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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1 and 2) in the reply filed on 8/26/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 3-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The claimed elements are so closely labeled as to cause clarity issues. For instance, it is unclear whether the line 17 recitation of “the cooling oil outlet port” is to refer to the previous line 16 “a cooling oil outlet port” or to the previous line 15 “a cooling oil outlet port of the oil pump”. The examiner suggests labeling all elements clearly and distinctly, e.g., oil pump outlet port, oil cooler outlet port, first oil path, second oil path, motor housing oil pan, gear case oil pan, etc. See MPEP 2173.05(o) which states "where a claim directed to a device can be read to include the same element twice, the claim may be indefinite. Ix parte Kristensen, 10 USPQ2d 1701 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1989)".
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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or (a)(2) as being anticipated by Yamaguchi US10868452.
Claim 1. A motor unit comprising: an electric motor (2) including: a rotor (20); a stator (30); and a housing (61) that internally houses the rotor and the stator, the housing having: an upper portion (upper portion of 61) where an oil path (92c) where a cooling oil (O, “the oil O functions as both a cooling oil and a lubricating oil…”) flows and an outlet path (outlet path of 92c) where the cooling oil is discharged from the oil path toward the stator are formed; and a lower portion (lower portion of 61) having a cooling oil storage unit (81a); a reducer (4) including: a reducer mechanism (4) including a plurality of gears (41, 42, 43, 51); and a gear case (62) that internally houses the reducer mechanism, and has a lower portion (lower portion of 62) having a cooling oil storage unit (82a) communicating with the storage unit in the housing (O flows from 81a to 82a via 68 in fig.1; col.4, ll.26-29), the reducer having a second end surface (end surface of 62 mounted on 61 in fig.4) on which a first end surface (end surface of 61 mounted on 62 in fig.4) of the electric motor is mounted, and to transmit power from the electric motor at a reduced rotation speed (col.5, ll.45-55); an oil pump (96) that is mounted on a first end surface (surface 96 is mounted to in fig.1) of the reducer, and to draw up the cooling oil accumulated in the storage unit in the gear case, and to cause the cooling oil to circulate through the oil path in the housing; and an oil cooler (97) that is mounted on the first end surface of the reducer, has an inlet port (inlet port of 97) which is connected to a cooling oil outlet port (outlet port of 96 connected to 97 in fig.1) of the oil pump, cools the cooling oil from the outlet port of the oil pump, and has a cooling oil outlet port (outlet port of 97) where the cooled cooling oil is discharged into a cooling oil flow path (92) between the cooling oil outlet port (the outlet port of the oil cooler as best understood, see 35 USC 112 rejections) and an inlet port (inlet port of 92c) of the oil path in the housing.
Claim 2. The motor unit according to claim 1, wherein the cooling oil storage unit in the housing is an oil pan (81a), the cooling oil storage unit in the gear case is an oil pan (82a), and a cooling oil intake port (92a) of the oil pump is immersed in the oil pan of the gear case below a rotational axis (J4 or J5) of a gear rotational shaft (45 or 55) of the reducer coupled with a rotational shaft (21) of the rotor of the electric motor. Regarding the label “oil pan” note that where there is physical identity between the subject matter of the claim and the prior art, the label given to the claimed subject matter does not distinguish the invention over the prior art. In re Pearson, 494 F. 2d 1399, 1403, 181 USPQ 641, 644 (CCPA 1974); In re Lemin, 326 F. 2d 437, 140 USPQ 273 (CCPA 1964).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VICTOR L MACARTHUR whose telephone number is (571)272-7085.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/VICTOR L MACARTHUR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
Prosecution Insights