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 .
Reopening Prosecution
In view of the Appeal Brief filed on 01/23/2026, PROSECUTION IS HEREBY REOPENED. New grounds of rejection are set forth below.
To avoid abandonment of the application, appellant must exercise one of the following two options:
(1) file a reply under 37 CFR 1.111 (if this Office action is non-final) or a reply under 37 CFR 1.113 (if this Office action is final); or,
(2) initiate a new appeal by filing a notice of appeal under 37 CFR 41.31 followed by an appeal brief under 37 CFR 41.37. The previously paid notice of appeal fee and appeal brief fee can be applied to the new appeal. If, however, the appeal fees set forth in 37 CFR 41.20 have been increased since they were previously paid, then appellant must pay the difference between the increased fees and the amount previously paid.
A Supervisory Patent Examiner (SPE) has approved of reopening prosecution by signing below:
/STEVEN B MCALLISTER/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required:
“clamping band” in claim 30
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 21, 24, 27 and 31-33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thaler (US 6185885 B1) in view of O (KR 20110134154 A) and NPL1 (cited in the final rejection of 07/29/2025).
Regarding claim 21, Thaler teaches of:
An exhaust vent assembly for use with an exhaust duct on a flat roof for exhaust from at least a bathroom, kitchen or clothes dryer wherein the exhaust duct extends upwardly and beyond said flat roof (Fig. 1, 20 is in use with an exhaust duct 26 that extends beyond roof 24), the exhaust vent comprising:
- a sleeve adapted to overlie said exhaust duct extending upwardly and beyond said flat roof (Fig. 1, 34)
Thaler fails to explicitly teach:
- a plastic neck having a gooseneck configuration having a first opening at a first end and a second opening at a second end adapted to attach the first opening at the first end to an upper end of said plastic sleeve, and
- a plastic cap adapted to be attached to the second opening at the second end of the plastic neck to an outer end of said plastic neck.
O teaches of:
- a neck having a gooseneck configuration having a first opening at a first end and a second opening at a second end adapted to attach the first opening at the first end to an upper end of said plastic sleeve (Fig. 4, 120 has a first opening at a first end attached to an upper end of 110 and a second opening at a second end opposite the first end), and
- a cap adapted to be attached to the second opening at the second end of the plastic neck to an outer end of said plastic neck (Fig. 4, 140 is attached at a second opening on the second end of 120)
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
Attach 120 and 140 to the upper end of 34 so that 120 overlies 34 and forms a flow path out of 36, through 120 and out of 140
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
Adding gooseneck shaped neck and cap to the upper end of the sleeve of Thaler prevents water and debris from entering the duct (O, ¶ [0029], the inverted "U" shaped pipe (120) prevents foreign substances, moisture, etc. from entering the slab layer (10) from the outside)
NPL1 teaches of:
Making all pieces of the exhaust vent assembly out of plastic ((Paragraph 4, Plastics on the other hand, are naturally dent resistant and will stand up to many challenges. New resin technologies have improved resistance to damaging UV rays. A resin with the right additives will withstand thousands of hours of summer sunshine. Their resistance to condensation will allow plastics to cope with a range of temperature and humidity.)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
Make the entire vent cover of the combined teachings out of plastic
A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have been motivated to make this modification because:
Plastic is lightweight and resistant to the elements (Paragraph 4, Plastics on the other hand, are naturally dent resistant and will stand up to many challenges. New resin technologies have improved resistance to damaging UV rays. A resin with the right additives will withstand thousands of hours of summer sunshine. Their resistance to condensation will allow plastics to cope with a range of temperature and humidity.)
Regarding claim 24, the combined teachings teach of the exhaust vent assembly of claim 21, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein said exhaust vent assembly is adapted to be configured without penetrative fasteners (Thaler, Fig. 1, no penetrative fasteners are utilized)
Regarding claim 27, the combined teachings teach of the exhaust vent assembly of claim 21, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein said plastic cap comprises a cylindrical shape having a plurality of openings adapted to emit said exhaust and to prevent entry of birds (O, Fig. 4, 140 is cylindrical as it is a circular shape with a thickness)
Regarding claim 31, the combined teachings teach of the exhaust vent assembly of claim 21, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising at least one plastic bushing adapted to fit over said exhaust duct and engage the exterior wall of said exhaust duct and engage the inner wall of said plastic sleeve to create a space between said exhaust duct and said plastic sleeve (Thaler, Fig. 1, 40 and 48)
Regarding claim 32, the combined teachings teach of the exhaust vent assembly of claim 31, and the combined teachings further teach:
including two plastic bushings attached at each end of said plastic sleeve (Thaler, Fig. 1, 40 and 48 are at both ends)
Regarding claim 33, the combined teachings teach of the exhaust vent assembly of claim 32, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein said space between said exhaust duct and said plastic sleeve includes insulation therein.
