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. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness . This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. Claim (s) 1-3, 7, 11-13 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 8407892 B2 (hereinafter “ DiCintio ‘892”) in view of US 2015 / 0285501 A1 (hereinafter “ DiCintio ‘501”) . Regarding Claims 1 - 3 and 11 - 13, DiCintio ‘892 discloses a combustor ( 2 0) comprising: at least one fuel nozzle ( 21 ) ; a combustion liner (2 4 ) extending downstream from the fuel nozzle; an outer sleeve (2 6 ) spaced apart from and surrounding the combustion liner such that an annulus ( 27 ) is defined therebetween; and a fuel injection assembly ( 32 ) disposed downstream from the at least one fuel nozzle, the fuel injection assembly comprising: a fuel injector ( 33 ) coupled to the outer sleeve of the combustor; a boss ( 51 ) coupled to the combustion liner of the combustor (see Col. 7, Lns . 63-64 : “ Accordingly, in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 8 through 10, a boss 51 may be rigidly secured to the liner 24. ”) , the boss ( 51 ) being axially and circumferentially aligned with the fuel injector ( 33 ) ; and an insert ( 34 ) removably coupled to the boss ( see at least Figs. 6-7 and Figs. 9-10 ) , the insert comprising a flange portion ( 55 ) , an annular wall portion ( 43 ) extending from the flange portion . DiCintio ‘892 does not disclose the annular wall portion defining a mixing channel, wherein the insert defines a plurality of partial direct injectors spaced apart from one another and disposed about the mixing channel; wherein at least one partial direct injector of the plurality of partial direct injectors is defined in the flange portion of the insert; wherein at least one partial direct injector of the plurality of partial direct injectors is defined in the annular wall portion of the insert . DiCintio ‘501 teaches a combustor (24) comprising: the annular wall portion ( see 114, 116 ) defining a mixing channel (see 118) , wherein the insert defines a plurality of partial direct injectors ( see 126, 130 ) spaced apart from one another and disposed about the mixing channel; wherein at least one partial direct injector of the plurality of partial direct injectors is defined in the flange portion ( see 104, 106 ) of the insert ; wherein at least one partial direct injector of the plurality of partial direct injectors is defined in the annular wall portion ( see again 114, 116 ) of the insert . It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify DiCintio ‘892 wherein the annular wall portion defin es a mixing channel, wherein the insert defines a plurality of partial direct injectors spaced apart from one another and disposed about the mixing channel; wherein at least one partial direct injector of the plurality of partial direct injectors is defined in the flange portion of the insert; wherein at least one partial direct injector of the plurality of partial direct injectors is defined in the annular wall portion of the insert as taught and/or suggested by DiCintio ‘501 , since such a modification would provide a means for cooling said fuel injection assembly thereby protecting said fuel injection assembly against thermal wear and/or damage . Regarding Claims 7 and 17, DiCintio ‘501 further teaches wherein each partial direct injector ( see again 130 ) extends to an outlet on a radially inner surface of the combustion chamber facing portion of the insert . It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify DiCintio ‘892 wherein each partial direct injector extends to an outlet on a radially inner surface of the flange portion of the insert as taught and/or suggested by DiCintio ‘501 , since such a modification would provide a means for cooling said fuel injection assembly including the flange portion of said fuel injection assembly thereby protecting said fuel injection assembly against thermal wear and/or damage . Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4-6, 8-10, 14-16 and 18-20 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 because the references are either in the same field of endeavor or are reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the applicant was concerned . Please see form PTO-892 (Notice of References Cited) attached to, or included with, this Office Action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT JORGE A PEREIRO whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-3932 and whose fax number is (571) 270-4932. The examiner can normally be reached on FILLIN "Work schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 9:00 - 5:00 EST . If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven B. McAllister can be reached at (571) 272-6785 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /JORGE A PEREIRO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799