DETAILED ACTION
The Office acknowledges receipt of the Applicant’s response filed 27 July 2026.
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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because new figs. 4B-C disclose features not previously disclosed. In particular, the curved and dome-shaped nature of the lower end of the rear wall was not previously disclosed. While this is a type of profile for the lower wall that could exist, it is one among many that would still allow the device to function. The original disclosure is silent as to the precise nature of the geometry of the lower end of the rear wall. By introducing these figures which show a specific geometry which was not previously disclosed, the Applicant is attempting to add new matter to the disclosure. 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.
Specification
The amendment filed 27 July 2026 is objected to under 35 U.S.C. 132(a) because it introduces new matter into the disclosure. 35 U.S.C. 132(a) states that no amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention. The added material which is not supported by the original disclosure is as follows: The specification now references figures which are deemed to introduce new matter as detailed above. Additionally, the specification now adds descriptive language including the terms “half-dome cross-sectional shape with a varying cross-sectional area moving from one side wall to the other” which was not previously described and which provides for specific features not previously disclosed.
Applicant is required to cancel the new matter in the reply to this Office Action.
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 1-4, 7, 9-13 and 23-28 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.
Regarding claim 1 and claim 25, the claims recite, “wherein the first lower end of the rear wall is curved relative to the flow surface of the flow-surface wall as the rear wall extends between the pair of side walls such that the throat opening has a varying cross-sectional area moving from one side wall to the other side wall of the pair of side walls” and “wherein a lower end of the rear wall is spaced apart from the flow-surface wall to define a throat opening of the material-storage region therebetween, the lower end being curved relative to the flow-surface wall as the rear wall extends between the pair of side walls such that the throat opening has a varying cross-sectional area moving from one side wall to the other side wall of the pair of side walls.” (Emphasis added)
The original disclose makes no mention of the lower end of the rear wall being curved or having a varying cross-section. It would be possible for the opening of the original disclosure to be polygonal (e.g. trapezoid) utilizing straight lines without any curve and which would not constantly vary the cross-sectional area moving from one side to the other. By reciting a specific geometry for the lower end of the rear wall and the opening the Applicant is introducing a new limitation that was not previously disclosed.
Claims 2-4, 7, 9-13, 23-24 and 26-28 all depend on a parent claim rejected for having new matter and thus all stand rejected for containing that same new matter.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 27 July 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant’s arguments rely on amendments which are deemed to introduce new matter and thus the claims have been rejected under 35 USC 112a.
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 ANDREW M TECCO whose telephone number is (571)270-3694. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11a-7p.
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, Anna Kinsaul can be reached at (571) 270-1926. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW M TECCO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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