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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/20/2026 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 4/20/2026. These drawings are acceptable.
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 gyroscopic disc of Claim 59 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 56 objected to because of the following informalities: “at least propulsion arrangement” in line 4 should be amended to --at least one propulsion arrangement-- and “at least one arrangement” in line 5 should be amended to --at least one propulsion arrangement-- so as to maintain consistent term language. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 56, 58, 60, 62-63, 66-68, 70, 72-74, and 77-79 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Cvrlje (US PgPub #2014/0151494).
For Claim 56, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses an aerial vehicle comprising: an annular airframe (2); a cockpit (31) located within a concentric annulus of annular airframe; at least one propulsion arrangement (13 and 24) mounted to the annular airframe, the at least one propulsion arrangement being configured for providing thrust to the aerial vehicle; and a gyroscopic stabilization assembly (26) including at least one rotatable gyroscopic member located centrally within the annular airframe of the aerial vehicle.
For Claim 58, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the at least one rotatable gyroscopic member comprises a gyroscopic fan with a plurality of pivotally adjustable fan blades (27), and a pitch of the adjustable fan blades is adjustable.
For Claim 60, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 disclose that the vehicle further comprises at least one controller for controlling operation of the aerial vehicle.
For Claim 62, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the annular airframe defines a central aperture and the at least one rotatably gyroscopic member is located in the central aperture.
For Claim 63, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the gyroscopic stabilization assembly includes a plurality of parallel gyroscopic members.
For Claim 66, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the aerial vehicle is configured to be operated from piloted operation.
For Claim 67, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the aerial vehicle includes a support structure (40) coupled to the propulsion arrangement (24) and configured for controlling the direction of the thrust of the propulsion arrangement.
For Claim 68, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the at least one propulsion arrangement includes an airflow directing assembly (45) arranged adjacent to a thrust outlet and configured to direct the thrust of the at least one propulsion arrangement.
For Claim 70, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the cockpit is a fixed attachment to the annular airframe.
For Claim 72, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the at least one propulsion arrangement (13) comprises a centrally located propulsion arrangement, and the centrally located propulsion arrangement includes an axis of rotation that is concentric with an axis of rotation of the at least one rotatable gyroscopic member (26).
For Claims 73 and 74, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the at least one rotatable gyroscopic member (26) is powered from a central hub (19).
For Claim 77, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the annular airframe comprises an annular fuselage, the annular fuselage defining an annular cabin forming an internal area of the annular fuselage.
For Claim 78, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the at least one propulsion arrangement is configured for varying the direction of thrust downwardly for vertical take-off and landing ability as well as for providing horizontal thrust for moving the annular airframe horizontally.
For Claim 79, figure 4 of Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the at least one propulsion arrangement is fixedly mounted to the annular airframe.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 59, 61, 65, and 68 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cvrlje (US PgPub #2014/0151494).
For Claim 59, while Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the gyroscopic member includes fan blades, it is silent about it being a disc. However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that it is well known in the art to use discs to help stabilize a system and they are less complicated. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Cvrlje ‘494 with a known gyroscopic disc. The motivation to do so would be to simplify the system.
For Claim 61, while Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the at least one propulsion arrangement (24) rotates about an axis of rotation and the at least one rotatable gyroscopic member (26) rotates about an axis of rotation such that the axis of rotation of the at least one propulsion arrangement and the at least one rotatable gyroscopic member are traverse to each other, it is silent about the at least one propulsion arrangement being pivotable so as to be parallel to the gyroscopic member. However, the Examiner takes Official Notice that it is well known in the to have pivoting propulsion arrangements so as to be able to vector the thrust to provide vertical take off and landing. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Cvrlje ‘494 with a well known pivotable propulsion assembly. The motivation to do so would be to provide vectorable thrust to assist with vertical takeoff.
For Claim 65, while Cvrlje ‘494 is silent about attachment points for attaching adjacent similar vehicles, the Examiner takes Official Notice that it is well known in the art to have tandem vehicles that can be attached in flight for joint flying. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Cvrlje ‘494 with the well known attachment points. The motivation to do so would be to allow for tandem flying where the vehicles can support one another.
Claim(s) 75 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cvrlje (US PgPub #2014/0151494) as applied to claim 58 above, and further in view of Sanders (US Patent #7249732).
For Claim 75, while Cvrlje ‘494 discloses that the plurality of pivotally adjustable fan blades of the rotatable gyroscopic member is driven by a drive assembly (18), the drive assembly being configured to impart rotational movement to the at least one rotatable gyroscopic member, it is silent about it being a radially distal fan blade drive assembly. However, figures 1a-4c of Sanders ‘732 teaches a gyroscopic member that is driven by a radially distal fan blade drive assembly (23 and 25) driving rotational movement of the distal radial ends of the fan blades. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Cvrlje ‘494 with the fan drive of Sanders ‘732. The motivation to do so would be to provide a frictionless drive assembly that reduces noise.
Claim(s) 76 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cvrlje (US PgPub #2014/0151494) as applied to claim 56 above, and further in view of Ward (US Patent #3481405).
For Claim 76, while Cvrlje ‘494 providing additional stabilization and thrust to the aerial vehicle it is silent about fire suppression. However, the figures of Ward ‘405 teach moving an aerial vehicle to point the thrust unit at a fire so as to suppress the fire and control the vehicle to have a control flight to maintain a position for fire suppression. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Cvrlje ‘494 with the method of using thrust to suppress fires as taught by Ward ‘405. The motivation to do so would be to provide fire safety.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 10-15, filed 4/20/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 56 under 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Cvrlje ‘494.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILIP J BONZELL whose telephone number is (571)270-3663. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5.
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/PHILIP J BONZELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642 5/12/2026
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