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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Claims 20-34 in the reply filed on 1/29/26 is acknowledged.
Claims 35-39 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
PLEASE NOTE: In the response 1/29/26, claims 35-39 were not withdrawn, however, they were withdrawn during an interview with Mr. Cory Schug on 3/10/23 (see attached interview summary).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 22 recites the limitation " the second insert abutment portion" and 26 recites the limitation "the through bore”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 20 and 22-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 3702074.
Regarding claim 20, ‘074 discloses a double sided V-shaped cutting insert, comprising: an insert front surface (12); an insert back surface (14) ; and a peripheral surface extending between the insert front and back surfaces (figure 1), the peripheral surface comprising: a forward surface; a planar first converging surface (68); a first rake surface (56) extending between the forward surface and the planar first converging surface (figures 1 and 2); a planar second converging surface (70) forming a convergence angle (φ) with the first converging surface (68) and a second rake surface (58) extending between the forward surface and the second converging surface; wherein: a bisector plane (A-A’) of the convergence angle (φ) is defined between, and equally distanced from, each of the first rake surface and the second rake surface, and the cutting insert exhibits mirror symmetry about the bisector plane (A-A’), at least in a view taken perpendicular to the insert front surface (see figure below); the first rake surface (56) and the second rake surface (58) each face away from the bisector plane; and the first rake surface tends towards the bisector plane (A-A’) more than the first converging surface (24), and the second rake surface (58) tends towards the bisector plane (BI) more than the second converging surface (see below). ‘074 discloses the claimed invention except for the angle of the second converging surface (70) forming a convergence angle (φ) with the first converging surface (68) that fullfilsg the condition: 30° ≤ φ ≤ 45°). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the converging surfaces of any desired inclination depending on the size of the insert, size of the tool holder pocket, cutting conditions etc., since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to to make the converging surfaces of any desired inclination depending on the size of the insert, size of the tool holder pocket, cutting conditions etc.
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Regarding claim 22, ‘074 discloses wherein in a view taken perpendicular to one of the insert front and back surfaces, a first line (K1) passing through the first rake surface and extending perpendicular to the second insert
abutment portion, also passes through the second insert abutment portion.
Regarding claim 23, ‘074 discloses the claimed invention except for the angle of the second converging surface (70) forming a convergence angle (φ) with the first converging surface (68) that fullfilsg the condition: equal to, or larger than 35°, such that φ ≥ 35°). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the converging surfaces of any desired inclination depending on the size of the insert, size of the tool holder pocket, cutting conditions etc., since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to to make the converging surfaces of any desired inclination depending on the size of the insert, size of the tool holder pocket, cutting conditions etc.
Regarding claim 24, ‘074 discloses wherein: the insert front surface comprises a planar first support surface (48); the insert back surface comprises a planar second support surface (50); and the first support surface is parallel to the second support surface (figures 3 and 4).
Regarding claim 25, ‘074 discloses a through bore (42) extending transversely to the insert front and back surfaces and opening out to the insert front and back surfaces (figures 1 and 2).
Regarding claim 26, ‘074 discloses wherein: the through bore (42) opens out to the first support surface and to the second support surface (48,45) (figures 1).
Regarding claim 27, ‘074 discloses wherein: the forward surface and the first rake surface intersect at a first cutting edge (20), and the forward surface and the second rake surface intersect at a second cutting edge (22).
Regarding claim 28, ‘074 discloses a cutting tool, comprising: a tool holder extending along a longitudinal axis which defines a forward direction and opposite rearward direction, the tool holder comprising: an insert seat located at a forward end of the tool holder; and a shank portion extending from the insert seat in the rearward direction; and a cutting insert according to claim 20, placed in the insert seat (paragraphs 27, 30 and 32).
Regarding claim 29, ‘074 discloses wherein: the insert seat comprises: a seat support surface; a first seat converging wall, extending transversely to the seat support surface, and having a planar first seat abutment portion located thereon; a second seat converging wall, extending transversely to the seat support surface, and having a planar second seat abutment portion and a planar third seat abutment portion located thereon, the second and third seat abutment portions being coplanar and spaced apart from one another, the second and third seat abutment portions being parallel to the longitudinal axis (L), and the second seat abutment portion being located forwardly of the third seat abutment portion, along the longitudinal axis (L); and the cutting insert is placed in the insert seat, such that the first insert abutment portion abuts the first seat abutment portion, the second and third insert abutment portions abut the second and third seat abutment portions , respectively, and the insert back surface abuts the seat support surface (paragraphs 27, 30 and 32).
Regarding claim 30, ‘074 discloses wherein: the tool holder further comprises a holder top surface, a holder bottom surface parallel to the holder top surface, a holder front surface, and a holder back surface; the holder front surface and the holder back surface extend between the holder top surface and the holder bottom surface; the holder front surface, the second holder side surface, the holder top surface and the holder bottom surface, extend along the longitudinal axis (paragraphs 27, 30 and 32).
Regarding claim 31, Examiner takes Official Notice that it is old and well known for grooving tools to have a holder with a rectangular cross section shank portion; the holder front surface being parallel to the holder back surface; the holder top surface being parallel to the holder bottom surface; and the holder top surface being perpendicular to the holder front surface.
Regarding claim 32, Examiner takes Official Notice that it is old and well known for grooving tools to have a holder with a holder forward surface located at the forward end of the tool holder, and extending transversely to the longitudinal axis (L), between the holder front surface, the holder back surface, the holder top surface and the holder bottom surface; and the holder forward surface intersects the third seat abutment portion.
Regarding claim 33, ‘074 discloses wherein: the tool holder further comprises a fastening bore extending transversely to the longitudinal axis, and opening out to the seat support surface, and the cutting insert is attached to the insert seat by a fastening member, passing through the through bore of the cutting insert, and engaging with the fastening bore of the tool holder (paragraph 30).
Regarding claim 34, ‘074’s insert converging surfaces with match the tool holders converging surfaces therefore it will read on the claimed subject matter.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 3702074 and as evidenced by EP 1205273.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARA ADDISU at (571) 272-6082. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (Mondays and Wednesday-Friday).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sunil K. Singh can be reached on (571) 272-3460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SARA ADDISU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3722 5/29/26
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