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) 1-5, 7, and 9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brown, Jr. (US 4,601,124).
Re claims 1-2, Brown, Jr. (Fig 1) discloses a firearm receiver, comprising: a reinforcing feature (27) integral with the receiver below the ejection port (17). Brown, Jr. does not disclose that the receiver fabricated via 3d printing, but the patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process. MPEP 2113.
Re claims 3-5, 7, and 9-12, Brown, Jr. (Fig 1) discloses a receiver for a firearm, comprising: a reinforcing feature (27) integrally formed with the receiver below an ejection port (17), wherein the reinforcing feature extends longitudinally from a proximal receiver bridge to a distal receiver bridge, enhancing the structural rigidity of the receiver.
Claim(s) 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Motley (US 2015/0198397). See Figure below. See rejection of claim 1 regarding product-by-process limitation.
PNG
media_image1.png
368
642
media_image1.png
Greyscale
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.
Claim(s) 13 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brown, Jr. (US 4,601,124) in view of Martini (US 2020/0256636). Brown, Jr. discloses the claimed invention with the exception of being fabricated via additive manufacturing. Martini teaches a firearm receiver being made via an additive manufacturing process (p. [0015]). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to manufacture the receiver in Brown, Jr. using an additive manufacturing process. The motivation would simply be to use a commonly known and used method of manufacturing a rifle receiver. All claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to a skilled artisan at the time the invention was made.
Conclusion
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.
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, 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/REGINALD S TILLMAN, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3641