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 .
Priority
Acknowledgement is made to Applicant’s claim to priority to National Stage Application No. PCT/IN20201/050222 filed March 9, 2021 and to foreign priority to India Application No. IN202011010086 filed March 9, 2020.
However, it is noted that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the IN202011010086 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Status of Claims
The present office action is in response to the Remarks and Amendment filed 11/10/2023. As directed by the amendment, claims 1, 4, 6-7, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20-21, 23-25 have been amended, claims 2, and 8-9 have been cancelled, and claims 28-32 have been newly added. Thus, claims 1, 3-7, and 10-32 are presenting pending in this application.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the descriptions are provided within the drawings instead of under the specifications. For example, figure 1 includes the following textual description, “The figure shown 1 of Base frame comprises of metal angle…switches etc.” which constitute narrative explanation rather than labeling. Such text should appear in the written description, not within the figures. Further, the features are not properly labeled with reference characters throughout figures 1-15. See MPEP 608.02.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The descriptions for the drawings, figures 1-15 are not provided. Examiner suggests amending the specification to incorporate any removed textual explanations from the drawings as well as the reference characters associated with the indicated features. When there are drawings, there shall be a brief description of the several views of the drawings and the detailed description of the invention shall refer to the different views by specifying the numbers of the figures, and to the different parts by use of reference letters or numerals. See MPEP 608.01(f) and 608.01(g).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 3-7, and 10-32 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites, “sanitizing liquid” in ln 5 which Examiner suggest amending to read --a sanitizing liquid--
Claim 1 recites, “the rotary disk” in ln 12 and “a rotary disk” in ln 14 which Examiner suggest amending to read --a rotary disk-- and --the rotary disk-- respectively.
Claim 1 recites, “the water” in ln 16 which Examiner suggest amending to read --a water--Claim 3 recites, “pressurized air” in ln 2 which Examiner suggest amending to read --a pressurized air--
Claim 4 recites, “sanitizing liquid” in ln 2 which Examiner suggest amending to read --the sanitizing liquid--
Claim 5 recites, “footcare treatment substances” in ln 1-2 which Examiner suggest amending to read --the footcare treatment substances-- as recited in claim 1.
Claim 6 recites, “treatments” in ln 3 which Examiner suggest amending to read --each treatment--
Claim 7 recites, “treatments” in ln 3 which Examiner suggest amending to read --each treatment--
Claim 12 recites, “circulation of water” in ln 2 which Examiner suggest amending to read --a circulation of water--
Claim 14 recites, “automatic control” in ln 2 which Examiner suggest amending to read --an automatic control--
Claim 15 recites, “manual control” in ln 1-2 which Examiner suggest amending to read --a manual control--
Claim 20 recites, “sanitizing liquid” in ln 2 which Examiner suggest amending to read --the sanitizing liquid--
Claim 21 recites, “doors” in ln 3 which Examiner suggest amending to read --door-- as only a door is recited.
Claim 21 recites, “water” in ln 3 which Examiner suggest amending to read --the water--
Claim 21 recites, “the front” in ln 4 which Examiner suggest amending to read --a front--
Claims 22-23 are objected as the claims repeat the limitation of independent claim 1 (see ln 3, and 12-13)
Claim 24 recites, “ultraviolet radiation” in ln 10, and “sanitizing liquid” in ln 12 which Examiner suggest amending to read --an ultraviolet radiation-- and --a sanitizing liquid--.
Claim 25 recites, “ultraviolet radiation” in ln 2, and “sanitizing liquid” in ln 4 which Examiner suggest amending to read --the ultraviolet radiation-- and --the sanitizing liquid--.
Claim 30 recites, “temperate control device is manually controlled” in ln 1 which Examiner suggest amending to read --temperature control device configured to be manually controlled--
Claim 31 recites, “a liner” in ln 2 which Examiner suggest amending to read --a linear--
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitations are:
“a rollback mechanism” in claim 1
“a temperature control device” in claims 29-30
Because this/these claim limitations are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, they are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
The corresponding structure for the “rollback mechanism” is interpreted as the rubber pipe which roll back type on spring roll as the spring attached to the roller of the hose pipe as described in ¶0074-0129 of the instant application.
The corresponding structure for the “temperature control device” is interpreted as the temperature heat control switch which regulates the temperature of the water heating coil to control the water temperature in the chamber as described in ¶0070 and the switch or switches as described in ¶0095 of the instant application.
