DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
2. The amendment filed 09 December 2025 has been received and considered for examination. Claims 1-9, 11-16, 18, and 20-26 are presently pending, with claims 22 and 25 withdrawn from consideration and claims 1-9, 11-16, 18, 20-21, 23-24, and 26 being examined herein.
3. All rejections from the previous Office action are withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
4. New grounds of rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 are necessitated by the amendments, as detailed below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
6. Claims 1-7, 9, 11-16, 18, 20, 21, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krosney (US 20210361815 A1) in view of Saito et al (US 20100043794 A1).
7. Regarding claim 1, Krosney teaches a system (UV Sterilization Apparatus, System, And Method For Aircraft Air Systems, Title) comprising:
a duct (airflow and irradiation management chamber, pars 0072-0084; FIGS. 2-3, 210) including internal reflective surfaces surrounding at least a portion (interior surfaces of the bends and/or the straight regions in the sanitizing chamber may be coated with a highly reflective material, such as polished aluminum, par 0106) of an internal air passage (air flow, pars 0055-0056; FIGS. 2-3, inner surface 240 adjacent to air passage);
one or more ultraviolet (UV) light emitters (UV LED, par 0056) coupled to the duct (insertedly related to the one or more aperture such that the emitter portion is oriented toward the inner area, par 0056), wherein the one or more UV light emitters are configured to emit UV light into air that passes through the internal air passage (such that a UV radiation is emitted into said enclosed area 470 thereby exposing said air flow to said UV radiation, par 0058), wherein the internal reflective surfaces reflect the UV light within the internal air passage (reflectance of UV radiation within sanitizing chambers, par 0033, FIGS. 10A-10D, surface reflectivity, par 0121);
an air inlet coupled to the duct (par 0055; FIGS. 2-3, inlet 220) wherein the air inlet is in fluid communication with the internal air passage (FIG. 3, receive an air flow with a one or more airborne pathogens 201, par 0056);
an air outlet (outlet 230, pars 0055-0056) coupled to the duct (FIGS. 2-3, 230), wherein the air outlet is in fluid communication with the internal air passage (configured to expel the now sterilized air flow, par 0058), wherein the air outlet comprises a nozzle (outlet 230 is a nozzle that constricts airflow shown by arrows, FIG. 3);
an outlet tube including air openings (exhaust hose has openings at both ends, par 0060, FIG. 2) wherein the outlet tube outwardly extends from the nozzle (outlet connects to exhaust hose, par 0060, FIG. 2); and
a blower coupled to the duct (fan, par 0071; FIG. 2, 284), wherein the blower is configured to draw the air (fan that is capable of producing an airflow through the various components of the unit, par 0087) into the internal air passage through the air inlet (FIG. 3, flow arrows 201), and discharge the air from the internal air passage through the air outlet (FIG. 3, flow arrows through outlet 230), and wherein the air is disinfected (ambient airflow now sterilized, par 0092) within the internal air passage by the UV light emitted by the one or more UV light emitters (exposing the ambient air flow to a UV radiation within the UV LED air sterilization apparatus, par 0092) and reflected by the internal reflective surfaces (high level of reflectance within the sanitizing chamber generally maximizes the effectiveness of the UV LEDs, par 0098).
Krosney does not teach wherein the air outlet comprises a conic nozzle pivotally coupled to the duct, a pivot joint coupled to the conic nozzle, wherein the outlet tube is pivotally coupled to the conic nozzle by the pivot joint - though Krosney in an analogous embodiment does describe the outlet tube coupled to the duct as flexible (par 0153, FIG. 13A) i.e., can pivot. Krosney also does not teach that the outlet tube is rigid nor that the outlet openings include a linear slot.
