DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Allowability
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 .
Responsive to correspondence
This office action is in response to correspondence filed on 06/23/2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements filed 12/08/2025, 12/09/2025, 02/18/2026 were filed before the first action on the merits. This submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
Accordingly, the IDSs have been fully considered by the Office.
Abstract
The abstract filed 06/23/2025 appears to be acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, 9,13-16, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S Publication number 2005/0118040 A1 to ZITKA et al. (ZITKA) combined with the following reasons.
Re: Claim 1:
ZITKA discloses:
A fluid displacement pump comprising:
a rotor (See Fig. 2: rotor 13); and
a stator (See Fig. 2: stator 9), wherein the stator comprises an elastomeric material (See Fig. 2: elastomeric layer 11) with a non- uniform thickness (See Fig. 2: having an increasing thickness extending axially through stator such that a radial thickness of a first end of elastomeric layer is less than radial thickness of a second end of the elastomeric layer as shown in figure 3, figures 8 and 14) , however claim 1 differs from ZITKA regarding:
and wherein the rotor and the stator have a one-to-two lobe ratio.
However, such a feature is within the skill of an ordinary skill person in the art, therefore such feature may be conveniently derived from the disclosure of ZITKA, because ZITKA discloses the rotor 13 has one less lobe 14 than mating stator, and the number of lobes depends on the desired operating pump characteristics as explained in ¶0030, it would have been therefore obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to elect for desired rotor and stator configuration depending on the desired operating characteristics of the pump or motor.
Re: Claim 2:
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 1, wherein the elastomeric material comprises an inner profile and an outer profile (See Fig.2 as annotated by the examiner).
Re: Claim 3:
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 1, wherein the elastomeric material (elastomeric layer 11) comprises an inner profile and an outer profile (See Fig.2 as annotated by the examiner), wherein the outer profile is defined by a parametric curve (See Fig.2 as annotated by the examiner).
Re: Claim 6:
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 1, wherein the elastomeric material comprises a major diameter, a minor diameter, a radial thickness along the major diameter and a radial thickness along the minor diameter (See Fig.2 as annotated by the examiner: elastomeric material having a major diameter, minor diameter, a radial thickness along the major diameter and a radial thickness along the minor diameter, radial thickness is between major and minor diameter as shown in figure 2).
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Re: Claim 9
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 1, wherein the stator comprises a metal tube (See Fig.1-2: ¶0030: discloses a conventional progressive cavity stator 9 of a pump or motor which includes a steel or similar structural material tube or housing 10.) and wherein the elastomeric material is disposed within the metal tube (See Fig.1-2: elastomeric material 11 disclosed withing metal tube 10).
Re: Claim 13
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 1, comprising a motor operatively coupled to the rotor (See Fig.3: ¶0031).
Re: Claim 14
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 1, comprising a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet (fluid inlet and fluid outlet are implied in a pump).
Re: Claim 15
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 14, wherein the rotor is driven by fluid flowing from the fluid inlet to the fluid outlet (¶0032: Fluid pressure inside these cavities reacts against the rotor surface 16 and the stator surface 24, causing the rotor 13 to turn inside the stator 9).
Re: Claim 16
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 2, wherein the non-uniform thickness is characterized by a varying radial thickness measured between the inner profile and the outer profile (See Fig. 2: having an increasing thickness extending axially through stator such that a radial thickness of a first end of elastomeric layer is less than radial thickness of a second end of the elastomeric layer as shown in figure 3, figures 8 and 14).
Re: Claim 19:
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 1, wherein the elastomeric material comprises a primary elastomer liner that is co-vulcanized.
The claimed phrase claimed “a primary elastomer liner that is co-vulcanized” is being treated as a product by process limitation. As set forth in MPEP §2113, product by process claims are NOT limited to the manipulations of the recited steps, only to the structure implied by the steps. Once a product appearing to be substantially the same or similar is found, a 35 U.S.C. 102/103 rejection may be made and the burden is shifted to applicant to show an unobvious difference (See MPEP §2113)
Claim(s) 4, 5, 10, 17, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S Publication number 2005/0118040 A1 to ZITKA et al. (ZITKA) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S Patent number 5759019 to WOOD et al. (WOOD).
