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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 05 Aug 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-24 are pending in the application with claims 1-13 remaining withdrawn. Claims 20 and 23 are currently amended with claim 24 newly added. Applicant’s amendment to the Drawings and Claims have overcome each and every objection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 05 Feb 2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05 Aug 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding the 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejection of claim 14 applicant argues that Smith et al. (U.S. Pub. 2001/0035187) fails to teach “an orifice configured to be in intermittent alignment with the inlet and the outlet” (Pg. 7-8).
Examiner respectfully disagrees and directs attention to the cited ¶0021 of Smith which discusses “At an extreme clockwise position, all twelve holes over the first outlet 18 are uncovered and all twelve holes over the second outlet 20 are covered, thus delivering all of the flow from the compressor to the patient. Conversely, for example during patient exhalation, if the wiper plate 22 is positioned in an extreme counterclockwise position, all twelve holes leading to the patient are covered and all of the flow from the compressor is vented to the second fluid outlet 20.” Smith thus clearly teaches movement of the wiper plate 22 between extreme positions as creating situations where fluid inlet 16 is intermittently aligned with either of valve outlets 18 and 20 (e.g. at least some holes uncovered = aligned vs. all holes covered = not aligned).
The prior 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejection of claim 14 is thus maintained.
Duplicate Claim
Claim 15 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 24. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. In the present case claim 15 only recites the exact limitations of independent claim 24. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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.
Claim(s) 14 and 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Smith et al. (U.S. Pub. 2001/0035187).
Regarding claim 14, Smith discloses a ventilator valve (Fig. 1; ¶0019), comprising: a housing (Fig. 1 #10, 12; ¶0019), the housing having an inlet (Fig. 1 #16; ¶0019) for receiving breathing gas, the housing having a cover (Fig. 1 #12; ¶0019) with an outlet (Fig. 1 #18 or #20; ¶0019) in fluid communication with the inlet; and a shutter (Fig. 1 #22; ¶0021) rotatably disposed in a path between the inlet and the outlet (see also Figs. 2C-2D; ¶¶0021-0023), the shutter having an orifice (Figs. 2C-2D #32; ¶0023) configured to be in intermittent alignment with the inlet and the outlet (¶¶0021-0023) such that, as the shutter is rotated, the inlet and outlet are occluded when the orifice is not aligned (Figs. 1 & 2C-2D flow directed to only one of #18, 20 when all holes to that outlet are covered; ¶¶0020-0022) and patent (Figs. 1 & 2C-2D directed to only other of #18, 20 when at least some holes to that outlet are uncovered; ¶¶0020-0022) when the orifice is at least partially aligned between the inlet and the outlet.
Regarding claim 16, Smith discloses a coupler (Fig. 1 #34; ¶0025) configured for connection to a crank (¶0025 – motorized rotation of wiper plate 22 will use a crank) for manually rotating the shutter.
Regarding claim 17, Smith discloses the shutter is a disk (Figs. 1 & 2C-2D #22).
Regarding claim 18, Smith discloses the housing is cylindrical (Fig. 1 #10, 12).
Regarding claim 19, Smith discloses the shutter is contained within the housing (Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 20-24 are allowed.
Claim(s) 15 is/are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 15, the claim remains allowed over the prior art for the same reasons stated in the preceding Office action.
Regarding claim 20, the claim is allowed for having been rewritten in independent form while including all limitations of former claim 20, which was indicated as allowable subject matter in the preceding Office action.
Regarding claim 24, the new claim is allowed for having been written in independent form to include all limitations of claim 15, which was indicated as allowable subject matter in the preceding Office action. It is noted that claim 24 covers the exact same scope as claim 15.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH D BOECKER whose telephone number is (571)270-0376. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kendra 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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/JOSEPH D. BOECKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3785
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