Saito teaches an air supply system for aircraft cabins (Title, pars 0015-0017) wherein conditioned air is distributed through an outlet duct system pivotally coupled to the piping inside the seat (FIG. 4, duct 40A coupled to pivot about axis 43u). The outlet duct 40A appears rigid as it remains straight when pivoted (FIGS. 4-5) and includes blow-off ports 40a (pars 0047-0048, FIG. 4) that can be configured as a rotatable ball joint (pars 0048-0050, FIGS. 4-5, joint 40A”) to further pivotally couple the system duct to a removable outlet tube if desired (pars 0016, FIG. 5, tube 51). In another embodiment, Saito teaches that the outlet port can be “louver-shaped” (FIG. 10, par 0062), reading upon a linear slot. Saito discusses the advantage of this linear nozzle shape in that it allows conditioned air to be blown at the head of the passenger slowly (par 0062). Saito also teaches embodiments that include a conic nozzle (FIG. 6, 40a), which for the FIG. 6 embodiment is taught to have other aspects besides the duct 40A that are identical to those of the embodiment of FIGS. 4-5 (par 0057). The conic shape is one that Saito establishes is effective for tapering the air passage (par 0059).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to replace the outlet nozzle 230 in the system of Krosney with a conic nozzle pivotally coupled via a pivot joint to a rigid outlet tube as taught by Saito. Doing so would predictably provide the same added flexibility so that the outlet tube may readily be placed near a user when in use and withdrawn or removed to not obstruct user movement when not in use, as demonstrated by Saito (Saito par 0016, FIG. 4). It would further have been obvious to include within the outlet tube a linear slot for one of the plurality of outlets as taught by Saito, as doing so would confer the same advantage of outletting a slow flow toward the passenger.
8. Regarding claim 2, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, and Krosney further teaches in a different embodiment wherein the duct comprises a first segment connected to a second segment through a bend (Sanitizing chambers were created with two 18 inch sections connected by a single bend, Krosney par 0124). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to substitute the single segment duct of the primary embodiment for a first segment connected to a second segment through a bend as taught by Krosney. Doing so would predictably provide the same advantage of preventing spurious UV radiation from escaping the sanitizing chamber while providing the airflow with sufficient UV radiation dosage to achieve a desired kill rate (Krosney par 0095) and positioning the air outlet proximate to the air inlet (Krosney par 0124).
9. Regarding claim 3, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 2, wherein the bend positions the air outlet proximate to the air inlet (bend can have an angle of 180 degrees, Krosney par 0124, straight sections shown proximate to one another in Krosney FIG. 9C).
10. Regarding claim 4, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 2, wherein the bend provides a 180 degree turn (bend has an angle of either 90 degrees or 180 degrees, Krosney par 0124; Krosney FIG. 9C).
11. Regarding claim 5, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the one or more UV light emitters are configured to emit the UV light at a wavelength within the range of 200-320 nm (Krosney par 0045). Although the preferred embodiment employs a UV LED array emitting at 265 nm (Krosney par 0120), the UV LEDs may be selected based upon the desired wavelength and power rating (Krosney par 0096) and the light would be capable of traversing cell walls and treating air within a wavelength range of 200-290 nm (Krosney par 0045).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, select UV LEDs to emit disinfecting light ranging from 270-280 nanometers, as Krosney teaches that UV LEDs with this wavelength range can be chosen for the system and would predictably disinfect air by virtue of falling within the wider range of disinfecting wavelengths from 200-290 nm (Krosney par 0045).
12. Regarding claim 6, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the one or more UV light emitters are configured to emit the UV light at a wavelength within the range of 200-320 nm (Krosney par 0045). Although the preferred embodiment employs a UV LED array emitting at 265 nm (Krosney par 0120), the UV LEDs may be selected based upon the desired wavelength and power rating (Krosney par 0096) and the light would be capable of traversing cell walls and treating air within a wavelength range of 200-290 nm (Krosney par 0045).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, select UV LEDs to emit disinfecting light ranging from 210-260 nanometers, as Krosney teaches that UV LEDs with this wavelength range can be chosen for the system and would predictably disinfect air by virtue of falling within the wider range of disinfecting wavelengths from 200-290 nm (Krosney par 0045).
