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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/8/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claims 24 and 27 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 24, “any one of the preceding claims” should be replaced with --claim 21--.
In claim 27, “any one of the preceding claims” should be replaced with --claim 21,--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 22-31 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.
Claims 22-31 are improperly depending upon cancelled claims.
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 21 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Holmes et al. (US 2017/0248505).
Regarding claim 21, Holmes et al. discloses a wear sensor (see Fig. 12) comprising: a body (element 50, Fig. 5) and formed from a planar sheet of flexible material; a plurality arms (element 52, Fig. 5) being extending outwardly from the body such that the arms are located coplanar with the body (see Fig. 5); and a plurality of conductors (i.e., electrical circuit) extending from the body out along each of the arms; wherein the arms are bendable from the coplanar position to an extended position (see Fig. 10), in which at least a portion of the arms extend perpendicular to the plane of the body to be received within a component such that as the component wears (see Figs. 10 and 12), distal ends of the arms are worn down which can be detected by passing electrical signals along the conductors (see par. [0053]).
Regarding claim 24, Holmes et al. discloses a wear sensor, wherein the arms include a plurality of arms formed extending from a peripheral edge of the body such that the arms are each located parallel to an adjacent portion of the edge of the body (see Fig. 5).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lewis-Gray et al. (US 2022/0003707) discloses a wear sensor system. Goulet et al. (US 2020/0039027) discloses an abrasive article including a wear detection sensor. Radziszewski et al. (US 7,677,079) discloses a sensor for detecting erosion of a wear surface of a component.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MILTON GONZALEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-7914. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, WALTER LINDSAY can be reached at (571) 272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/WALTER L LINDSAY JR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2852
/M.G/Examiner, Art Unit 2852
6/21/2026
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