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 04/29/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 04/29/2026 is acknowledged by the Examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
The indicated allowability of claims 1-2, 18, and 20-21 is withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to SAAB SCANIA AB (GB 1457081). Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow below.
Claims 13-17, and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening 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 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.
(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.
Claims 1-2, 18, and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by SAAB SCANIA AB (GB 1457081).
SAAB SCANIA AB disclose:
1. (Currently Amended) A check valve assembly (figs. 1-2) comprising: a body (1) having a substantially cylindrical exterior surface (as seen in figs. 1-2); a retainer member (either of cylindrical pins 36) having a substantially cylindrical exterior surface; a valve assembly (9, 15, 27) secured between the body member and the retainer member (as seen in figs. 1-2), the valve assembly configured to engage a port (encircled by 6) of the check valve assembly; and a handle (seen in figs. 1-2 extending upward from the top of 1) extending from the exterior surface thereof of the body; wherein the handle is substantially aligned with a center of gravity (C.G. in fig. 2) of the check valve assembly.
2. (Original) The check valve assembly of Claim 1, wherein the valve assembly is a wafer check valve assembly (as seen in fig. 2).
18. (New) The check valve assembly of Claim 2, wherein the handle is integrally formed with the body (as seen in fig. 2).
20. (New) The check valve assembly of Claim 2, wherein the valve assembly includes a disc (9) connected to a shaft (17), the shaft (17) being secured between the body (1) and the retainer member (36)(as seen in fig. 3).
21. (New) The check valve assembly of Claim 20, wherein the shaft is positioned adjacent the handle (17 is positioned next to the top end of the body 1, where the handle is located).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARINA TIETJEN, whose telephone number is 571-270-5422. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (10:30AM-7:00PM CST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Tom Barrett can be reached at 571-272-4746, Ken Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881, and Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. 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). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MARINA A TIETJEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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