13. Regarding claim 7, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein one or both of the air inlet or the air outlet are formed of a UV absorbing material (exhaust hose may also be coated with a UV radiation-absorptive material, Krosney par 0097). Krosney further teaches that the UV blocking structure 210 defining the duct comprises inlet 220 and outlet 230 (Krosney par 0056).
14. Regarding claim 9, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the air inlet has a first diameter (Krosney FIG. 3, inlet 220, diameter of the sanitizing chamber in various embodiments may be represented by its cross-sectional area, Krosney par 0109), and the conic nozzle has a second diameter (Krosney FIG. 3, outlet 230 replaced with conic nozzle as modified, Saito FIG. 6), and wherein the second diameter is less than the first diameter (Krosney FIG. 3, outlet 230 smaller than inlet 220).
15. Regarding claim 11, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the sanitizing chamber may be coated with a highly reflective material, such as polished aluminum (Krosney par 0106) such that the internal reflection translates along the coated portion (Krosney FIGS. 9A-9C). As the light pipe is described in the present specification, the sanitizing chamber of Krosney i.e., duct is a light pipe.
16. Regarding claim 12, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the system can be designed for small size to minimize energy consumption and fan noise (Krosney par 0098). The combination above does not teach wherein the system is configured to be worn by an individual.
Saito teaches an air supply system for aircraft cabins (Title, pars 0015-0017) wherein the outlet nozzles are attached to a hose that connects the air supply to a mask configured to be worn by an individual (Saito FIG. 5, pars 0049-0050).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to configure the system of modified Krosney to include a wearable breathing mask as taught by Saito. Doing so would predictably provide a similar purified airflow to the passenger in the seat, with the same advantage of providing the purified airflow in close proximity the person’s nose and mouth (Saito par 0050).
17. Regarding claim 13, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the system can be mounted (Krosney par 0058) for use in an aircraft cabin air distribution system (Krosney pars 0140-0142; FIGS. 13A-13B) and can be designed for small size to minimize energy consumption and fan noise (Krosney par 0098). The combination above does not teach wherein the system is incorporated into a headrest of a seat.
Saito teaches an air supply system for aircraft cabins (Title, pars 0015-0017) wherein the outlet nozzles are attached to i.e., incorporated into a headrest of a seat such that conditioned air flows out from the headrest (Saito FIG. 5, pars 0049-0050).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the air purification system of Krosney into the headrest of a seat as taught by Saito. Doing so would predictably provide a similar purified airflow to the passenger in the seat, with the same advantage of providing the purified airflow in close proximity the person’s nose and mouth (Saito par 0050).
18. Regarding claim 14, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 13, wherein the system is moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position (duct can change the posture between the usage posture and the withdrawal posture, Saito par 0016).
19. Regarding claim 15, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, further comprising a mounting member configured to secure the system to a structure (housing…further comprises mounting and attachment interfaces so that, once installed, the kit forms a complimentary structure to the existing device, Krosney par 0058).
20. Regarding claim 16, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein one or both of the air inlet or the air outlet (at the outflow end, a UV attenuator, Krosney par 0162) comprises fins (UV attenuator…may be constructed as a series of baffles, Krosney par 0162) that are configured to absorb the UV light (UV attenuator…may facilitate UV capture, Krosney par 0162; baffles…prevent UV light from escaping the apparatus, Krosney par 0065).
21. Regarding claim 18, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the outlet tube is removably secured to the conic nozzle (one or a plurality of blow-off ports 40a may be provided in each duct 40A, Saito par 0048; duct 40A and nozzle 40a can be withdrawn i.e. removable to withdrawal posture so as not to interfere with movement region of passenger, Saito par 0050).
22. Regarding claim 20, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein one or both of the air inlet or the air outlet comprises a screen (filter 270 located at inlet, Krosney FIGS. 2-3), in the form of a high efficiency particulate filter 270 operatively coupled to the airflow (Krosney par 0055) to capture i.e., screen contaminants in the air (Krosney par 0094).