If applicant does not intend to have these limitation) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
Claim 30 is 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 30 recites the limitation "the temperature control device" in ln 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim as it is dependent to claim 1.
For the examination purpose, it is interpreted as being dependent on claim 29 which introduces the limitation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 24 and 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn (US Pat 6602212) in view of Yu (machine translation of KR 100951969), EPL (“Recommended Cleaning and Disinfection Procedure for Foot Spa Bains in Salons”, US Environmental Protection Agency, Available at: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-10/documents/footspa_disinfection_page.pdf. Published December 2006), and Yoo et al. (US 20210022566).
Examiner notes that the claims do not recites an order of steps or any specify the timing of operations and thus the steps are considered to be capable of being performed in any order that achieves the recited functions unless otherwise explicitly recited (for example, “after draining”).
Regarding claim 24, Ahn discloses, a method of operating a device (a foot massage apparatus of Fig 1-2) for treating a person's foot (Col 1, ln 38-58, implies operating the apparatus to provide various massages onto the foot) comprising:
receiving the foot (feet is received in the casing 10 as shown in Fig 2) in a chamber (10, Fig 2) of the device;
supporting the foot on a footrest (70, Fig 2) in the chamber;
driving a rotary disk (155 of 150 of Fig 10a which is below the 70 as shown in Fig 2, 10a) immersed in the water below the footrest to circulate the water in the chamber to massage the foot (Col 9, ln 41-67, implies the water currents is generated to provide massage the foot viz a jet nozzle).
While Ahn discloses heating water in the chamber based on a set temperature (Col 3, ln 44-45, a heating means in order to heat the water to a certain degree) and further discloses a hot water massage and a liquid medicine massage by mean of heater and ice, salt, and various liquid medicines (Col 1, ln 58-67), Ahn is silent on the set temperature to steam the foot.
However, Yu et al. which is analogous art to the claimed invention for providing liquid medicine massage by using heating means and various medicines (PG 3, ln 19-29) and the device comprising a footrest (220, Fig 13) in the chamber (203, Fig 13) to accommodate the user’s feet (PG 13, ln 19-23) and a jet nozzle (240, Fig 14) disclose the temperature to steam the foot in order to minimize the amount of water and energy consumption while enhancing the effect of the foot bath (PG 7, ln 6 -21).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the heater of Ahn to include the set temperature to steam the foot as taught by Yu et al. in order to minimize the amount of water and energy consumption while enhancing the effect of the foot bath (PG 7, ln 6 -21).
While Ahn discloses, the cleaning after using the foot massage (Col 10, ln 27-37), modified Ahn does not specifically discloses, draining the water in the chamber; after draining the water in the chamber, sterilizing a body of the chamber, including spraying sanitizing liquid on the chamber using a spray gun disposed above the footrest.
However, EPL which is analogous to the claimed invention teaches, a method to clean after the usage. (PG 2-3, the method involves draining the water, cleaning with soap or detergent and disinfect; Examiner notes that the claim does not specify the timing or exact order of the method other than “after draining”, so that the steps are considered to be considered to be capable of being performed in any order after the draining water. Further, the cleaning supplies are commonly equipped with a spray gun for spraying sanitizing liquid and can be placed/stored any height which can be above the footrest).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Ahn to include the cleaning method after usage as taught by EPL as a known method for cleaning and disinfection procedure for the foot basins.
While Ahn discloses a hot water massage (Col 1, ln 58-67) and an ultraviolet lamp is installed at the upper portion of the detachable water vessel in order to sterilize the water inside the detachable water vessel, and accordingly it is possible to perform a sanitary massage (Col 11, ln 65 - Col 12, ln 8). Modified Ahn does not specifically discloses, applying ultraviolet radiation to the chamber using a plurality of ultraviolet lamps for sterilization/disinfection.
However, Yoo et al. which is analogous art to the claimed invention for the leg care apparatus comprising a chamber (500, Fig 3) and a liquid treatment to the legs (¶0160-0161, 0236-0241) and a light emitting elements (¶0157), teaches the light emitting element may perform various functions such as sterilization, ultraviolet light for photocatalytic decomposition, infrared rays, and the like depending on the irradiated light (¶0157) and applying ultraviolet radiation to the chamber using a plurality of ultraviolet lamps for sterilization/disinfection (¶0101) in order to sterilize and disinfect the chamber.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Ahn to employ its existing UV lamps, not only for sterilizing the foot, but also for additional purpose of applying ultraviolet radiation to the chamber for sterilization/disinfection as taught by Yoo et al. in order to sterilize and disinfect the chamber.
