DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of figure 7A in the reply filed on 5/22/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the generic claim possesses a special technical feature not found in Porte 2017/0096238. This is not found persuasive because the special technical feature was amended into the independent claim from a dependent claim drawn to elected species of figure 7A, and is not present in the species of figures 9, 11, and 14. Claims 4, 6, and 7 have not been withdrawn because the claims are now drawn to structure from two distinct species and have rejected for the reasons stated in the instant office action.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the cowl and gas generator mounted between the internal and external surfaces of the fixed structure (combination of figures 7A and 14); the tank being both radially outward of the cowl and the second thermal protection fully delimiting the enclosure for housing the extinguisher (combination of figures 7A and 9); and the cowl delimiting the at least two extinguishers with the same injection point (combination of figures 7A and 11) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the level” is believed to be in error for --a level--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the pressurized extinguishing agent” is believed to be in error for --the extinguishing agent pressurized by the piston--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 4, 6, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
In claim 4, the combination of limitations including both “a cowl for accessing the extinguisher” and “the gas generator … between the internal surface and an external surface of the fixed structure”, was not previously claimed or disclosed, rendering the combination of limitations new matter. Figure 7A discloses a cowl (42), and figure 14 discloses the gas generator (34) between the surfaces; however, no embodiment disclosed includes both features.
Claim 6 defines the cowl as the part of the second thermal protection located at a position radially inward of the tank. Figure 9 and the specification disclose that the second thermal protection including a cowl (42) surrounds the entirety of the extinguisher, not only a portion of the extinguisher as claimed, rendering the limitation new matter. It has not been previously claimed or disclosed that when the second thermal protection fully encloses the extinguisher, only a portion of the second thermal protection comprises the cowl.
Claim 7 recites the limitation “the cowl is configured to at least partially delimit the enclosure suitable for housing all or part of each of the at least two extinguisher”. Figure 11 and the specification only disclose that the thermal protection (4) delimits the enclosure for housing the extinguishers, not a cowl separate from the thermal protection, rendering the limitation new matter. There is not an embodiment disclosed that includes two extinguishers being radially outward of a cowl.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3 and 8-10 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: prior art fails to teach, in combination with the other limitations of the independent claim, that a cowl for accessing an extinguisher at least partially delimits an enclosure suitable for housing all or part of the extinguisher, the tank being radially inward of the internal surface of the fixed structure and radially outward of the cowl.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN M SUTHERLAND whose telephone number is (571)270-1902. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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/STEVEN M SUTHERLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
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