23. Regarding claim 21, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, further comprising a flexible tube connected to the duct (flexible hose apparatus, Krosney par 0092; outlet connected via flexible ducting, Krosney par 0153), wherein the flexible tube comprises the air outlet (Krosney FIG. 2, tube extends air outlet 202).
24. Regarding claim 23, Krosney teaches a system (UV Sterilization Apparatus, System, And Method For Aircraft Air Systems, Title) comprising:
a duct (airflow and irradiation management chamber, pars 0072-0084; FIGS. 2-3, 210) including internal reflective surfaces surrounding at least a portion (interior surfaces of the bends and/or the straight regions in the sanitizing chamber may be coated with a highly reflective material, such as polished aluminum, par 0106) of an internal air passage (air flow, pars 0055-0056; FIGS. 2-3, inner surface 240 adjacent to air passage), wherein the sanitizing chamber may be coated with a highly reflective material, such as polished aluminum (par 0106) such that the internal reflection translates along the coated portion (FIGS. 9A-9C) – thus, as the light pipe is described in the present specification, the sanitizing chamber of Krosney i.e., duct is a light pipe;
one or more ultraviolet (UV) light emitters (UV LED, par 0056) coupled to the duct (insertedly related to the one or more aperture such that the emitter portion is oriented toward the inner area, par 0056), wherein the one or more UV light emitters are configured to emit UV light into air that passes through the internal air passage (such that a UV radiation is emitted into said enclosed area 470 thereby exposing said air flow to said UV radiation, par 0058), wherein the internal reflective surfaces reflect the UV light within the internal air passage (reflectance of UV radiation within sanitizing chambers, par 0033, FIGS. 10A-10D, surface reflectivity, par 0121);
an air inlet coupled to the duct (par 0055; FIGS. 2-3, inlet 220) wherein the air inlet is in fluid communication with the internal air passage (FIG. 3, receive an air flow with a one or more airborne pathogens 201, par 0056), wherein the air inlet has a first diameter (FIG. 3, inlet 220, diameter of the sanitizing chamber in various embodiments may be represented by its cross-sectional area, par 0109);
an air outlet (outlet 230, pars 0055-0056) coupled to the duct (FIGS. 2-3, 230), wherein the air outlet is in fluid communication with the internal air passage (configured to expel the now sterilized air flow, par 0058), wherein the air outlet comprises a nozzle (outlet configured to expel the now sterilized air flow, par 0058; outlet connects to exhaust hose, FIG. 2) wherein the nozzle has a second diameter (FIG. 3, outlet 230, diameter of the sanitizing chamber in various embodiments may be represented by its cross-sectional area, par 0109), wherein the second diameter is less than the first diameter (FIG. 3, outlet 230 smaller than inlet 220), wherein one or both of the air inlet or the air outlet are formed of a UV absorbing material (exhaust hose may also be coated with a UV radiation-absorptive material, par 0097), wherein one or both of the air inlet or the air outlet (at the outflow end, a UV attenuator, par 0162) comprises fins (UV attenuator…may be constructed as a series of baffles, par 0162) that are configured to absorb the UV light (UV attenuator…may facilitate UV capture, par 0162), and wherein one or both of the air inlet or the air outlet comprises a screen (filter 270 located at inlet, FIGS. 2-3), in the form of a high efficiency particulate filter 270 operatively coupled to the airflow (par 0055) to capture i.e., screen contaminants in the air (par 0094);
an outlet tube including air openings (exhaust hose has openings at both ends, par 0060, FIG. 2) wherein the outlet tube outwardly extends from a nozzle of the air outlet (outlet connects to exhaust hose, FIG. 2; outlet 230 is a nozzle that constricts airflow shown by arrows, FIG. 3); and
a blower coupled to the duct (fan, par 0071; FIG. 2, 284), wherein the blower is configured to draw the air (fan that is capable of producing an airflow through the various components of the unit, par 0087) into the internal air passage through the air inlet (FIG. 3, flow arrows 201), and discharge the air from the internal air passage through the air outlet (FIG. 3, flow arrows through outlet 230), and wherein the air is disinfected (ambient airflow now sterilized, par 0092) within the internal air passage by the UV light emitted by the one or more UV light emitters (exposing the ambient air flow to a UV radiation within the UV LED air sterilization apparatus, par 0092) and reflected by the internal reflective surfaces (high level of reflectance within the sanitizing chamber generally maximizes the effectiveness of the UV LEDs, par 0098).
