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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of the invention I, corresponding to claims 16-17 and Figures 1-11 in the reply filed on 07/13/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/13/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 16, the first paragraph, as the preamble is written, it appears that a drill bit is already formed. Thus, it is unclear what the step of grinding a point thinning …is for. If an art has the step of grinding “a point thinning at the tool tip with a grinding tool having an axis of rotation” for re-sharpening the tool bit, it meets the claimed invention, right? See MPEP. 2111.02 “Effect of Preamble”. If this method is for producing a drill bit from a blank or a rod, it should have a step of providing a rod body, and then the step of grinding….see the interpretation in the rejections below.
For examination purposes, as best understood, Examiner is interpreting the “issues above” as below and all claims dependent from claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being dependent from the rejected parent claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonfiglio et al (US 11117200) hereinafter Bonfiglio in view of Tempelmeier (US 10335866).
Regarding claims 16-17, Bonfiglio teaches a method for producing a drill bit, the method comprising:
providing a blank body (prior to make structures of the bit);
forming the drill bit (110, Figure 1) that has a front end (tip of the bit 110) at the front and a rear end (the end opposites the tip) at the rear, wherein a tool tip is formed at the front end (Figure 3 shows structures of the tip),
grinding (cutting) a point thinning at the tool tip (152, Figure 3), wherein, in a single grinding pass (cutting pass) at an angle (a wider angle at the reference “152” in Figure 3) with respect to the straight grinding path,
then reducing the angle toward the front end of the drill bit until the rotation axis (see the narrow end of the thinned region 152 towards to the tip).
wherein the point thinning is ground with a constant point-thinning angle with respect to a longitudinal axis (114) of the drill bit (see the angle formed by a flute 122 and a rotation axis 114, Figure 1, is constant).
Bonfiglio shows the point thinning or formed a drill bit, but it is unclear whether Bonfiglio uses a grinding tool or not.
Tempelmeier teaches a method of producing a drill bit (see the tittle and Figures 1-2) including positioned a grind wheel (11, Figures 1-3, there are 2 positions of the grinder K1, K2) to grind flutes (12A, 12B) to a flute depth (T, Figure 3) and thinning a grill bit tip (Figure 1) in a single grinding pass (see Figure 1) of a grinding tool (11) that is guided along a straight grinding path (see Figure 1, a path orthogonal to a rotation axis A) in which the grinding tool is initially placed at an angle with respect to the straight grinding path.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the method of Bonfiglio to use a grinding tool to form structures of a drill bit, as taught by Tempelmeier, in order to provide a specific grinding tool for grinding or thinning a tip point and flutes (Figures 1-3 of Tempelmeier).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. CN 102909612 A; EP 1230058 B1 teach a method of producing a drill bit by using a grinding tool.
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/NHAT CHIEU Q DO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3724 9/21/2026
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