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 .
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20200014268 A1 to Hotta et al.
Regarding claim 15, Hotta et al. discloses a device comprising:
an electric machine arranged in a housing (Fig. 1: 10), the electric machine including a rotatably mounted rotor (20), and a stator (30) which is fixed to the housing (10) and includes a polyphase motor winding [0039], at least one motor phase supply line (33a) being electrically connected to the motor winding [0046], wherein the motor phase supply line includes a contact portion (33a) which protrudes from the housing (10) and is electrically connected or connectable to a control device (12), and an insulation element (81) radially surrounds the contact portion at least in sections (Fig. 4: 82);
wherein the contact portion is integrally formed (Fig. 4: 33a) and the insulation element (81) is slid onto the contact portion,
wherein the insulation element is fastened to a connection plate (Fig. 4: 64) of the drive device and/or to a bearing shield of the drive device, by a latching connection and/or by a frictional connection (base of 81).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-14 and 16-24 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/6/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to Applicant’s argument of “Simply having these surfaces abut one another (i.e., the bottom surface of the planar flange of outlet guide 81 and the upper surface of upper step 64) is not enough to establish that there exists between these two surface a frictional connection”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. The definition of frictional is “of or produced by the action of one surface or object rubbing against or moving over another”. Therefore, if the base of 81 is abutting with the upper surface of 64, then there is a frictional connection. Based on the definition of frictional, the Examiner believes Hotta reads on this limitation.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VIET P NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-9457. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12-8.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tulsidas C Patel can be reached at 571-272-2098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VIET P NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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