DETAILED ACTION
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 filed 8/24/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant contends that “the claim now distinguishes from Marsh in that the gas conduit is above the barrel”. This is not persuasive because the term “above” is a spatially relative term and without an original point of reference and/or without the firearm having a fixed spatial position the term is irrelevant.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Marsh (US 2,865,256). Marsh discloses a gas-operated firearm comprising: a frame; a barrel (6) defining a bore having a forward muzzle end and an opposed rear end defining a chamber; a bolt assembly (col. 8, line 53) received in the frame and operable to reciprocate between a battery position and a recoil position; the barrel defining a gas aperture (13) communicating with the bore; a gas operating system (15) connected to the frame, having a gas inlet (23), and operably connected (26) to the bolt assembly to move the bolt assembly from the battery position toward the recoil position; the gas inlet being forward of the gas aperture (Figs. 4 and 5); including a gas conduit (16) extending forward from the gas aperture to the gas inlet, the gas conduit intervening in a non-parallel manner between the gas aperture and the gas inlet (Figs. 4 and 5) “above” the barrel. (It is noted that the term “above” is a spatially relative term and without an original point of reference and/or without the firearm having a fixed spatial position the term is irrelevant.)
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
All claims are identical to or patentably indistinct from, or have unity of invention with claims in the application prior to the entry of the submission under 37 CFR 1.114 (that is, restriction (including a lack of unity of invention) would not be proper) and all claims could have been finally rejected on the grounds and art of record in the next Office action if they had been entered in the application prior to entry under 37 CFR 1.114. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL even though it is a first action after the filing of a request for continued examination and the submission under 37 CFR 1.114. See MPEP § 706.07(b). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHELLE CLEMENT whose telephone number is (571)272-6884. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6.
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.
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/MICHELLE CLEMENT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3641
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