Krosney does not teach wherein the air outlet comprises a conic nozzle pivotally coupled to the duct, a pivot joint coupled to the conic nozzle, wherein the outlet tube is pivotally coupled to the conic nozzle by the pivot joint - though Krosney in an analogous embodiment does describe the outlet tube coupled to the duct as flexible (par 0153, FIG. 13A) i.e., can pivot. Krosney also does not teach that the outlet tube is rigid nor that the outlet openings include a linear slot.
Saito teaches an air supply system for aircraft cabins (Title, pars 0015-0017) wherein conditioned air is distributed through an outlet duct system pivotally coupled to the piping inside the seat (FIG. 4, duct 40A coupled to pivot about axis 43u). The outlet duct 40A appears rigid as it remains straight when pivoted (FIGS. 4-5) and includes blow-off ports 40a (pars 0047-0048, FIG. 4) that can be configured as a rotatable ball joint (pars 0048-0050, FIGS. 4-5, joint 40A”) to further pivotally couple the system duct to a removable outlet tube if desired (pars 0016, FIG. 5, tube 51). In another embodiment, Saito teaches that the outlet port can be “louver-shaped” (FIG. 10, par 0062), reading upon a linear slot. Saito discusses the advantage of this linear nozzle shape in that it allows conditioned air to be blown at the head of the passenger slowly (par 0062). Saito also teaches embodiments that include a conic nozzle (FIG. 6, 40a; FIG. 7, cone 143), which for the FIG. 6 embodiment is taught to have other aspects besides the duct 40A that are identical to those of the embodiment of FIGS. 4-5 (par 0057). The conic shape is one that Saito establishes is effective for tapering the air passage (par 0059).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to replace the outlet nozzle 230 in the system of Krosney with a conic nozzle pivotally coupled via a pivot joint to a rigid outlet tube as taught by Saito. Doing so would predictably provide the same added flexibility so that the outlet tube may readily be placed near a user when in use and withdrawn or removed to not obstruct user movement when not in use, as demonstrated by Saito (Saito par 0016, FIG. 4). It would further have been obvious to include within the outlet tube a linear slot for one of the plurality of outlets as taught by Saito, as doing so would confer the same advantage of outletting a slow flow toward the passenger.
25. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krosney and Saito as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Schurr et al (US 20200282688 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 7, wherein the UV absorbing material of the exhaust hose is unspecified (Krosney par 0097). While Krosney teaches that the airflow and irradiation management chamber may be manufactured using extruded plastics (Krosney par 0079) and sealably blocks ultraviolet light (Krosney par 0059), the combination does not teach that the material is a dark plastic.
Schurr teaches a polymer hose (Abstract, par 0033) in which dark pigments are integrated in the polymer (par 0033) to stabilize against light or UV radiation (par 0025).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include dark pigments as taught by Schurr in the manufactured plastics that comprise the light blocking material of the hose of Krosney. Doing so would predictably ensure that UV does is unable to transmit through the hose, thereby better sealing the harmful UV radiation within the sanitizing chamber.
26. Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krosney and Saito as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Space et al (US 20140179212 A1).
Regarding claim 24, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the system can be designed for small size to minimize energy consumption and fan noise (Krosney par 0098). The combination does not specifically teach wherein the air inlet is less than 6 inches from the air outlet.
