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 December 11, 2023. These drawings are acceptable.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on December 11, 2023 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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grenier (US 6,918,346) in view of Sebald (US 4,102,291).
Grenier discloses a marine craft that is towed by a kite, as shown in Figures 1A-24, which is comprised of a craft, defined as Part #1, with a floating body or hull, defined as Part #2, an auxiliary mast, defined as Part #42, for a sail, a kite or canopy, defined as Part #12, that is connected to said floating body or hull by a tether, defined as Part M, P, Q and L, that is attached to a reel, defined as Part #60M, 60P, 60Q and 60L, as shown in Figure 8A, a lateral force generating unit in the form of a leeboard or keel, defined as Part #4, that inherently generates a lateral force in a direction that is substantially orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of said floating body or hull, as shown in Figure 1A, a steering device, defined as Part #6, that controls a direction of a bow of said hull, as shown in Figure 1A, and a control unit that controls an angle of said steering device, as shown in Figure 1A. Said lateral force generating unit includes a plate member or keel in the form of said leeboard that is attached to a bottom surface of said hull, as shown in Figure 4. By inherently generating a lateral force in a direction that is substantially orthogonal to said longitudinal direction of said hull, a tension in said tether that connects said kite to said craft is inherently reduced.
Grenier, as set forth above, discloses all of the features claimed except for the use of a sail that is attached to said auxiliary mast.
Sebald discloses a sailboat, as shown in Figures 1-5, which is comprised of a hull, defined as Part #1, a mast, as shown in Figure 1, a sail that is attached to said mast, as shown in Figure 1, a leeboard or keel that is attached to a bottom surface of said hull, as shown in Figure 1, a steering device in the form of a rudder, as shown in Figure 1, and a control unit that controls an angle of said steering device, as shown in Figure 1.
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 sail that is attached to a mast of a marine craft, as taught by Sebald, in combination with the marine craft as disclosed by Grenier for the purpose of providing a marine craft having a sail and a kite with means to generate a lateral force in order to reduce tension on said kite.
Conclusion
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 6, 2026
/LARS A OLSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615B