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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/15/2026 has been entered.
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) 6, 7, 9-10, and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Groninga (US PgPub #2018/0354615).
For Claim 6, the figures and paragraph [0022 and 0033] of Groninga ‘615 disclose an aerial vehicle (10) comprising: a fuselage (12) having a nose end and a tail end; a first wing member (22a) extending from the fuselage in a first direction, the first wing member comprising: a first drive motor (32) coupled to a first rotor (38); a second wing member (22b) extending from the fuselage in a third direction substantially opposite the first wing member, the second wing member comprising a fourth drive motor (32) coupled to a fourth rotor (38); a first wing rotation motor coupled to rotate the first wing member and the first rotor about a first axis substantially perpendicular to a fuselage axis extending from the nose end to the tail end; and a second wing rotation motor coupled to rotate the second wing member and the fourth rotor about a second axis substantially perpendicular to the fuselage axis; and a controller circuit (60) configured to differentially actuate the first wing rotation motor and the second wing rotation motor; operate the aerial vehicle in a first control mode when the aerial vehicle is above a threshold altitude; and operate the aerial vehicle in a second control mode when the aerial vehicle is below the threshold altitude.
For Claim 7, the figures and paragraph [0022 and 0033] of Groninga ‘615 disclose that the controller circuit is further configured to: operate the aerial vehicle in a first control mode when the aerial vehicle is above a threshold altitude; and operate the aerial vehicle in a second control mode when the aerial vehicle is below the threshold altitude.
For Claims 9-10 and 12-13, the figures and paragraph [0022, 0025, 0029, and 0033] of Groninga ‘615 disclose that the both variable rotor speeds and constant rotor speeds with variable pitch can be used to control the thrust strength of each rotor.
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) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Groninga (US PgPub #2018/0354615) in view of Reichert (US PgPub #2018/0044011).
For Claim 1, the figures and paragraph [0022 and 0033] of Groninga ‘615 disclose an aerial vehicle (10) comprising: a fuselage (12) having a nose end and a tail end; a first wing member (22a) extending from the fuselage in a first direction , the first wing member comprising: a first drive motor (32) coupled to a first rotor (38); a second drive motor (32) coupled to a second rotor (38); and a third drive motor (32) coupled to a third rotor (38); a second wing member (22b) extending from the fuselage in a third direction substantially opposite the first wing member, the second wing member comprising: a fourth drive motor (32) coupled to a fourth rotor (38); a fifth drive motor (32) coupled to a fifth rotor (38); and a sixth drive motor (32) coupled to a sixth rotor (38); a first wing rotation motor coupled to rotate the first wing member and the first rotor about a first axis substantially perpendicular to a fuselage axis extending from the nose end to the tail end; a second wing rotation motor coupled to rotate the second wing member and the fourth rotor about a second axis substantially perpendicular to the fuselage axis; and a controller circuit (60) configured to differentially actuate the first wing rotation motor and the second wing rotation motor.
While Groninga ‘615 discloses that the wing member is y-shaped it is silent about it being t-shaped as claimed. However, the figures of Reichert ‘011 disclose multiple embodiments of different wing and rotor combinations including figure 8, embodiment (800) that teaches a wing design that has a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the first wing member and the third drive motor are positioned between the first drive motor and the second drive motor, and wherein in a fourth direction perpendicular to the third direction, the second wing member and the sixth drive motor are positioned between the third drive motor and the fourth drive motor. Therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Groninga ‘615 with the specific wing and rotor arrangement of Reichert ‘011. The motivation to do so would be to use a well known wing and rotor layout that provides a desired thrust.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-7, filed 1/15/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 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 Groninga ‘615.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
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/PHILIP J BONZELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642 2/24/2026