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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Examiner’s Comments
The Examiner notes that the office action below may reference support found in the cited prior art by indicating element numbers, figures or by pointing out a specific paragraph (PAR) number in which support can be found. The PAR number referenced corresponds to paragraph number beginning in the "Detailed Description" of the disclosure unless otherwise noted. The pending claims are 1-12.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-12, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 9,067,666 to Roach et al.
With regard to claims 1-2, Roach discloses the invention substantially as claimed including a container for a flight craft, comprising: a main body (balloon envelope 302, fig. 3) that contains air (amongst other gases, PAR 56) and is airtight against an external space; and a restraining member made of an elastic material having a cage-like structure (fig. 6 better shows an embodiment of balloon envelope 620 restrained by a cage-like structure of horizontal, 612, 614, 616, and vertical, 602, 604, 606, members arranged to cover the main body, PAR 56, discloses the cage-like structure may be made of a flexible material, i.e. elastic); wherein the restraining member restrains a wall of the main body to generate a force that counteracts an inward to outward force that acts on the main body due to a difference between an internal and external pressure during flight. Roach does not explicitly disclose an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the length of a portion of the cage-like restraining member; however, Roach does disclose (PAR 56) that the size and shape of the balloon skirt, i.e. cage-like restraining member, may vary depending upon the particular implementation, i.e. the length of the cage-like structure may be adjusted. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the clamed invention to adjust the length of the cage-like balloon skirt of Roach. A person of ordinary skill would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, for the purpose of providing the best suited size and shape restraining member for the balloon to be implemented.
With regard to claims 3, 8, wherein the restraining member is connected by suspension cables to a buoyancy-generating member which generates buoyancy, or to a lift-generating member which generates lift (PAR 64 discloses an altitude control system).
With regard to claims 4, 9, wherein the restraining member is detachable from the main body (PAR 83 discloses the cage-like restraining member does not need to be rigidly attached to the balloon).
With regard to claims 5, 10, wherein a cushioning member provided between the main body and the restraining member (PAR 90-91 disclose certain horizontal members may include built-in eyelets thereby allowing the vertical members to pass directly through the horizontal members, thus providing “cushioning” space between the vertical members and the balloon).
With regard to claims 6-7, 11-12, wherein a connecting mechanism that connects the restraining member and an object to be positioned outside the main body (PAR 55, fig. 3, disclose the flight craft balloon carrying a payload outside the main balloon body).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to attachment (PTO-892) for notice of references cited and recommended for consideration based on their disclosure of limitations of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Brian Nash whose telephone number is 571-272-4465. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan Newhouse can be reached at 571-272-4544. The official fax number for this Group is: 571-273-8300; Inventor Assistance Center is 800-786-9199.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system; see www.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).
/BRIAN D NASH/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3734
11/17/2025