DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
This action is in response to the application filed 27 June 2025 which claims priority to PRO 63/665,128 filed 27 June 2024. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the wing height difference of the front and rear wings must be shown or the feature canceled from the claim. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
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.
Claim 1 is 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “a set of lift propellers mechanically coupled to the set of lift motors” after previously reciting the limitation “a first lift motor integrated into the first winglet and mechanically coupled to a first lift propeller” resulting in a lack of clarity as it relates to the amount of lift propellers being claimed. For examination purposes the limitation will be interpreted as “the first, second, third and fourth lift propellers forming a set of lift propellers”.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Judas et al. (US 2016/0207625).
- Regarding Claim 1. Judas discloses an aircraft (1, fig. 1-4) comprising:
- a fuselage (13);
- a set of wings (3) comprising:
a left-front wing extending from a left side of the fuselage at a first height (illustrated by fig. 1-3) and defining:
- a first wing body (3a) coupled to the fuselage (13) at a first proximal end (illustrated by fig. 1-3); and
- a first winglet (6, the nacelle is equivalent as it extends upward from the wing) extending upward from the first wing body (3a) at a first distal end opposite the first proximal end (illustrated by fig. 1-3);
a left-rear wing extending from the left side of the fuselage (13) at a second height exceeding the first height (illustrated by fig. 1-3) and defining:
- a second wing body (3b) coupled to the fuselage (13) at a second proximal end (illustrated by fig. 1-3); and
- a second winglet (6) extending upward from the second wing body at a second distal end opposite the second proximal end (illustrated by fig. 1-3);
a right-front wing extending from a right side of the fuselage at the first height opposite the left-front wing (illustrated by fig. 1-3) and defining:
- a third wing body (3a) coupled to the fuselage (13) at a third proximal end (illustrated by fig. 1-3); and
- a third winglet (6) extending upward from the third wing body (3a) at a third distal end opposite the third proximal end (illustrated by fig. 1-3); and
a right-rear wing extending from the right side of the fuselage at the second height opposite the left-rear wing (illustrated by fig. 1-3) and defining:
- a fourth wing body (3b) coupled to the fuselage (13) at a fourth proximal end (illustrated by fig. 1-3); and
- a fourth winglet (6) extending upward from the fourth wing body (3b) at a fourth distal end opposite the fourth proximal end (illustrated by fig. 1-3);
- a set of lift motors (37, “electric motors…drive propeller” [0093]) integrated into the set of wings (3a/b, illustrated by fig. 1-4) and comprising:
a first lift motor integrated into the first winglet and mechanically coupled to a first lift propeller (7, illustrated by fig. 1-3), in the set of lift propellers, extending outward from the first winglet and arranged in a fixed lift orientation relative the fuselage (13, illustrated by fig. 1-3);
a second lift motor integrated into the second winglet and mechanically coupled to a second lift propeller, in the set of lift propellers, extending outward from the second winglet and arranged in the fixed lift orientation relative the fuselage (13, illustrated by fig. 1-3);
a third lift motor integrated into the third winglet and mechanically coupled to a third lift propeller, in the set of lift propellers, extending outward from the third winglet and arranged in the fixed lift orientation relative the fuselage (13, illustrated by fig. 1-3); and
a fourth lift motor integrated into the second winglet and mechanically coupled to a fourth lift propeller, in the set of lift propellers, extending outward from the fourth winglet and arranged in the fixed lift orientation relative the fuselage (13, illustrated by fig. 1-3);
- a set of batteries (“battery” [0044]) housed within the fuselage (13) and electrically coupled to the set of lift motors (“stored…released by the electric motors when required” [0044]; a pair of batteries is required in this instance, one to run the main motor 31 and one for storage from the generator 33, illustrated by fig. 4);
- the first, second, third and fourth lift propellers forming a set of lift propellers (7);
- a forward-motion propeller (11) extending from a rear of the fuselage (13) and arranged in a fixed forward orientation orthogonal the fixed lift orientation of the set of lift propellers (7, illustrated by fig. 1-3);
- an engine (31 “diesel/petrol/wankle/gas turbine” [0092]) mechanically coupled to the forward-motion propeller (11, “drive a thrust propeller” [0092]) and integrated within the fuselage (13, illustrated by fig. 1-4); and
- a controller (39) configured to:
supply power to the set of lift motors (37) to actuate the set of lift propellers (5) to drive vertical motion of the aircraft in a take-off state (“sufficient to lift the aircraft and to allow it to hover” [0083]);
trigger actuation of the forward-motion propeller (11) via the engine (31) to drive forward motion of the aircraft in a forward-flight state (“enable the aircraft to accelerate to high cruising speeds” [0087]); and
reduce power supplied to the set of lift motors (37) to reduce speed of rotation of the set of lift propellers (5) and maintain an elevation of the aircraft within a threshold of the target elevation in the forward-flight state (“successively reduced until the aircraft has reached an adequately high cruising speed in the horizontal direction at which the total lift for the aircraft required to maintain the flight altitude is generated by the aerofoils” [0088]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon but considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found in PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TYE W ABELL whose telephone number is (303) 297-4408. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 0700-1500 CST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Timothy Collins can be reached on 571-272-6886. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TYE WILLIAM ABELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3644 25 February 2026