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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 28 April 2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-20 are pending in the application. Claim 1 has been amended.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, lines 11-12, “comprising motor housing having cylindrical shape and a bearing housing having a disc shape and disposed on side in the shaft direction of the motor housing” should read:
--comprising a motor housing having a cylindrical shape and a bearing housing having a disc shape that is disposed on a side of the motor housing in the shaft direction--.
In claim 1, line 14, “heel side cooling water passage” should read --wheel side cooling water passage--.
In claim 1, line 15, “the coil ends of the stator coils” should read –[[the]] coil ends of the stator coil[[s]]--.1
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 1, lines 15-17, the limitation “at least a portion of it overlaps with the stator coils in the radial direction of the rotating shaft.” is indefinite for at least two reasons: 1) The term “it” lacks sufficient antecedent basis in the claims because the term it is not clear which previously recited element is being referenced, and 2) the phrase “overlaps with the stator coils in the radial direction of the rotating shaft” is indefinite because it is not clear what parts of the previously recited element overlaps in the radial direction because, under the broadest reasonable interpretation of the term, “the radial direction” can indicate the direction facing the shaft or a direction coextensive with the shaft axis when viewed from those perspectives. These issues render the metes and bounds of the claim subject to uncertainty. One suggestion to overcome this rejection is to amend the claim as follows:
-- at least a portion of the wheel side cooling water passage extends perpendicularly with respect to shaft axis overlapping with the stator coil in the radial direction of the rotating shaft --.
Correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record either alone or in combination does not teach or fairly suggest the electric compressor of claim 1 and dependents including each recited limitation provided that it is amended to recite the wheel side cooling water passage positioned inside the bearing housing with respect to the stator coils in the manner indicated in the aforesaid 35 U.S.C.112(b) rejection statement, supra.
It is the Examiner’s opinion that modifying the available prior art in the manner claimed would not be reasonably foreseeable without benefit of the disclosure of the instant invention.
Applicant’s remarks from pp. 7-8 of the response filed 28 April 2026 are hereby incorporated into these reasons for allowance.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to 35 U.S.C.102 rejections over Thompson have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections have been withdrawn.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNETH J HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6780. The examiner can normally be reached Monday Friday 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM (MT).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Laurenzi can be reached at (571) 270-7878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KENNETH J HANSEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
1 Applicant is kindly requested to carefully review these objections and amend the claims accordingly. These objections were first presented in the previous Final Office-action.
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