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 .
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Arii et al. (US Patent No. 5408948).
Regarding claim 1, Arii, teaches a hydrofoil vehicle comprising a frame and at least one foil (Figures 1-3), the vehicle comprising a moveable control surface (elements 5, 6) configured to control a pitch of the vehicle (Col 2, lines 24-48), in use, the vehicle further comprising a locking mechanism for restricting movement of the control surface when the vehicle is not foiling (Figures 1-3. Col 2, lines 24-48).
Regarding claim 2, Arii teaches the invention in claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism activates automatically when the hydrofoil vehicle is not foiling (Col. 4, lines 6-26).
Regarding claim 12, Arii teaches the invention in claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism can be manually activated by a user (Col. 4, lines 6-26).
Examiner’s note: Independent claim 1 is written broadly such that the claims would also be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 and/or 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over at least the following documents:
Korotkov et al. (US Patent No. 3812806)- Abstract. Figure 1, elements 6 and 10.
Jalala (US Patent No. 11242115) – Figures 1, 6A-6C, 7A-7B elements 606, 613, 615, 717-719.
Shutt (US Patent No. 4711195 A) – Figures 1, 9A-9B. element 65 and unlabeled control surface in Figures 9.
Claim(s) 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Shutt (US Patent No. 4711195 A).
Regarding claim 1, Shutt teaches a hydrofoil vehicle comprising a frame (Figures 1-2, 9A-9B), a front foil connected to the frame (element 60) and a rear foil connected to the frame (element 4), wherein one of the foils is pivotable relative to the frame about a transverse axis (element 4), wherein the angle of the pivotable foil is controllable by a hydrodynamic self-adjusting pitch control mechanism (Figure 2), the vehicle further comprising a locking mechanism (element 65) configured to limit angular movement of the pivotable foil relative to the frame when the vehicle is being launched (as depicted in Figure 9A).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-11 and 14 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.
Conclusion
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/JUSTIN MICHAEL HESTON/Examiner, Art Unit 3644
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