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 .
This office action is a response to the restriction requirement filed on 2/5/2026.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A, claims 1-7, in the reply filed on 2/5/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 8-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 2/5/2026.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: --METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING AN AIRCRAFT STRUCTURE--.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsu et al. (US PAT. 11,342,272).
Hsu et al. teach a process of making an aircraft structure, comprising steps of: additively manufacturing a first plurality of layers (10, 102-103, Fig. 4) of a body portion of the aircraft structure, wherein the first plurality of layers of the body portion includes a top layer (10, Fig. F4A) defining a first cavity (c1, Fig. 4B) and a second cavity (C2, Fig. 4H) (see also Col. 1, line 61 to col. 2, line 3, col. 3, lines 4-6 and col. 9, line 26 to col. 10, line 39); disposing a first electronic component (20, Fig. 4C, col. 9, lines 35-47) in the first cavity and disposing a second electronic component (30, Fig. 4I, col. 10, lines 35-45) in the second cavity; additively manufacturing a pathway layer (12, Fig. 4K, col. 10, line 54 to col. 11, line12) over the top layer, the pathway layer defines a channel (O21, O22, Fig. 4L, col. 11. lines 13-22) extending between and to the first electronic component and the second electronic component; and additively manufacturing a conductive pathway (61, 62, Fig. 4M, col. 11, lines 23-36) in the channel to extend between and to the first electronic component and the second electronic component, whereby the first electronic component is electrically coupled to the second electronic component (see also col. 1, line 61 to col. 2, line 3).
It is noted that the definition of the phrase “additively” is often used in mathematic and statistics to describe effects that are added together, or produced by addition such as a lamination. Even though Hsu et al. do not explicitly disclose “additively manufacturing” during the manufacturing processes, the plurality of layers is added on top of another to produced a lamination structure as shown in Fig. 3. Also, Hsu et al. explicitly disclose that the cavity (C1) is formed by an etching or laser drilling process or other suitable technique can be used. At the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the process of forming the cavity as recited in the claimed invention by any suitable technique (including a lamination process equivalent with the additively manufacturing process) because such a modification would have been an obvious design consideration that is within the purview of one having ordinary skill in the art to provide the well-known benefit of obtaining desirable structure. Since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable rangers involves only routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144.04 (il-A).
Re. claim 2: A finishing layer (71, 72, Fig. 3, col. 8, lines 36-51) is formed over the conductive pathway.
Re. claim 3: The finishing layer and the first plurality of layers are made of the same material (such as a dielectric material).
Re. claim 4: The top layer (10) of the first plurality of layers is an electrically insulating layer (col. 2, line 60 to col. 3, line 4).
Re. claim 5: An insulating layer (one of the lowest layer of 71 or 72) is disposed over the conductive pathway, prior to additively manufacturing the finishing layer over the conductive pathway as shown in Fig. 4J.
Re. claim 6: The finishing layer and the first plurality of layers are made of the same material (such as a dielectric material), and the conductive pathway is made of a conductive metal material (col. 5, lines 33-56).
Re. claim 7: The first plurality of layers is made of a first conductive material (101-103, Fig. 4A), the top layer (10) is made of an insulating material, and the conductive pathway (61, 62) is made of a second conductive material.
The Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Campbell et al. (US PAT. 10,159,152), Sakai et al. (US PAT. 9,807,885), and Lee et al. (PGPub 2012/0024583 A1) are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to a method for manufacturing an electrical device capable of using for an aircraft structure.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL D KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4565. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6:00 AM-2:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hong can be reached at 571-272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PAUL D KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
Prosecution Insights