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
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 8-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hudson (US 5,272,956). Hudson (Fig 2) discloses a firearm system, comprising: an upper receiver, a barrel mounted to the upper receiver; a bolt carrier (18) arranged within the upper receiver for reciprocation; and a gas-piston system for transferring firing force to the bolt carrier for reloading, wherein the gas-piston system includes a piston shroud (48 and 42) mounted to the upper receiver and a piston (43) connected with the bolt carrier, wherein the piston is arranged within the piston shroud to receive force from firing gas from the barrel for reciprocating movement, the piston operable between an extended position and retracted position to drive reloading via the bolt carrier.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2-3-26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Hudson does not disclose at least claim 1 because the piston is not fixedly coupled with the bolt carrier because they a separated by a key bore; the examiner disagrees. The piston is clearly fixedly connected to the bolt carrier via the carrier key (15).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to REGINALD S TILLMAN, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-7010. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 830-530.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Troy Chambers can be reached at 571-272-6874. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/REGINALD S TILLMAN, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3641
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