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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 15, 25, 27 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Caretta et al. (US 2009/0211684 A1; newly cited and applied; hereinafter “Caretta”).
Regarding claim 15, Caretta, in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, discloses an apparatus for a single-track motor vehicle, comprising: a disc wheel 1, wherein the single-track motor vehicle includes a wheel hub (labeled in reproduced and annotated Fig. 2 provided below) configured to assemble the disc wheel on the vehicle (evident from Fig. 2), the wheel hub being disposed concentrically with a rotation axis of the disc wheel (evident from Fig. 2), a wheel rim (labeled in reproduced and annotated Fig. 2 provided below) which is likewise concentric with the rotation axis (evident from Fig. 2), and a first and a second wheel disc (labeled in reproduced and annotated Fig. 2 provided below), wherein the first wheel disc and the second wheel disc are configured on the wheel rim so as to be mutually spaced apart in a transverse direction parallel to the rotation axis of the disc wheel, and extend from the wheel rim in the direction of the wheel hub (Fig. 2), the wheel discs converge in the direction of the wheel hub and are connected to one another in such a manner that at least one cavity 4 between the wheel discs and the wheel rim is formed (Fig. 2), and at least one cutout (unlabeled opening in rim connected to internal duct 6 as shown in Fig. 2) toward the at least one cavity is formed in a rim well of the wheel rim (Fig. 2), wherein at least one reinforcement rib (thickened portion of first wheel disc in which internal duct 6 is formed as shown in Fig. 2) forms a rib cavity 6 which is open toward the wheel rim (Fig. 2), wherein an opening (labeled opening in reproduced and annotated Fig. 2 provided below which receives valve 5) which leads to the rib cavity of the at least one reinforcement rib and in which a valve 5 is received is provided in one of the two wheel discs (Fig. 2).
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Regarding claim 25, Caretta further discloses the at least one cavity is formed between two respective adjacent reinforcement ribs (implicit circumferentially spaced walls of the spoke that define the circumferential boundaries of the tank 4 along the spokes as evident from Figs. 1 and 2) of the at least two reinforcement ribs, wherein a rib cutout (not shown but implicit from Fig. 1 that a cutout would be present to allow air introduced through the inflating valve 19 in a first spoke to be fluidly connected to the valve 5 and internal duct 6 in an adjacent second spoke as shown in Fig. 1 and evident from paragraphs [0071], [0109] and [0110]) is formed in the respective reinforcement rib.
Regarding claim 27, Caretta further discloses at least two spokes (unlabeled, but shown in Fig. 1) which extend from the first wheel disc and the second wheel disc to the wheel hub and connect those to one another (Fig. 1), wherein the spokes are disposed so as to be uniformly distributed about the rotation axis of the disc wheel (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 28, Caretta further discloses the disc wheel is integrally configured (evident from Fig. 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-23 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
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 KIP T KOTTER whose telephone number is (571)272-7953. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30-6 EST Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Samuel (Joe) J Morano can be reached at (571)272-6684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Kip T Kotter/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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