Re: Claim 4:
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 3, ZITKA discloses all the limitations of claim 3, ZITKA is silent regarding:
wherein the outer profile is defined by a rectangle having opposing ends that are semielliptical. However, such a configuration is well known in the art specifically taught by U.S Patent number 5759019 to WOOD et al. (WOOD: See Figures 2-3: embodiment F col. 3 lines 65-67, col 4 lines 1-21: discloses outer profile is defined by a rectangle having opposing ends that are semielliptical). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure ZITKA as explicitly taught by WOOD which is an art known subject matter and would have yielded predictable results.
Re: Claim 5:
ZITKA modified by WOOD discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 4, modified ZITKA discloses all the limitations of claim 1, and wherein the semielliptical ends are defined by a minor axis that is equal to a distance between opposing sides of the rectangle and a semi-major axis (See Figs.2-3).
Re: Claim 10
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 9, and an inner perimeter of metal tube (ZITKA: See Fig.1-2: ¶0030: discloses a conventional progressive cavity stator 9 of a pump or motor which includes a steel or similar structural material tube or housing 10.), ZITKA is silent regarding:
comprising a filler material (WOOD: See Figs.2-3: filler material 22 ) that is disposed between an outer perimeter of the elastomeric material (WOOD: See Figs.2-3: filler material 24 ) and an inner perimeter of the metal tube.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to dispose a filler material between an outer perimeter of the elastomeric material and an inner perimeter of the metal tube as explicitly taught by WOODS which is beneficial as such a system provides increased efficiency and longevity of cavity pumps.
Re: Claim 17:
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 3, ZITKA discloses all the limitations of claim 3, however ZITKA is silent regarding:
wherein the non-uniform thickness is characterized by the inner profile being a stadium and the outer profile not being a stadium.
However, WOOD teaches:
wherein the non-uniform thickness is characterized by the inner profile being a stadium and the outer profile not being a stadium (See Figs.2-3), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to shape the inner profile being a stadium and the outer profile not being a stadium, therefore one of ordinary skill in the art would have configured ZITKA as explicitly taught by WOOD as a matter of design choice which would have yielded predictable results.
Re: Claim 20:
ZITKA discloses:
The fluid displacement pump of claim 1, wherein the stator comprises a primary stator liner (See Fig. 2: elastomeric layer 11) is composed of nitrile rubber (NBR), hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR), or fluoroelastome (FKM).
Although ZITKA discloses elastomeric liner, but remains silent regarding nitrile rubber , however using nitrile rubber is well known in the art and U.S Patent 5759019 to WOOD et al. discloses that nitrile rubber may be employed as elastomeric liners to make the elastomer property soft enough to maintain the sealed cavity, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use nitrile rubber (NBR) which would have yielded similar benefits in the system of ZITKA.
Allowable Subject Matter and Prior Art
Claims 7, 8, 11, 12, 18 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 7 contains an allowable subject matter because the prior art of record failed to disclose or teach wherein the elastomeric material comprises a major diameter, a minor diameter, a radial thickness along the major diameter, a radial thickness along the minor diameter, and a radial thickness between the major diameter and the minor diameter that is greater than the radial thickness along the major diameter and that is greater than the radial thickness along the minor diameter.
Claim 8 contains an allowable subject matter because the prior art of record failed to disclose or teach wherein the elastomeric material comprises a major diameter, a minor diameter, a radial thickness along the major diameter, a radial thickness between the major diameter and the minor diameter, and a radial thickness along the minor diameter that is less than the radial thickness along the major diameter and that is less than the radial thickness between the major diameter and the minor diameter.
Claim 11 contains an allowable subject matter because the prior art of record failed to disclose or teach wherein the elastomeric material comprises a tie-layer that binds the elastomeric material to the filler material.
Claims 12 and 18 are allowable by virtue of their dependency on allowable claims and intervening claims.
In the closest prior art, ZITKA teaches all the limitations of claim 1, however fails to disclose limitations of claims 7, 8, 11, 12, 18 as recited above.
In another prior art, U.S Patent 5759019 to WOOD et al. teaches a pump having a rotor and stator , however fails to discloses limitations of claims 7, 8, 11, 12, 18 as recited above.
Therefore, it would not be obvious to make the claimed structure because the prior art of the record fails to teach a platform having non-radius edges between the contoured surface and the first and second aft edges.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAFIQ A MIAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4925. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 am to 6:30 pm (Monday thru Thursday).
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/SHAFIQ MIAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
June 1, 2026
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