PlainSite. Legal Document. United States Patent and Trademark Office Case No Compact External Launcher For Small Space Payloads.

(1)

PlainSite

Legal Document

®

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Case No. 10651226

Compact External Launcher For Small Space Payloads

Document

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(2)

Remark

Applicants respectfullyrequest reconsideration

of

thisapplication as

amended.

No

claims

have

been

amended.

Claims

1-18

and

24-48 have

been

cancelled.

Claims

49-81

are

new.

Therefore, claims 19-23,

49-81

arepresent forexamination.

Election

Applicants respectfully elect

Group

II,

Claim

19-23,

without

traverse.

Claims

1-18

and

24-48

arecanceled

without

prejudice.

35 ILS.C.

§102 Rejection

Penn

The Examiner

has rejected claims 19-23

under 35 U.S.C.

§102

(e)as

being

anticipated

by

Penn, U.S. Patent

No.

6,685,141 ("Penn").

The

Examiner

suggeststhat

Penn

shows

a

secondary

payload

mounted

tothe exterior

of

a

launch

vehicle.

However,

a closer

read

revealsthat

Penn

suggests

only

mounting

external fueltanks or strap-on boosters (tank

and

engine)

and

not a

secondary

payload.

A

payload has

been

definedin

many

different

ways.

However,

by

any

accepted

definition it

does

not include externaltanks orstrap-on boosters.

Accordingly

the

claims

of

Group

II are

believedto

be

allowable.

New

claims

49-74

areall

dependent

on Claim

19.

New

Claim

75

is a

method

claim

modeled on Claim

19 and

isbelievedto raise

no

new

issues

of

patentability.

New

Claims

76-81

depend from

new

Claim

75.

Some

definitions

of payload

follow.

The

list isnot intended to

be

exhaustive

and

some

definitionsrelevant

only

tootherfields (e.g. datatransport in

computer

science)

have been

deleted.

Attorney

Docket No. 006578.P001

(3)

Merriam-Webster's OnlineDictionary

http://www.britannicaxom/diction (28 July2004)

Main

Entry: pay-load

Pronunciation:'pA-'IOd

Function:

noun

Date:circa 1922

1 :theloadcarried

by

a vehicle exclusiveof

what

isnecessaryforitsoperation; especially: theloadcarried

by

anaircraftorspacecraftconsistingofthings(aspassengers or instruments) necessaryto thepurpose of

the flight

2 :theweight of a payload

American

Heritage® DictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage, FourthEdition

http://dictionarvTeferencexom/search?q=pavload&r=67(28 July2004)

1.

The

revenue-producingpartof acargo.

a.

The

totalweightofpassengersandcargothatanaircraftcarriesorcancarry.

b.

The

totalweight oftheinstruments, crew,andlife-supportsystemsthataspacecraft carriesor

cancarry.

c.

The

passengers, crew, instruments, orequipmentcarried

by

anaircraft, spacecraft, orrocket.

2.

The

explosivechargecarried inthe

warhead

ofamissile.

MSN

Encarta

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionarv/DictionarvResults.aspx?refid= _{(28 July} 2004)

1. freightquantityof cargo: the quantityofcargo or loadthataplane,train,or other vehiclecancarry, oftenexpressedasweightor

volume

2. airplane passengers

and

equipment:

thepassengersandinstrumentscarried

by

anaircraftorspacecraft

3.armsexplosivecharge: theexplosivechargeofarocket ormissileorthetotalexplosivechargeofthe

bomb

loadcarried

by

anaircraft

Infoplease

http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/pavload (28 July2004)

1.the partofacargoproducing revenueorincome,usuallyexpressedinweight.

2.the

number

ofpayingpassengers,as

on

anairplane.

3.Aerospace,Mil.

a.the

bomb

load,warhead,cargo, or passengersof

an

aircraft, arocket, missile,etc., fordeliveryatatarget

ordestination.

Attorney

Docket

No.

006578.P001

(4)

b.thetotal

complement

of equipmentcarried

by

a spacecraftfortheperformance ofaparticularmissionin

space.

c.theexplosiveenergyofthe

warhead

ofamissileorofthe

bomb

loadof anaircraft: apayload of

50

megatons.

Cambridge

Advanced

Learners Dictionary

http://dictionarv.cambridge.org/define.asp?kev=58228&dict=CALD_{(28 July}2004)

The

amount

ofgoods orpeople

which

avehicle, suchasanaircraft,cancarry, ortheexplosive

which

a

missilecarries,or theequipmentcarried inaspacecraft

Wikipedia,the freeencyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavload (28 July2004)

Incargotransport,

payload

isthevaluable contentsofthe vehicle.

Similarly,inmilitaryaircraft,payloadisthecarryingcapacityof anaircraft,whetheras cargo, munitions,or externalfuel, althoughinternal fuelisusuallynotincluded.

