to start a motor that drives a generator via a shaft comprising a flywheel that rotates up to predetermined RPM to continue driving the generator. The output of the generator is sent to an electrical panel that distributes out the generated electricity back to the motor and other loads. The initial input source is disconnected from the motor and the motor is then further powered by the generator.
Claims 1-19 and 21-22 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 elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the elements. See MPEP § 2172.01. The omitted elements are: AC and/or DC Power Supply.
Claims 1 and 2 recite a means of generating electricity using a process that does not rely on any known fuel sources and/or alternative energy sources. The claims then proceeds to discuss how the Trident Independent Energy System is capable of generating predetermined loads of electricity but never recites how the system or generator is able to start. However, paragraph 0132 and figures 2-6 disclose an AC and DC power supply to provide power to start the system. Omitting this essential element results in a lack of an initial source of power to start the motor rendering the invention inoperative.
Dependent claims 3-19 and 21-22 are rejected, as they inherit the deficiency of the independent claims.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 3-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chaang (US 2019/0229578).
NOTE: Please see above 35 UC 112(b) for Examiner’s best interpretation of the claims.
Regarding claim 1, Chaang discloses an initial power source to start a motor (Para. 0018) that drives a generator (702, 706 of Figure 1) via a shaft (104 of Figure 1) and a flywheel (102, 306 of Figure 1) that rotates up to predetermined RPM to continue driving the generator.
Regarding claim 3, Chaang discloses an energy system capable of generating AC and/or DC (via 702, 706 of Figure 1).
Regarding claim 4, Chaang discloses using various gears, shafts, pulleys, belts (see Figure 1; one-way bearings (310), belts (704, 708)).
Regarding claim 5, Chaang discloses a generator capable of generating a rated capacity of the generator (702, 706 of Figure 1).
Regarding claim 6, Chaang discloses scaling the system (Para. 0042).
Regarding claim 7, Chaang discloses a system securely and functionally assembled (see Figure 1).
Regarding claim 8, Chaang discloses the system can be non-stationary (Para. 0009-0011, 0042).
Regarding claim 9, Chaang discloses the system includes a second flywheel (102, 306 of Figure 1).
Regarding claim 10, Chaang discloses the system includes electrical components connected by electrical wire (inherent).
Regarding claim 11, Chaang discloses the flywheel can be replaced with another flywheel configuration (Para. 0042).
Regarding claim 12, Chaang discloses the motor can be replaced with another type of motor (Para. 0042).
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 13-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chaang (US 2019/0229578), in view of Aldendeshe (WO 01/43258 A2).
Regarding claim 2, Chaang discloses an initial power source to start a motor (Para. 0018) that drives a generator (702, 706 of Figure 1) via a shaft (104 of Figure 1) and a flywheel (102, 306 of Figure 1) that rotates up to predetermined RPM to continue driving the generator.
Chaang does not disclose hydraulic pumps to drive a hydraulic motor.
Aldendeshe discloses hydraulic pumps (64) to drive a hydraulic motor (66) (Page 9, lines 11-15).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing of the claimed invention to have the motor of Chaang replaced with the hydraulic motor driven by the hydraulic pump, as taught by Aldendeshe, due to hydraulic motors ability to deliver high torque at low speeds.
Regarding claim 13, Chaang discloses an energy system capable of generating AC and/or DC (via 702, 706 of Figure 1).
Regarding claim 14, Chaang discloses using various gears, shafts, pulleys, belts (see Figure 1; one-way bearings (310), belts (704, 708)).
Regarding claim 15, Chaang discloses the system includes electrical components connected by electrical wire (inherent).
Regarding claim 16, Chaang discloses scaling the system (Para. 0042).
Regarding claim 17, Chaang discloses a system securely and functionally assembled (see Figure 1).
Regarding claim 18, Chaang discloses the system can be non-stationary (Para. 0009-0011, 0042).
Regarding claim 19, Chaang discloses the system includes a second flywheel (102, 306 of Figure 1).
Regarding claim 20, Chaang discloses the flywheel can be replaced with another flywheel configuration (Para. 0042).
Regarding claim 21, Chaang discloses the motor can be replaced with another type of motor (Para. 0042).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Camm (US 2004/0056546) discloses a powered flywheel rotor motor.
Wilson (CA 2178349 C) discloses means to initiate and maintain a rotor or flywheel at substantially constant speed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES H REID whose telephone number is (571)272-9248. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-4:45 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tulsidas Patel can be reached on 571-272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Charles Reid Jr./ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834