Space teaches an analogous personal ventilation system for conditioning air in a passenger cabin (par 0014) having an inlet, an outlet, a duct system, a fan system, and ultraviolet light system capable of removing contaminants from the air (par 0014), delivering purified air (Abstract, pars 0168-170). Space describes a breathing zone where air is inhaled and exhaled by a seated passenger (par 0057), dimensioning this zone between 3.07 and 4.71 inches (FIG. 12C). Space further teaches an embodiment depicting the headrest in relation to inlets and outlet separated on a scale of inches by the headrest (FIGS. 7-8, pars 0072-0074), stating that the inlet and outlet may be located on the same side of the headrest (par 0061) so as to draw in and expel back air into the same breathing zone (par 0171).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the air purification system of modified Krosney so that the air inlet and air outlet are adjacent to the same breathing zone i.e., less than 6 inches apart as taught by Space. Doing so would predictably enable the same advantage of self-contained air purification for each passenger, removing contaminants before possibly being inhaled by other passengers (Space par 0171).
27. Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krosney and Saito as applied to claim 23 above, and further in view of Space et al (US 20140179212 A1).
Regarding claim 26, Krosney as modified by Saito teaches the system of claim 23, wherein the system can be designed for small size to minimize energy consumption and fan noise (Krosney par 0098). The combination does not specifically teach wherein the air inlet is less than 6 inches from the air outlet.
Space teaches an analogous personal ventilation system for conditioning air in a passenger cabin (par 0014) having an inlet, an outlet, a duct system, a fan system, and ultraviolet light system capable of removing contaminants from the air (par 0014), delivering purified air (Abstract, pars 0168-170). Space describes a breathing zone where air is inhaled and exhaled by a seated passenger (par 0057), dimensioning this zone between 3.07 and 4.71 inches (FIG. 12C). Space further teaches an embodiment depicting the headrest in relation to inlets and outlet separated on a scale of inches by the headrest (FIGS. 7-8, pars 0072-0074), stating that the inlet and outlet may be located on the same side of the headrest (par 0061) so as to draw in and expel back air into the same breathing zone (par 0171).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the air purification system of modified Krosney so that the air inlet and air outlet are adjacent to the same breathing zone i.e., less than 6 inches apart as taught by Space. Doing so would predictably enable the same advantage of self-contained air purification for each passenger, removing contaminants before possibly being inhaled by other passengers (Space par 0171).
Response to Arguments
28. Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks filed 09 December 2025, with respect to the rejections of claims 1 and 23, and dependents thereof under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are made over Krosney in view of Saito (and further in view of Schurr with respect to claim 8 and Space with respect to claims 24 and 26) to address the newly recited limitation requiring the outlet tube to be rigid and include a linear slot.
29. Regarding the applicant’s assertion that Saito does not teach a rigid outlet tube extending from the conic nozzle pivot joint, the Examiner disagrees, pointing to the FIG. 4-5 embodiment of Saito. The rigid outlet tube 40A is pivotally coupled to outlet nozzle 40a by the pivot joint and extends therefrom toward the main duct in the seat. The outlet tube 40A is also pivotally coupled to the main duct in the seat, so by extension, the air outlet nozzle is pivotally coupled to the duct. As Saito also teaches that a conic nozzle is a suitable shape for tapering airflow toward the outlet of the system (FIGS. 6 and 7, par 0059), substituting a conic nozzle for either the flow constricting nozzle at joint 43u or particularly outlet nozzle 40A” in FIG. 4 is an obvious matter of design choice, just as substituting a linear slot as in Saito FIG. 10 would be an obvious design choice for a slower, less turbulent outflow (Saito par 0059).
Conclusion
30. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
31. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Eric Talbert whose telephone number is (703)756-5538. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00 Eastern Time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Maris Kessel can be reached at (571) 270-7698. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ERIC TALBERT/Examiner, Art Unit 1758
/SEAN E CONLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
Prosecution Insights