A further embodiment of Thaler teaches of:
wherein said space between said exhaust duct and said plastic sleeve includes insulation therein (Fig. 6, 98)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
position insulation in the sleeve of Fig. 1 of Thaler
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would improve the thermal performance of the vent
Claim(s) 22 and 25-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thaler (US 6185885 B1) in view of O (KR 20110134154 A) and NPL1 (cited in the final rejection of 07/29/2025) as presented in claim 21, and in further view of Koessler (US 20060025067 A1), cited in the final rejection of 07/29/2025.
Regarding claim 22, the combined teachings teach of the exhaust vent assembly of claim 21, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
further comprising a plastic damper constructed and arranged inside said plastic neck and adapted to move from a closed position to an open position in response to emission of said exhaust.
Koessler teaches of:
further comprising a plastic damper constructed and arranged inside said plastic neck and adapted to move from a closed position to an open position in response to emission of said exhaust (Fig. 19, 213’ is a plastic damper placed in the neck of a vent cover and moves from an open position 213’B to a closed position 213’A due to air moving out of the vent)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add damper 213’ and all of its components to the neck 120 of the combined teachings such that the damper is shaped to fit within the cylindrical neck of 120 and that 303B of Koessler is positioned on the interior of 120 and that 305C is provided on the interior surface of the neck 120 so that the perimeter of damper 213’ rests on 305C allowing the damper to sit in a closed position due to gravity and be forced open due to air pressure from the interior of the building
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would prevent objects from being blown into the air vent and thus the building from the outside (Koessler, ¶ [0058], The damper may be pivotable between a closed configuration where the damper spans the vent passageway to substantially reduce an inward flow of gas therethrough and an open configuration, where gas is permitted to flow through the vent passageway)
Regarding claim 25, the combined teachings teach of the exhaust vent assembly of claim 22, and the combined teachings further teach:
further comprising a plastic damper ring attached to the inside of said plastic neck and adapted to receive said plastic damper (Koessler, 305 surrounds the interior surface of the neck of Koessler and in the combined teachings and receives the perimeter of damper 213’)
Regarding claim 26, the combined teachings teach of the exhaust vent assembly of claim 25, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein said plastic damper ring is eccentric in shape (Koessler, Fig. 19, the damper is eccentric as its axis of rotation is not central to the damper’s body)
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thaler (US 6185885 B1) in view of O (KR 20110134154 A) and NPL1 (cited in the final rejection of 07/29/2025) as presented in claim 21, and in further view of Erekson (US 20050150176 A1).
Regarding claim 23, the combined teachings teach of the exhaust vent assembly of claim 21, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
further comprising a plastic collar adapted to fit over said plastic sleeve and adjacent to said roof.
Erekson teaches of:
further comprising a plastic collar adapted to fit over said plastic sleeve and adjacent to said roof (Fig. 1, 1)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add 1 over the sleeve of Thaler
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would protect the lower portion of the sleeve of Thaler from UV damage (Erekson, ¶ [0001], The present invention relates to the protection of roof components from the damaging effects of ultra violet rays from the sun, and, more particularly, a shield device for blocking out ultra violet rays from roof pipe flashing components that are susceptible to ultra violet ray damage.)
Claim(s) 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thaler (US 6185885 B1) in view of O (KR 20110134154 A) and NPL1 (cited in the final rejection of 07/29/2025) as presented in claim 21, and in further view of McIver (US 9851115 B2).
Regarding claim 28, the combined teachings teach of the exhaust vent assembly of claim 21, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein said plastic cap comprises an annular ring having a screen adapted to prevent entry of insects.
McIver teaches of:
wherein said plastic cap comprises an annular ring having a screen adapted to prevent entry of insects (Fig. 1A, plastic cap 50 has an annular ring with a screen positioned within it)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace 140 O with 50 of McIver
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It has been found that the simple substation of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is obvious based upon the following rationale:
The combined teachings, particularly O, teach of the claimed device except for the substitution of screen with an annular ring;
A screen with an annular ring utilized to prevent the ingress of insects was known in the art as described by McIver;
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have substituted 140 of O with 50 of McIver and the combined teachings would still function as originally intended and would have the predictable result of allowing air out of the vent assembly and preventing the ingress of insects
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 29-30 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 29:
The combined teachings do not teach of a plurality of apertures or a plurality of locking channels on the sleeve and neck respectively. While clamping bands are known in the art, it would not be obvious to modify Thaler to have one to secure it to the duct as it already is secured via the grommet 48 which has criticality for the embodiment.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J GIORDANO whose telephone number is (571)272-8940. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fr 8 AM - 5 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steve McAllister can be reached at (571) 272-6785. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
Prosecution Insights