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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: paragraph 0079 of the specification as filed on September 15, 2025 and amended on December 30, 2026 defines item 20 as an “output shaft” and an “input shaft” while paragraph 0080 defines item 20 as “The input member”. Please clarify whether item 20 is an input shaft, output shaft or could serve as both an input shaft and an output shaft.
Also, Applicant misspelled cylinder at paragraphs 0079 and 0080, spelling it “cylindar”.
Claim Objections
Claim 37 is objected to because of the following informalities: Applicant may wish to review and amend the claim for proper grammar. For example, should the claim read “to provide a passage to a reservoir from the positive displacement hydraulic mechanism”.
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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Saitou et al. (US 7,082,761).
Saitou discloses and shows a transmission comprising:
a first rotating member (5), such as a shaft, coupled to receive power from a source;
a second rotating member (6) constrained to rotate coaxially with the first rotating member;
a fixed positive displacement hydraulic mechanism (M) such as an axial piston device with portions thereof positioned on and between said first and second members such that a volume is displaced and thus hydraulic flow by relative angular motions between them;
a plurality of rotary couplings positioned on either first, second or both said rotating members in fluid communication to receive or disperse said hydraulic flow; and
a variable displacement hydraulic mechanism (31) in fluid communication with said rotary couplings and coupled to said second rotating member.
Cl. 2 – a load (see Fig. 5) is coupled to said second member.
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 25 and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saitou as applied to claim 1 in view of Zulu (US 5,396,768).
Saitou discloses and shows the invention of claim 1 as described elsewhere above. Regarding claim 25, Saitou does not include an electric drive motor. However, the use of an electric motor or not is deemed to be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention in lieu of MPEP 2114 (I) which states, "A claim containing a 'recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus' if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural (emphasis added) limitations of the claim". Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987)
Cl. 37 – a third rotary coupling (Zulu, 38) is operably constructed to provide a passage to a reservoir (40) from the positive displacement hydraulic mechanism to accommodate leakages.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 23, 24, 31 and 34-36 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant' s arguments with respect to the rejected claims have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 BOBBY RUSHING, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-0501. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8AM-5PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minnah Seoh can be reached at (571) 270-7778. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BOBBY RUSHING, JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
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