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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending in the current application.
Election/Restrictions
This application contains claims directed to the following patentably distinct species:
Species 1 -Figures 1-15
Species 2: Figures 16-28
The species are independent or distinct because species 2 requires at least one ball engaged with the at least one engagement portion of the internal surface of the outer body and the at least one engagement portion of the external surface of the inner body. In addition, these species are not obvious variants of each other based on the current record.
Applicant is required under 35 U.S.C. 121 to elect a single disclosed species, or a single grouping of patentably indistinct species, for prosecution on the merits to which the claims shall be restricted if no generic claim is finally held to be allowable. Currently, no claim is generic.
There is a serious search and/or examination burden for the patentably distinct species as set forth above because at least the following reason(s) apply: the species or groupings of patentably indistinct species require a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search strategies or search queries).Applicant is advised that the reply to this requirement to be complete must include (i) an election of a species to be examined even though the requirement may be traversed (37 CFR 1.143) and (ii) identification of the claims encompassing the elected species or grouping of patentably indistinct species, including any claims subsequently added. An argument that a claim is allowable or that all claims are generic is considered nonresponsive unless accompanied by an election.
The election may be made with or without traverse. To preserve a right to petition, the election must be made with traverse. If the reply does not distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the election of species requirement, the election shall be treated as an election without traverse. Traversal must be presented at the time of election in order to be considered timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are added after the election, applicant must indicate which of these claims are readable on the elected species or grouping of patentably indistinct species.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the species, or groupings of patentably indistinct species from which election is required, are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing them to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the species unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other species.
Upon the allowance of a generic claim, applicant will be entitled to consideration of claims to additional species which depend from or otherwise require all the limitations of an allowable generic claim as provided by 37 CFR 1.141.
During a telephone conversation with George Ivasor on 9/18/2026 a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of Species II, claims 5-17. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office action. Claims 1-4 and 18-20 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
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 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 5-9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhou, US 7389709. Zhou discloses an actuator #21 comprising: an outer body #43 comprising an internal surface defining an internal cavity (see Fig. 8) extending along an actuator axis of rotation, the internal surface comprising at least one engagement portion #74; an inner body #44 comprising an external surface comprising at least one engagement portion #72; and at least one ball #73 engaged with the at least one engagement portion of the internal surface of the outer body and with the at least one engagement portion of the external surface of the inner body such that rotation of the outer body relative to the inner body around the actuator axis of rotation causes movement of the inner body relative to the outer body along the actuator axis of rotation, the at least one ball engageable with the internal surface of the outer body within an outer-body-engagement extent along the actuator axis of rotation and the at least one ball engageable with the external surface of the inner body within an inner-body-engagement extent along the actuator axis of rotation, the outer-body-engagement extent along the actuator axis of rotation greater than the inner-body-engagement extent along the actuator axis of rotation The examiner considers the outer body engagement extent of nut #43 to be greater than the engagement extent of the screw #44 as shown in Fig. 8. Also, regarding claim 9, the examiner considers the external surface of the inner body to comprise at least one annular groove (see Fig. 8 showing balls 72 and 73 seated in annular grooves of the external surface of the inner body.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 11 and 13-17 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 8960031, US8453530, US 5491372 and US 5041748 each disclose a linear actuator with inner and outer body including threaded surfaces.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY D WIEST whose telephone number is (571)270-5974. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 6:00 - 3:00.
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, Marc Jimenez can be reached on 571 272 4530. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANTHONY D WIEST/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
