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 § 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 1-10 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.
Regarding claim 1, this claim recites “An ion pump monitored vacuum interrupter connected to an electric power line, comprising: a vacuum bottle containing an interrupter contactor; an ion pump housing containing an ion pump in fluid communication with the vacuum bottle; a vacuum medium filling the vacuum bottle and the ion pump housing; a power supply providing electric power harvested from the electric power line to the ion pump; the ion pump purifying the vacuum medium by removing contamination ions from the vacuum medium during normal operation of the ion pump; the ion pump failing when overwhelmed by contamination ions due to a failure of the interrupter bottle; an ion pump controller detecting failure of the ion pump and initiating one or more response actions in response to the detected failure.”
There is insufficient antecedent basis for “the interrupter bottle” in the claim. Additionally, it is unclear whether “the interrupter bottle” corresponds to the “vacuum bottle containing an interrupter contactor” or is an independent, distinct element. Therefore, the overall structure and functionality of the claimed ion pump monitored vacuum interrupter remains unclear and indefinite. The applicant’s specification does not provide any additional clarity to the noted issues. The examiner suggests amending the claim to positively recite whether “the interrupter bottle” corresponds to a previously claimed element or is an independent, distinct element.
Dependent claims 2-10, inclusive of all of the limitations of claim 1, are also rejected.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS D ALUNKAL whose telephone number is (571)270-1127. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-5PM.
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/THOMAS D ALUNKAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686
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