DeltaIIPayloadPlannersGuide,

The Boeing Company, 2000

[This

document

apparently considersthe

word

"payload"tobesufficientlywellunderstoodwithintheits

targetaudiencethat

nowhere

inthis323-page

document

isitdefined.

The

following excerpts giveexamples

ofitsusage.]

"The

Delta

team

addresseseachcustomer'sspecificconcerns andrequirements, employingameticulous,

systematic, user-specific processthataddressesadvance mission planning

and

analysisof payloaddesign;

coordinationof systems interfacebetween payloads andDeltaII;processingofallnecessarydocumentation,

including

government

requirements;prelaunch systemsintegrationandcheckout; launch-siteoperations dedicated exclusivelyto theuser's scheduleandneeds;andpostflightanalysis."

"The

Delta

team works

closelywithitscustomerstodefine

optimum

performanceformissionpayload(s)."

"The

vehicle

was

capableofdeliveringapayload of54

kg

(120lb)togeosynchronoustransfer orbit

(GTO)

and 181 kg (400lb)to low-Earthorbit(LEO)."

"The

payloadattachfitting

(PAF)

providesthe interfacebetweenthesecondstage andthe space-craft for

two-stage missions."

"The

third-stagepayloadattachfittingmatesthe thirdstagewiththe spacecraft..

."

DOD

DictionaryofMilitaryand Associated

Terms

http://www.dtic.mi1/doctrine/iel/doddict/data/p/03974.html (28 July2004)

(DOD,

NATO)

Attorney

Docket No. 006578.P001

(5)

1.

The

sum

oftheweightofpassengersandcargothat anaircraftcancarry. Seealso load.

2.

The

warhead,itscontainer, andactivatingdevicesinamilitary missile. 3.

The

satelliteor research vehicleof aspaceprobeor researchmissile.

4.

The

load(expressedintonsof cargoorequipment, gallonsofliquid, or

number

ofpassengers)

which

the

vehicleisdesignedto transportunderspecifiedconditionsofoperation,inadditiontoitsunladenweight.

"Space MissionAnalysisandDesign", 3rdEdition,

James

R.

Wertz

&

Wiley

J.Larson (ed.),

Kluwar

1999.

Page 12.

"The

pay

loadconsistsofthehardwareandsoftwarethatsenseor interactwiththe subject. Typically,

we

tradeoffand

combine

severalsensorsand experiments to

form

thepayload,

which

largely

determinesthemission'scost, complexity

and

effectiveness.

The

subsystems ofthespacecraftbussupport

thepayload

by

providingattitudemaintenance, power,

command,

telemetry

and

data handling, structureand

rigidity,andtemperaturecontrol.

The

payloadandspacecraftbustogetherare called the spacecraft,space

segment, orlaunchvehiclepayload.

"The

launch systemincludesthelaunchfacility, launchvehicleand

any

upperstagerequiredto

placethespacecraftinorbit,aswellas interfaces, payloadfairing,

and

associatedground-supportequipment andfacilities.

The

selectedlaunchsystemconstrainsthe size, shape,and

mass

ofthe spacecraft."

Page241.

"As

illustratedinFig. 1-3 inChap. 1,the

payload

isthe combination of hardwareand softwareon

the spacecraft that interactswiththe subject (theportion oftheoutsideworldthatthespacecraftislooking at

orinteractingwith) toaccomplishthemissionobjectives. Payloadsare typicallyuniquetoeach missionand

are thefundamentalreasonthatthespacecraftis flown."

Attorney

Docket No. 006578.P001

(6)

Conclusion

Applicantsrespectfully

submit

thatthe rejections

have

been

overcome

by

the

amendment

and

remark,

and

thatthe claims as

amended

are

now

in conditionforallowance. Accordingly,

Applicants respectfullyrequest therejections

be

withdrawn and

theclaims as

amended

be

allowed.

Invitation for a

Telephone

Interview

The

Examiner

isrequestedtocallthe

undersigned

at(303)

740-1980

ifthere

remains

any

issue

with

allowance

of

the case.

Applicants respectfully petition for

an

extension

of time

to

respond

totheoutstanding

Office

Action

pursuantto

37

C.F.R. _§ 1.136(a)

should

one

be

necessary. Please

charge our

Deposit

Account

No. 02-2666

to

cover

thenecessaryfee

under 37

C.F.R. _§ 1.17(a) for

such an

extension.

Charge our Deposit Account.

Please

charge

any

shortageto

our Deposit

Account No.

02-2666.

Request

for

an

Extension

of

Time

Respectfully submitted,

BLAKELY,

SOKOLOFF,

TAYLOR

& ZAFMAN

LLP

Gordon

R.

Lindeen

III

Reg.

No.

33,192

12400

Wilshire

Boulevard

7thFloor

Los

Angeles, California

90025-1026

(303)

740-1980

Attorney

Docket No. 006578.P001

Application

No.

10/651 ,226 1