Regarding claim 26, Ahn in view of Yu, EPL, and Yoo et al. discloses the method of claim 24 as discuss above.
Ahn further discloses, further comprising blowing air in the chamber to dry the foot. (Col 12, ln 34-37, “A hot-air drying means is installed inside the main body…to dry the wet feet easily after the massage.”)
Regarding claim 27, Ahn in view of Yu, EPL, and Yoo et al. discloses the method of claim 24 as discuss above.
Ahn further discloses, wherein the driving a rotary disk (155 of 150 of Fig 10a which is below the 70 as shown in Fig 2, 10a) immersed in the water below the footrest to circulate the water in the chamber to massage the foot includes circulating water (Col 9, ln 41-67, implies the water currents is generated to provide massage the foot viz a jet nozzle) through a plurality of apertures (Col 2, ln 65 - Col 3, ln 2, “A footstool fabricated with a metal net for putting the feet thereon comfortably is installed at a position at a distance of 100.about.150 mm from the jet nozzle of the front jet means where the effect of the water pressure is maximized”) in the footrest.
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn (US Pat 6602212) in view of Yu (machine translation of KR 100951969), EPL (“Recommended Cleaning and Disinfection Procedure for Foot Spa Bains in Salons”, US Environmental Protection Agency, Available at: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-10/documents/footspa_disinfection_page.pdf. Published December 2006), and Yoo et al. (US 20210022566) as applied to claim 24 above, and further in view of UNCAS (“Recommended Disinfection Procedures for Multi-Use Tools & Equipment in Nail Salons”, UNCAS Health District, Available at https://uncashd.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Salon_Disinfection_Guide.pdf. Published July 2018).
Regarding claim 25, Ahn in view of Yu, EPL, and Yoo et al. discloses the method of claim 24 as discuss above.
Examiner notes that the claim does not specify the timing or exact order of the method, so that the steps are considered to be considered to be capable of being performed in any order.
Ahn further discloses, using the plurality of ultraviolet lamps to generate ultraviolet radiation to sterilize the foot during treatment (Col 11, ln 65 - Col 12, ln 8), but Ahn does not specifically discloses dispensing sanitizing liquid above the footrest to sterilize the foot.
However, UNCAS which is analogous art to the claim invention for the method of cleaning and disinfection for the footbath, teaches a method of general hygiene which includes cleaning of the treatment area of the client such as hands and feet (PG 2, Col 2 - under section “General Hygiene” using the sanitizing liquid. (Examiner notes that the foot can be placed in any height and any position when it is not in the chamber--including above the supporting surface/footrest for washing, sanitizing or drying before treatment).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Ahn to include the dispenser capable of applying sanitizing liquid to the foot above the footrest, thereby permitting the user’s foot to be cleaned or sanitized prior to treatment as taught by UNCAS for the general hygiene purposes. Such modification represents a predictable application of known sanitization principles to improve user hygiene. See MPEP 2144.03.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3-7, and 10-23, and 28-32 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome informalities.
Claim 30 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.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding the subject matters of claim 1, the closest identified prior art documents of record are Ahn (US Pat 6602212).
Regarding claim 1, the prior arts of record Ahn, discloses the main components, a chamber (10, Fig 2), a footrest (70, Fig 2), a dispenser assembly (110, 120, 160, Fig 2), a spray gun (110, 120, Fig 2), at least one dispenser including a nozzle targeting the foot during treatment (160, Fig 2), a rotary disk (155, Fig 10A), and a water filtration membrane (136, Fig 2), but the prior art fails to teach or suggest that the water filtration system including a candle filter for filtering particles from the water in the chamber, and the spray gun mounted on an extendible hose line with a rollback mechanism operative to enable positioning of the spray gun within the chamber.
It is thus found that one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of the effective filing of the invention would only have arrived at the instantly claimed invention by way of improper hindsight reasoning.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAEICK JANG whose telephone number is (703)756-4569. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 - 4:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kendra D Carter can be reached at (571) 272-9034. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.J./Examiner, Art Unit 3785
/JOSEPH D. BOECKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3785