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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-5, 8-10, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoeks et al. (US 20160052009) in view of April et al. (US 20170250551).
Hoeks discloses:
1, 8, 9, 16. A fountain assembly (Shown in Fig. 1) comprising one or more interconnected rechargeable power packs (batteries 16 in waterproof casings Para 0015, 0025-0029, 0009), each power pack comprising at least one power storage element (para 0009 and 0010 plurality of rechargeable batteries) , wherein the fountain assembly further comprises a controller (20 and sub-controllers 15) configured to continuously maintain stored power of the-one or more power storage elements at or above a predefined level during operation (Para 0011, 0013, 0014).
Hoeks does not teach ultra or super capacitors as claimed in claims 1, 8, 9, 16.
April teaches ultra or super capacitors which can be electric double layer, pseudo capacitors, or hybrid capacitors (commonly commercial subtype of capacitor being a LIC lithium ion) (Paragraphs 3, 4, 21, and 23).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention and with reasonable expectation of success to use the capacitors of April in the invention of Hoeks in order to provide high-power delivery and rapid charge and discharge characterizes in electrically driven systems.
3. The fountain assembly according to claim 1, wherein each power pack 16 feeds a plurality of electric motors 13 for controlling water jets, valves for controlling water jets (para 0027) and/or light sources.
4The fountain assembly according to claim 3, comprising a load bearing floor (para 0024-0026) comprising interchangeable floor modules, each floor module comprising a tile with a plurality of nozzles (Pata 0027 – 16 pumps and 16 nozzles per module), each nozzle being operatively connected to a pump or valve, powered by one of the power packs (para 0027).
5. The fountain assembly according to claim 4, wherein each power pack is operatively connected to an auxiliary controller 15 controlling of electric motors and/or valves of the associated floor module.
10. The fountain assembly according to claim 2, wherein each power pack feeds a plurality of electric motors for controlling water jets, valves for controlling water jets and/or light sources. (para 0027, 0015, 0033)
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 11/12/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) under Hoeks have been fully considered and are not persuasive in light of the reference April applied above. April teaches the deficiencies of Hoeks pointed out by the applicant, namely the use of Ultra and Super capacitors amended in the claims filed 11/12/2025.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN M BENEDIK whose telephone number is (571)270-7824. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00-3:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua Huson can be reached at 571-270-5301. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN M. BENEDIK/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3642
/JUSTIN M BENEDIK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642
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