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 Objections
Claim 40 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 2 should read - - spaces - - instead of “paces”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 24, 25, 28, 37 and 40 – 45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bourderionnet (FR 2 766 870).
With respect to claims 24 and 43, Bourderionnet teaches a pressure controlling structure (Fig.14 2/2) comprising a first wall (Fig.14 2/2, Item A) extending from an inlet opening at least in a first direction and at least partly defining a first space extending in a direction parallel to the first direction (Fig.14 2/2); at least one first opening (Fig.14 2/2, circular elements in Item A) provided in the first wall, the first opening having a first cross- sectional area and the first opening connecting the first space to a second space, wherein the second space is provided on the opposite side of the first wall in relation to the first space; at least two first side walls (Fig.14 2/2, Items P) extending from the first wall in a direction at an angle greater than zero in relation to the first wall; a second wall (Fig.14 2/2, Item N) extending between the two first side walls; at least two second openings (Fig.14 2/2, circular elements in Item N), each of the second openings having a second cross- sectional area, and the second openings connecting the second space to a third space, wherein the third space is provided on an opposite side of the second wall in relation to the second space, wherein the second openings are greater in number than the first openings (Fig.14 2/2), the second cross-sectional area of each second opening is smaller than the first cross-sectional area of each first opening (Specification: Text related to Tube N), and a combined cross-sectional area of all of the second openings is larger than a combined cross-sectional area of all of the first openings; at least two second side walls (fig.14 2/2, Items P) extending from the second wall in a direction at an angle greater than zero in relation to the second wall; a third wall (Fig.14 2/2, Item O) extending between the at least two second side walls; and at least three third openings (Fig.14 2/2, circular elements in Item O), each of the third openings having a third cross-sectional area, and the third openings connect the third space to a fourth space, wherein the fourth space is provided on the opposite side of the third wall in relation to the third space, wherein the third openings are greater in the number than the second openings (Fig.14 2/2), the third cross-sectional area of each third opening is smaller than the second cross-sectional area of each second opening (Specification: Text related to Tube O), and a combined cross-sectional area of all the third openings is larger than a combined cross-sectional area of all the second openings.
With respect to claim 25, Bourderionnet teaches wherein the volume of the third space (Fig.14 2/2, volume inside Item O) is larger than the volume of the second space (Fig.14 2/2, volume inside Item N).
With respect to claim 28, Bourderionnet teaches wherein the first wall (Fig.14 2/2, Item A), the two first side walls (Fig.14 2/2, Items P) and the second wall (Fig.14 2/2, Item N) define the second space and/or the second wall (Fig.14 2/2, Item N), the two second side walls (Fig.14 2/2, Items P) and the third wall (Fig.14 2/2, Item O) define the third space.
With respect to claim 37, Bourderionnet teaches wherein the pressure controlling structure is formed as a single uniform structural part (Fig.14 2/2).
With respect to claim 40, Bourderionnet teaches further comprising spaces provided between the first space and an outermost space (Fig.14 2/2).
With respect to claims 41 and 42, Bourderionnet teaches wherein at least the first openings and the second openings are spread evenly along 360 degrees of a circumference surrounding the first space and the second space such that pressure provided in the first space can be dispersed evenly outwards from the first space and wherein the first cross-sectional area of each first opening is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the first space, and the combined cross-sectional area of all the first openings along the 360 degrees circumference and provided, in each case, between two adjacent first side walls in the first direction is larger than the cross-sectional area of the first space (Specification: Text related to Tubes A, N and O).
With respect to claims 44 and 45, Bourderionnet inherently teaches a method for controlling pressure wherein the method comprises dampening a sound caused by a pressure entering the pressure controlling structure in the first direction through an inlet opening provided at a first end of the pressure controlling structure by dispersing the pressure from a first space outwards in a radial direction (Specification: Text related to Tubes A, N and O).
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.
Claims 26, 27, 29, 34, 35, 38 and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bourderionnet (FR 2 766 870) in view of Poling (US 11,378,348).
With respect to claim 26, Bourderionnet teaches the limitations already discussed in a previous rejection, but fails to disclose comprising at least one first dividing wall extending from the first wall in a direction at an angle greater than zero in relation to the first wall on the side of the first wall opposite to the first space and also extending in a direction parallel to the first direction.
