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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/15/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 12/15/2025 has been entered. Claim 1 is amended. Claim 2 is cancelled. Claims 1, 3-10 remain pending in the application. Examiner appreciates the thorough explanation of the invention and amendments provided in the applicant’s response and interview.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-8 of Applicant’s remarks, filed 9/15/2025, with respect to independent claims 3 and 7 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 3 and 7 have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments regarding amended claim 1 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive for the following reasons:
Applicant asserts “Brislawn does not disclose the join is hinged up and down with respect to the engine connecting structure in varying deflection angles…the office action seems to be interpreting “deflection” as simply moving up and down. However, broadest reasonable interpretations of claim terms must be consistent with the specification.”
Examiner asserts that ¶ [0028] of the instant application reads, “In this way, this longitudinal control augmentation surface 30 is pivotable up and down relative to the connecting structure 20, at variable deflection angles (b) upwards or downwards”. Thus, Brislawn’s deflection simply moving up and down between two positions satisfies Applicant’s limitation in view of the specification under broadest reasonable interpretation. As such, amended claim 1 remains rejected.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Brislawn (WO 9821092 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Brislawn teaches a Longitudinal control augmentation surface of an aircraft with engines arranged in a rear portion of a fuselage (Figure 1), the aircraft comprising a primary control surface located in a horizontal tail of the aircraft (Figure 1, unlabeled elevator elements located on horizontal tail. Supported in Col. 6, lines 25-29, “present invention conceived as a device to assist the elevator in deep-stall recovery, but it also supplements the airplane-nose-down elevator power when the pylon flaps are deflected.” Col. 8, lines 9-28, “existing elevator system of a conventional T-tailed aircraft”), the longitudinal control augmentation surface comprising a secondary control surface (Figures 1-2a, elements 30, 32) that cooperates with and complements the primary control surface located in the horizontal tail (Col. 6, lines 25-29 and Col. 8, lines 9-28), wherein the longitudinal control augmentation surface is positioned close to a trailing edge of an engine connecting structure in the fuselage (Figure 1) on a joint that can be hinged up and down in relation to the engine connecting structure (Figure 2a) in response to a longitudinal control command from the aircraft (Col. 6, line 16- Col. 7 line-35), wherein the joint is hinged up and down with respect to the engine connecting structure in varying deflection angles (δ) commanded by a pilot or an automatic control system of the aircraft (Col. 7, lines 4-12).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-10 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN MICHAEL HESTON whose telephone number is (571)272-3099. The examiner can normally be reached Mondays and Wednesdays: 0500-1300, Tuesdays 0500-1400, Thursdays and Fridays by appointment only..
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, Timothy D Collins can be reached at 571-272-6886. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN MICHAEL HESTON/Examiner, Art Unit 3644
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