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 .
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.
Claims 1-14 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "a desired state for timely capturing the target" in line 7. The term “timely” is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “timely” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of “a desired state for timely capturing” is unclear and is rendered indefinite. Appropriate correction is required. Claims 2-13 fail to cure the deficiency. Claim 14 is similarly rejected.
Claim 1 recites “controls the guide arm” in lines 6-7, “controls the recovery device” in lines 7-8, and “makes the capture device…” in line 10. The use of the active verbs “controls” and “makes” causes a lack of clarity as to whether the limitations are infringeable when the apparatus is not in operation. For purposes of examination, “controls” is interpreted as “configured to control” and “makes” is interpreted as “configured to make”. Appropriate clarification or correction is required. Claims 2-13 fail to cure the deficiency. Claim 10 is similarly rejected for “is connected to” in line 3. Claim 14 is similarly rejected for the use of “guides” in line 5.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Paunicka et al. (US 20170349283 A1), hereafter Paunicka.
Regarding Claim 14, Paunicka discloses an airborne target recovery system (Fig. 1), configured to be deployed on a carrier (14, Fig. 3), comprising:
at least one cable (20, Fig. 3) comprising a first end connected to a carrier (Fig. 3) and a second end provided with a capture device (58, Figs. 3-4); and
a guide arm (18, Fig. 3) comprising a free end selectively connected to one of the capture devices (in configuration of Fig. 4, example),
wherein the guide arm guides the capture device to a desired state to allow the capture device to capture a target timely (paras. [0043]-[0045]); and
the guide arm is configured to selectively release the capture device to allow a load of the target to act on the at least one cable in response to the capture device capturing the target (para. [0043]-[0044] and para. [0024], “terminal end 56 of tether 22 is positioned “beyond” terminal end 28 of retrieval ramp 18” and Fig. 3, which depicts UAV target acting on 58 rather than 18, for example).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1-13 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior arts of record, individually or in combination, do not disclose or render obvious the combined limitations of claim 1. The closest prior art of record is Paunicka (US 20170349283 A1). Specifically, Paunicka discloses an airborne target recovery system (Fig. 1), deployed on a carrier (14), the system comprising: a recovery device (110) comprising a cable (20) and a cable drive device (68) for releasing and retracting the cable (para. [0026]), a tail end of the cable being provided with a capture device (58); a guide arm (18) comprising a free end selectively connected to the capture device (Fig. 4); a state observation device (106, 106’) configured to acquire a state of a target (para. [0041]); and a controller (16) that, based on information fed back by the state observation device, controls the guide arm to guide the capture device to a desired state for timely capturing the target (paras. [0043]-[0044]), and controls the recovery device to complete the recovery of the target (para. [0045]); wherein the controller enables a load of the target to act on the recovery device rather than the guide arm (para. [0043]-[0044]) and para. [0024]).
However the prior art of record does not appear to teach the combined limitations of the Claim 1, specifically wherein the controller makes the capture device and the target be detached from the guide arm in response to the capture device capturing the target. While Paunicka’s capture device and target can be detached from the guide arm by the controller, they are not detached from the guide arm in response to the capture device capturing the target, and it would not be obvious to combine or modify the prior arts of record to teach the invention as claimed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
West (GB 2600419 A) teaches an airborne target recovery system with a cable and guide arm.
Kunz et al. (US 20200239159 A1) teaches an airborne target recovery system with a cable and guide arms.
Qin et al. (CN 210681186 U) teaches an airborne target recovery system with a cable and guide arm.
Hu et al. (CN 109747839 A) teaches an airborne target recovery system with a guide arm and storage compartment.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNA LYNN GORDON whose telephone number is (571)270-5323. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-4:30pm.
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/ANNA L. GORDON/Examiner, Art Unit 3642 /JOSHUA D HUSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3642
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