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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-8, filed August 25, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Schulz et al (8,991,046).
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) 1-4, 7-8, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schulz et al (8,991,046).
Schulz et al teaches A piston head for a combustion cylinder, the piston head comprising: a piston head lower portion 12; and a piston head upper portion 11 coupled to the piston head lower portion 12, the piston head upper portion 11 comprising: an end wall including an outer portion and an inner portion angled with respect to the outer portion; an outer wall 23 extending axially away from the end wall in a first direction; and an inner wall 22 extending axially away from the end wall in the first direction and separated from the outer wall such that an outer chamber 19 is defined between the outer wall 23 and the inner wall 22 and an inner chamber 21 is defined within the inner wall 22, the inner wall defining one or more openings 31 fluidly connecting the inner chamber 21 to the outer chamber 19, wherein an axis of each of the one or more openings is substantially parallel to the inner portion (See figure 1).
For claim 2 see figure 1 (col. 2 lines 54-65).
For claim 3 see figure 1.
For claim 4 see figure 1.
For claim 7 see figure 1.
For claim 8 see (col. 2 lines 54-65).
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) 5, 6, 9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schulz et al (8,991,046) in view of Schneider (8,065,985).
Schulz et al teaches the claimed inventions except outlet ports configured to receive a fluid from the outer chamber and provide the fluid to a downstream device. Schneider teaches outlet ports configured to receive a fluid from the outer chamber and provide the fluid to a downstream device (see col. 3 line 20-30). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to employ the outlet ports configured to receive a fluid from the outer chamber and provide the fluid to a downstream device of Schulz et al as taught by Schneider in order to provide lubrication for the pin.
For claim 6 see Schneider col. 4 line 1-3.
For claim 9 see Schneider figure 2.
For claim 10 see Schneider figure 2, col. 3 line 20-30.
For claim 11 see Schneider figure 2.
For claim 12 see Schneider figure 2.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-14, 16-20 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
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/HAI H HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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