DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. 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.
3. Claims 26-38 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 26, in line 7, the phrase “process 10 fluid” is indefinite. It appears that some of the claim language is either missing or incorrect. Therefore, the scope of the claim cannot be determined.
Furthermore, regarding claim 26, in line 9, the phrase “diffusion zone (206,” is indefinite as it also appears to be missing part of the claim limitation. Therefore, the scope of the claim cannot be determined.
Furthermore, regarding claim 26, in line 14, the phrase “each passageway” is indefinite as the claim only mentions a single passageway in lines 2 and 4. Thus, it is unclear if there is only a single passageway or more than one.
Furthermore, regarding claim 26, in line 10, the phrase “unity Mach number” is indefinite as it is unclear what this phrase means. The specification does not define the term nor is it a term of the art. Therefore, the Examiner cannot adequately determine the scope of the claim.
Regarding claims 27 and 28, in line 1 of claim 27, the phrase “the pair of vanes (210)” does not match with the phrase “spaced apart vanes (210, 710)” of claim 26, and furthermore claim 28, line 2 refers to “a pair of low camber vanes (710)”. The reference numbers to each of the components is inconsistent and renders the claim indefinite as it is not clear if these are the same or different vanes that the numbers are referring to.
The remaining claims 29-38 are rejected for at least the reasons above by virtue of their claim dependency.
Allowable Subject Matter
4. Claims 26-38 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.
Conclusion
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN E CONLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-8414. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F, 8:30am-4pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mike Marcheschi can be reached on 571-272-1374. 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 http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/SEAN E CONLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
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