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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 16-26 in the reply filed on 08/28/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 27-30 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08/28/2026.
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.
Claim 16-26 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 16, line 11 recites "a position of the splicing protrusions in the array of splicing protrusions". This scope of position in this context is unclear (e.g. a position of each protrusion or a position of one protrusion or a position of the array as a whole?). Dependent claims fall herewith.
Claim 16, line 12 recites "a position of the splicing holes in the array of splicing holes". This scope of position in this context is unclear (e.g. a position of each hole or a position of one hole or a position of the array as a whole?). Dependent claims fall herewith.
Claim 17, line 2 recites "both the punch plate and the counter plate comprise an array of splicing protrusions and an array of splicing holes". This is unclear for several reasons. First, it is unclear whether each of the two plates must have both types of arrays or not. Furthermore, it is unclear whether each of these two arrays is the same or different than the two arrays recited in the parent claim. Dependent claims fall herewith.
Prior Art of Record
Claims 16-26 are indefinite for the reasons given above with a high degree of uncertainty about the scope of the claim and therefore rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b). Therefore, per MPEP 2173.06, where there is a great deal of confusion and uncertainty as to the proper interpretation of the limitations of a claim, it would not be proper to reject such a claim on the basis of prior art. As stated in In re Steele, 305 F.2d 859, 134 USPQ 292 (CCPA 1962), a rejection over prior art should not be based on considerable speculation about the meaning of terms employed in a claim or assumptions that must be made as to the scope of the claims.
In view of the above considerations, claims 16-26 have not been rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 or 103, but instead stand rejected under U.S.C. 112(b).
Marschke (US Patent 4,219,378), made of record herein, is pertinent to claim 16 and teaches a splicing device comprising a pressing plate and a counter plate arranged movable opposite to each other for splicing webs (Figs. 1, 6, 8).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIM R SMITH whose telephone number is (303)297-4318. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 9-6 MST.
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/JIMMY R SMITH JR./Examiner, Art Unit 1745
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