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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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 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.
Claim (s) 41-42 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Christiansen et al. (CN 109779829A) Christiansen.
Regarding claim 41, Christiansen discloses a premanufactured elongate fibre-reinforced composite element (see beam 18 and 19 in Fig.3) for being incorporated into a wind turbine blade shell (see 11 and 12;Fig.3), comprising:- a blade component (18 and 19) extending along a longitudinal axis of the premanufactured composite element, the blade component comprising one or more carbon fibre structures (18 and 19; see “ the beam can comprise carbon fiber and/or may be, for example, sparcap. In particular, the beam can be made of composite material, in particular of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) material, wherein, it can, for example, only to realize the conductivity by carbon fibre. Further, the beam can be first beam and/or first sparcap”), and- an elongate metallic element (metal material between 22 and 19 in Fig.5; see ‘the plate layer for attachment to the beam by means of the conductive layer, the conductive layer, especially a metal layer and a carbon plate layer portion or mixed carbon-carbon-metallic metal pad”) arranged in direct contact with the blade component (18 and 19).
Regarding claim 42, Christiansen discloses wherein the blade component is a spar cap(see 18 and 19) for a wind turbine blade shell and the elongate metallic element is a metal strip (see 21) extending substantially along an entire length of the spar cap (see 21 in Fig.7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 23-40 are allowed over prior art of record.
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claims 23-40, The prior art of record neither anticipates norrenders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole eithertaken alone or in combination, in particular, prior art of record does not teach" a first blade component extending along a longitudinal axis of the blade and comprising one or more first carbon fibre structures, the first blade component being at least partially embedded in the first blade shell part,- a first elongate metallic element arranged in direct contact with the first blade component, at least part of the first elongate metallic element being positioned between the first blade component and an outer surface of the first blade shell part,and - a first lightning receptor arranged in electrical contact with the first elongate metallic element and extending to or near an outer surface of the first blade shell part, wherein the first lightning receptor does not extend through the first blade component " in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim 23.
Therefore, prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious the instantapplication claimed invention as a whole either taken alone or in combination.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no laterthan the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferablyaccompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled "Comments onStatement of Reasons for Allowance."
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETE LEE whose telephone number is (571) 270-5921. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (2nd & 4th Friday Off). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Timothy Dole can be reached at (571) 272-2229 The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/PETE T LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2848
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