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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the figure does not comply with 37 C.F.R. 1.84(u)(1). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
(u) Numbering of views.
(1) The different views must be numbered in consecutive Arabic numerals, starting with 1, independent of the numbering of the sheets and, if possible, in the order in which they appear on the drawing sheet(s). Partial views intended to form one complete view, on one or several sheets, must be identified by the same number followed by a capital letter. View numbers must be preceded by the abbreviation "FIG." Where only a single view is used in an application to illustrate the claimed invention, it must not be numbered and the abbreviation "FIG." must not appear.
(emphasis added) See MPEP 608.02(V).
Specification
The amendment filed December 20, 2024 is objected to under 35 U.S.C. 132(a) because it introduces new matter into the disclosure. 35 U.S.C. 132(a) states that no amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention. The added material which is not supported by the original disclosure is as follows: a) there is no support in the original disclosure for the newly added last paragraph and b) the incorporation by reference to the foreign priority document and the international application was added subsequent to the June 13, 2023 filing date of this national stage application and so is not supported by the original disclosure (delete “, the entire content of all of which is hereby incorporated by reference”) (see MPEP 608.01(p)(I)(B) last paragraph).
Applicant is required to cancel the new matter in the reply to this Office Action.
Claim Interpretation
The elastic and inextensible metal reinforcers are defined in specification paragraphs 013-016.
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 1-11 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 third to last line, to provide proper antecedent basis, applicant should change “at least one protective layer” to -- at least one protective layer of the two protective layers -- .
In claim 5 line 2, to provide proper antecedent basis, applicant should change “and of” to -- and the first reinforcing elements of -- .
In claim 7, to provide proper antecedent basis, applicant should amend the claim such that in line 1 the dependency is changed to claim 5 (inextensible introduced only in claim 5) and in line 3 “first metal reinforcing elements” is changed to -- the first metal reinforcing elements -- .
In claim 8 line 4, to provide proper antecedent basis, applicant should change “elastic reinforcing elements” to -- of the second elastic reinforcing elements -- .
In claim 11 line 1, to provide proper antecedent basis, after “wherein” applicant should add the claim 5 language (inextensible introduced only in claim 5).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11 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.
US Patent Application Publication 2022/0041019 A1 and the remaining prior art of record fail to disclose or suggest applicant’s tire, including the particular at least 3 working layers comprising the first radially innermost working layer and the second and third composite working layers and 2 protective layers, in the claimed environment (see the English translation of the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority for PCT/EP2023/065753 filed in this application December 20, 2024).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Adrienne C. Johnstone whose telephone number is (571)272-1218. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 1PM-5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Katelyn Smith can be reached at 571-270-5545. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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ADRIENNE C. JOHNSTONE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1749
Adrienne Johnstone /ADRIENNE C. JOHNSTONE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749 June 27, 2026
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