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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action responds to the amendment filed on 08/10/2026. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application. No Claims have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 2-6, filed on 08/10/2026, with respect to the rejection of the claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. Upon further consideration, a new rejections have been applied in new references as indicated in the below rejection.
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(s) 1-5, 12, 14-17, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CHIBA et al. (US 2024/0280122).
With regards to claim 1:
CHIBA et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 1-2 below) an object surface structure (1) for reducing fluid resistance and rectifying fluid, comprising a basic surface(12) of an object and an arc protrusion (11) on the basic surface, wherein the arc protrusion (11) is a rotatable arc protrusion or a fixed arc protrusion; the basic surface is provided with a pit, the rotatable arc protrusion is an arc-shaped part where a rotatable object with an arc-shaped surface in the pit is exposed outside the pit; the fixed arc protrusion is an arc-shaped object fixed on the basic surface, or is an arc-shaped protrusion part integrated with the basic surface; and a plurality of arc protrusions are arranged on the basic surface and distributed in an array.
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Fig. 1
With regards to claim 2:
CHIBA et al. discloses the surface structure of claim 1, wherein the basic surface (12) is a flat or/and smooth surface, or/and a streamlined shape.
With regards to claim 3:
CHIBA et al. discloses the surface structure of claim 1, wherein the arc protrusions (11) have equal heights or equal height differences, or/and a line connecting the highest points of the plurality of arc protrusions in a same direction is a straight line or streamlined line; the height of the arc protrusions is a relative height between the highest point of an outer surface of the arc protrusion relative to the basic surface and the basic surface.
With regards to claim 4:
CHIBA et al. discloses the surface structure of claim 1, wherein the arc protrusions are any one or a combination of a matrix layout, a quincunx layout, a matrix supplementary layout and a quincunx supplementary layout; the matrix layout is that each arc protrusion on the basic surface is both a unit of each row of arc protrusions and a unit of each line of arc protrusions, the quincunx layout is that the arc protrusions on even-numbered lines and the arc protrusions on odd-numbered lines are located on different arc protrusion rows in respective, the matrix supplementary layout is that another arc protrusion fitting with the basic surface between the adjacent arc protrusions is supplemented among four adjacent arc protrusions in the matrix layout, and the quincunx supplementary layout is that another arc protrusion fitting with the basic surface between the adjacent arc protrusions is supplemented among three adjacent arc protrusions in the quincunx layout.
With regards to claim 5:
CHIBA et al. discloses the surface structure of claim 4, wherein the arc protrusion rows of the matrix layout, quincunx layout, matrix supplementary layout and quincunx supplementary layout are parallel to a line formed by the fluid projected on the surface of the object in relative to a relative movement direction of the object, the arc protrusion lines of the matrix layout, quincunx layout, matrix supplementary layout and quincunx supplementary layout are perpendicular to the line formed by the fluid projected on the surface of the object in relative to a relative movement direction of the object; and the relative movement direction is the object moving in a single direction or a direction pointed by a resultant force of a multi-directional acting force generated by a plurality of relative movement directions of the object moving in a plurality of directions.
With regards to claim 12:
CHIBA et al. discloses the surface structure of claim 1, wherein a shape of the fixed arc protrusion (11) is the shape of any one of two structural bodies, formed in a manner that any shape in an ellipsoid, a cylinder, a combination of the cylinder and the sphere, a combination of the cone and the sphere and a combination of the cone and the cylinder is transversely cut by the surface having the same shape with the basic surface where the fixed arc protrusions are located.
With regards to claim 14:
CHIBA et al. discloses the surface structure of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of parallel faces, inclined faces and curved face units, and connecting lines between the cambered surfaces of the adjacent arc protrusions (11) in a relative movement direction of the object and the highest point of the basic surface where the arc protrusion is located is hereinafter referred to as the adjacent convex top connecting lines; the parallel face here means that the connecting lines of the adjacent convex tops of the ball protrusion on the surface are on the same plane and the plane is parallel to the moving direction of the object relative to the fluid, the inclined surface means that the connecting lines of the adjacent convex tops of the ball protrusion on the surface are on the same plane and the plane is not parallel to the moving direction of the object relative to the fluid, the curved face unit means that the connecting lines of the adjacent convex tops of the ball protrusion on the surface are on different planes and the included angles in the same direction of the adjacent planes are equal; an acute angle between the inclined face facing the relative movement direction of fluid and the adjacent convex top connecting lines of the adjacent curved face unit at the adjacent junction is greater than 0° and less than 5°; and an acute angle between the inclined face facing the relative movement direction of fluid and the adjacent convex top connecting lines of the adjacent parallel faces at the adjacent junction is greater than 0° and less than 5°; or an acute angle between the parallel face and the adjacent inclined face facing away from the relative movement direction of fluid is greater than 0° and less than 5°, or an acute angle between the parallel face and the curved face unit facing away from the relative movement direction of fluid is greater than 0° and less than 5°; or the acute angle between the inclined face facing away from the relative movement direction of fluid and the adjacent convex top connecting lines of the curved face unit facing away from the relative movement direction of fluid at the adjacent junction is greater than 0° and less than 5°.
With regards to claim 15:
CHIBA et al. discloses the surface structure of claim 14, wherein a quantity of the arc protrusions on each parallel face, inclined face and the curved face units is greater than or equal to 10.
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Fig. 2
With regards to claim 16:
CHIBA et al. discloses the surface structure of claim 14, wherein an obtuse angle between the adjacent convex top connecting lines of the curved face unit is greater than 175° and less than 180°.
With regards to claim 17:
In making and/or using the device of CHIBA et al., one would necessarily perform method for preparing the object surface structure of claim 1, comprising: manufacturing a covering with the arc protrusion, and covering the covering on the surface of the target object to realize the formation of the surface structure of the target object.
With regards to claim 20:
CHIBA et al. discloses the method of claim 17, wherein the covering is a preset uniform size covering, or a covering designed for the whole surface of the target object, or a covering with a particular size for the surface of a part of the target object.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-11, 13, and 18-19 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Minh Le, whose telephone number is 571-270-3805. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (8:30AM-5:00PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881 or Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MINH Q LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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