On the other hand, Poling teaches a pressure controlling structure comprising a first wall (Fig.4, Items 76) extending from an inlet opening at least in a first direction and at least partly defining a first space extending in a direction parallel to the first direction; at least one first opening (Fig.4, Item 78) provided in the first wall, the first opening having a first cross- sectional area and the first opening connecting the first space to a second space, wherein the second space is provided on the opposite side of the first wall in relation to the first space; at least two first side walls (Fig.4, Items 72 and 74) extending from the first wall in a direction at an angle greater than zero in relation to the first wall and at least one first dividing wall (Figs.4 and 5, Item 80) extending from the first wall in a direction at an angle greater than zero in relation to the first wall on the side of the first wall opposite to the first space and also extending in a direction parallel to the first direction (Figs.4 and 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the Poling dividing wall with the Bourderionnet design because it would create chambers that could be tuned to different frequency ranges broadening and improving the acoustic performance of the device.
With respect to claims 27, 29 and 38, the obvious combination of Bourderionnet in view of Poling teach comprising at least one second dividing wall extending from the second wall in a direction at an angle greater than zero in relation to the second wall on the side of the second wall opposite to the second space and also extending in a direction parallel to the first direction and wherein the first wall, the two first side walls, the at least one first dividing wall and the second wall define the second space and/or the second wall, the two second side walls, the at least one second dividing wall and the third wall define the third space (Bourderionnet: Fig.14 2/2 and Poling: Figs.4 and 5).
With respect to claims 34 and 35, Poling teaches wherein the pressure controlling structure is formed of at least two parts (Fig.4, Items 12 and 14) split in a direction transverse to the first direction, wherein each part comprises at least one first side wall; and wherein each part comprises two or more first side walls forming two or more second spaces adjacent to each other in the first direction in the part (Figs.4 and 5).
With respect to claim 39, Bourderionnet teaches the pressure controlling structure having a first area (Fig.14 2/2, Items A, N, O and P) exhibiting a first airflow profile and a second area (Fig.14 2/2, Item E) exhibiting a second different airflow profile. The Examiner considers that it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to provide in a first area of at least a part of the pressure controlling structure closest to a first end of the pressure controlling structure is provided with the inlet end the first space connected to an outermost space via openings, and in a second area of at least a part of the pressure controlling structure closest to an end opposite to the first end in the first direction the first space is not connected to the outermost space via openings because it would tune the structure to provide a predetermined acoustic and airflow profile as necessitated by the specific requirements of the particular application without departing from the scope and spirit of the Bourderionnet invention.
Claims 30 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bourderionnet (FR 2 766 870) in view of Roach et al. (US 9,290,274).
Bourderionnet teaches the limitations already discussed in a previous rejection, but fails to disclose further comprising at least one protrusion protruding in the first space, the second space, the third space and/or the fourth space to further control waves of the pressure, wherein the at least one protrusion is on at least one of: the first wall, the first side walls, the second wall or the second side walls or wherein at least one of: the first wall, the first side walls, the second wall or the second side walls is shaped to form at least one protrusion protruding in the first space, the second space, the third space and/or the fourth space to further control waves of the pressure.
Nevertheless, Roach et al. teach a pressure controlling structure (Fig.3) comprising at least one protrusion (Fig.4, Items 42) protruding from a surface to further control waves of the pressure (Col.3, Lines 15 – 23).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the Roach et al. protrusions with the Bourderionnet design because it would help disperse the shockwaves by scattering them and in this manner reducing their intensity.
Claims 32 and 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bourderionnet (FR 2 766 870) in view of Messer, Jr. et al. (US 8,881,862).
Bourderionnet teaches the limitations already discussed in a previous rejection, but fails to disclose wherein the pressure controlling structure is formed of at least two sections split in a direction parallel to the first direction; wherein each section comprises at least one first dividing wall; and wherein at least one of the sections and/or parts is formed as a separate structural part.
However, Messer, Jr. et al. teach a pressure controlling structure (Fig.1) being formed of at least two sections (Fig.1, Items 10 and 20) split in a direction parallel to a first direction; and wherein at least one of the sections and/or parts is formed as a separate structural part (Figs.1 – 3; Col.2, Line 35 – Col.3, Line 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the Messer, Jr. et al. configuration with the Bourderionnet design because it would facilitate the cleaning and maintenance of the structure.
Conclusion
The attached hereto PTO Form 892 lists prior art made of record that the Examiner considered it pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDGARDO SAN MARTIN whose telephone number is (571)272-2074. The examiner can normally be reached on 9:00 - 5:00 M - F.
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/Edgardo San Martin/
Edgardo San Martín
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2837
September 26, 2026
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