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 1-20 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 lines 18-20 recites “dH/Utip2, where dH is an enthalpy rise across the fan and Utip is a velocity of the fan tip, and the fan tip loading at cruise conditions is in a range of from .28 Jkg-1/(ms-1)2 to .37 Jkg-1/(ms-1)2.” It is unclear what these expressions are attempting to convey. For example, the lack of a mathematical symbol between the variable Utip and 2 could mean that the variable Utip is multiplied by 2 or that Utip is squared. The same is true for jkg-1 (e.g., minus 1 or reciprocal, to the power of -1), ms-1 (minus 1 or reciprocal, to the power of -1) and (ms-1)2 (e.g., multiplied by 2 or squared, to the power of 2) in the next expression. The same rejection applies to claim 19.
Claim 17, line, 7 recites “length multiplied by its width in m2, is in a range of from 400 to 1700 I/(min.m2)”. It is unclear what the period in the expression “min.m2” is attempting to convey.
Claims 4 and 5 both recite “the specific loading at maximum take-off conditions is in a range of 5 MPa to…” However, claim 1, from which claims 4 and 5 depend, recites “wherein the specific loading at maximum take-off conditions is greater than 5 MPa. The ranges recited in claim 4 and 5 are indefinite as independent claim 1 excludes 5 MPa from the range and dependent claims 4 and 5 include it.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 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.
Claims 2-20 would be allowable if rewritten 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 and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEREK D. KNIGHT whose telephone number is (571)272-7951. The examiner can normally be reached Telework: From 5:30am-1:30pm EST.
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/DEREK D KNIGHT/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655