Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 17, 2026
Application No. 17/934,134

MOBILE CLEANING AND DISPOSAL CLEANOUT SINK SYSTEM CONFIGURED FOR USE WITH EXISTING CLEANOUT PLUMBING

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Sep 21, 2022
Examiner
KLOTZ, WILLIAM R
Art Unit
3754
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
unknown
OA Round
2 (Final)
39%
Grant Probability
At Risk
3-4
OA Rounds
3y 6m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants only 39% of cases
39%
Career Allow Rate
103 granted / 265 resolved
-31.1% vs TC avg
Strong +56% interview lift
Without
With
+55.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 6m
Avg Prosecution
34 currently pending
Career history
299
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
45.2%
+5.2% vs TC avg
§102
27.2%
-12.8% vs TC avg
§112
25.6%
-14.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 265 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 Arguments Applicant's arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-23 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Drawings The drawings are objected to because black and white drawings are normally required. India ink, or its equivalent that secures solid black lines, must be used for drawings. See MPEP § 1.84. 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. 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) 1, 3-5, 7-9, 12-14, and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlson (US 7073547) in view of Habostad (US 3075534), Durant (US 20090000646), Hamada (JPH10201650; machine translation attached), and Izzi (US 4620330). Regarding claim 1, Carlson discloses a sink cleanout system comprising: a bucket (20); a drain (44) in a bottom (26, 30) of said bucket; a straight pipe (40) for attachment to said drain (see Fig. 2). Carlson further discloses an ordinary garden hose (col. 3, ll. 7-16); however, Carlson does not disclose a water spigot and a hose adapter attached to said bucket near of a top of said bucket, said water spigot for directing water from a hose into said bucket, said water spigot including a water control knob positioned inside said bucket, said hose adapter positioned outside of said bucket as claimed. Habostad discloses a paint roller cleaner including a water spigot (24, 26) and a hose adapter (adapter extending from 26 to 22) attached to said bucket (12) near of a top (top of 12) of said bucket, said water spigot for directing water from a hose (22) into said bucket (col. 2, ll. 34-48), said hose adapter positioned outside of said bucket (see Fig. 1 and 5). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include a water spigot and a hose adapter as claimed, as taught by Habostad, in order to connect the container to a water outlet tap and controllably admit water to the nozzle (col. 2, ll. 34-48). Durant discloses paint roller cover cleaning device including a water spigot (126) including a water control knob (knobs of 126) positioned inside said bucket (108; see Fig. 1 and 3-4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the water spigot of the combination above, to position the water control knob inside said bucket as claimed, as taught by Durant, in order to provide additional control over the pressure and the amount of water used during a cleaning operation and since it was known in the art that shut off valves can be located on the interior of a container (¶ 0030). Furthermore, Carlson does not disclose an elbow pipe for attachment to said drain as claimed. Hamada discloses a washing bowl including a straight pipe (see Fig. 2, element 5) and/or an elbow pipe (see Fig. 1, element 5) for attachment to said drain. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid dispensing device of Carlson, to include a straight and/or an elbow pipe for attachment to said drain as claimed, as taught by Hamada, so that the container can be drained flow directly to the drain opening of a sink while not contaminating the inside of the sink (¶ 0007-0008) or so that the container can be drained freely from the drain port (¶ 0006). Carlson further discloses the straight pipe (40) is connected to a cleanout (10, col. 2, ll. 36-46); however, Carlson does not explicitly disclose one or more cleanout adapters configured to attach said straight pipe and elbow pipe to a cleanout as claimed. Izzi discloses a universal plastic plumbing joint including one or more cleanout adapters (19) configured to attach said straight pipe (50) and elbow pipe (19 is capable of attaching an elbow pipe to a cleanout) to a cleanout (17). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid dispensing device of Carlson, to include one more cleanout adapters as claimed, as taught by Izzi, since it was known in the art that air tight pressure withstanding plastic plumbing coupling joints providing access to drainpipes for clean-out can be universally used for interfacing of a plastic pipe (col. 2, ll. 17-21). Regarding claim 3, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in claim 1. However, Carlson does not disclose a catch net attachable to said bucket as claimed. Habostad discloses a paint roller cleaner including a catch net (36) attachable to said bucket (12). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include a catch net as claimed, as taught by Habostad, in order to drain water while retaining solid matter such as straining lumps and skin from paint (col. 2, ll. 19-67). Regarding claim 4, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in claim 1. However, Carlson does not disclose a drain plug adapted to close said drain as claimed. Hamada discloses a washing bowl including a drain plug (2) adapted to close said drain (3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include a drain plug as claimed, as taught by Hamada, in order to allow or prevent flow through a drain outlet, allowing the container to be drained or carried (¶ 0007-0008). Regarding claim 5, the combination above further discloses wherein said straight pipe and said elbow pipe are dimensioned to connect to said cleanout wherein said cleanout is 3" in diameter (as modified by Izzi above, col. 4, ll. 3-9). Regarding claim 7, the combination above and specifically Carlson further discloses said bucket is a 5-gallon bucket (col. 2, ll. 47-49). Regarding claim 8, the combination above further discloses wherein said straight pipe is for use with said cleanout when said cleanout is a vertical cleanout (see Carlson, 10, Fig. 4-5, col. 2, ll. 36-46; see also Hamada, Fig. 2) and said elbow pipe is for said cleanout when said cleanout is a horizontal cleanout (element 5 of Hamada is capable of use with a horizontal cleanout, see Fig. 1). Regarding claim 9, Carlson discloses a sink cleanout kit (the liquid disposal device of Carlson is understood to be a kit) comprising: a bucket (20); a straight pipe (40); Carlson further discloses an ordinary garden hose (col. 3, ll. 7-16); however, Carlson does not disclose a water spigot and a hose adapter attached to said bucket near a top of said bucket, said water spigot including a water control knob positioned inside said bucket, said hose adapter positioned outside of said bucket as claimed. Habostad discloses a paint roller cleaning including a water spigot (24, 26) and a hose adapter (adapter extending from 16 to 22) attached to said bucket near a top of said bucket (12), said hose adapter positioned outside of said bucket (see Fig. 1 and 5); one or more hardware members (64, 66) for installing the water spigot and hose adapter. It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include a water spigot and hose adapter attached to said buck near a top of said bucket and one or more hardware members for installing the water spigot and hose adapter as claimed, as taught by Habostad, in order to connect the container to a water outlet tap and controllably admit water to the nozzle (col. 2, ll. 34-48). Durant discloses paint roller cover cleaning device including a water spigot (126) including a water control knob (knobs of 126) positioned inside said bucket (108; see Fig. 1 and 3-4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the water spigot of the combination above, to position the water control knob inside said bucket as claimed, as taught by Durant, in order to provide additional control over the pressure and the amount of water used during a cleaning operation and since it was known in the art that shut off valves can be located on the interior of a container (¶ 0030). Furthermore, Carlson does not disclose an elbow pipe as claimed. Hamada discloses a washing bowl including a straight pipe (see Fig. 2, element 5) and/or an elbow pipe (see Fig. 1, element 5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid dispensing device of Carlson, to include a straight and/or an elbow pipe as claimed, as taught by Hamada, so that the container can be drained flow directly to the drain opening of a sink while not contaminating the inside of the sink (¶ 0007-0008) or so that the container can be drained freely from the drain port (¶ 0006). Carlson further discloses the straight pipe (40) is connected to a cleanout (10, col. 2, ll. 36-46); however, Carlson does not explicitly disclose one or more cleanout adapters configured to attach said straight pipe and/or said elbow pipe to a cleanout as claimed. Izzi discloses a universal plastic plumbing joint including one or more cleanout adapters (19) configured to attach said straight pipe (50) and/or an elbow pipe (19 is capable of attaching an elbow pipe to a cleanout) to a cleanout (17). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid dispensing device of Carlson, to include one more cleanout adapters as claimed, as taught by Izzi, since it was known in the art that air tight pressure withstanding plastic plumbing coupling joints providing access to drainpipes for clean-out can be universally used for interfacing of a plastic pipe (col. 2, ll. 17-21). Regarding claim 12, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in claim 9. However, Carlson does not disclose a catch net attachable to said bucket as claimed. Habostad discloses a paint roller cleaner including a catch net (36) attachable to said bucket (12). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include a catch net as claimed, as taught by Habostad, in order to drain water while retaining solid matter such as straining lumps and skin from paint (col. 2, ll. 19-67). Regarding claim 13, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in claim 9. However, Carlson does not disclose a drain plug adapted to close a drain in said bucket as claimed. Hamada discloses a washing bowl including a drain plug (2) adapted to close a drain (3) in said bucket (1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include a drain plug as claimed, as taught by Hamada, in order to allow or prevent flow through a drain outlet, allowing the container to be drained or carried (¶ 0007-0008). Regarding claim 14, the combination above further discloses wherein said straight pipe and said elbow pipe are dimensioned to connect to said cleanout wherein said cleanout is 3" in diameter (as modified by Izzi above, col. 4, ll. 3-9). Regarding claim 16, the combination above and specifically Carlson further discloses said bucket is a 5-gallon bucket (col. 2, ll. 47-49). Regarding claim 17, the combination above further discloses said straight pipe is for use with said cleanout when said cleanout is a vertical cleanout (see Carlson, 10, Fig. 4-5, col. 2, ll. 36-46; see also Hamada, Fig. 2) and said elbow pipe is for said cleanout when said cleanout is a horizontal cleanout (element 5 of Hamada is capable of use with a horizontal cleanout, see Fig. 1). