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.
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.
Claim(s) 14, 17-18, 22 and 25-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Petretto (US 6892659; cited by Applicant) in view of Hill (US 5931109; cited by Applicant). With respect to claim 14, Petretto discloses the basic claimed structure including a sail propulsion element with a mast (column 2, lines 22-23), an inflatable sail 2 consisting essentially of two adjacent surfaces 4, 6 that are substantially leakproof and connected to one another over their periphery, thus forming at least one closed cavity around the mast (Figure 1; column 2, lines 12-26), the sail having an upper portion, a lower portion, a leading edge and a trailing edge (Figure 1), at least one air duct 14 arranged between the inside and the outside of the cavity of the sail (column 2, lines 24-26), at least one means for injecting air into the cavity (inherently), the sail once inflated, having a profile that remains permanently symmetrical , regardless of the movement of the propulsion element, the direction or the intensity of the wind (ribs 12 maintain the airfoil shape, for example), a head (Figure 1) arranged on the upper portion of the sail, the sail having a plurality of cells 11 (note also column 2, lines 16-18) in the direction of the span of the sail, each cell 11 extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge (Figure 1), the cells 11 being spaced apart by a rib 1. Not disclosed by Petretto is the sail propulsion element having a sail receptacle arranged between the leading and trailing edges over the sail lower portion and the ribs being made of a first flexible material to allow air to pass through. Hill teaches a sail propulsion element having a sail receptacle arranged between the leading and trailing edges over the sail lower portion and the ribs being made of a first flexible material to allow air to pass through (Figures 4a, 4b; column 9, lines 22-24). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the device of Petretto with a sail propulsion element having a sail receptacle arranged between the leading and trailing edges over the sail lower portion and the ribs being made of a first flexible material to allow air to pass through as taught by Hill with a high likelihood of success for improved air control and improved vessel propulsion. The combination combines known features to achieve predictable results. Note also that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have some years of experience and be familiar with various known sails systems. With respect to claims 25-26, note Petretto, column 2, lines 22-23. With respect to claims 17-18 and 22, it would have been an obvious choice of engineering design to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the device of Petretto with the claimed mesh size and to form the spacing of cells as claimed with a high likelihood of success for improved air flow control. The combination combines known features to achieve predictable results.
Claims 15-16, 19-21 and 23-24 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ferronniere (GB 2151199 A) shows an inflatable sail.
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STEPHEN AVILA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3617
/STEPHEN P AVILA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615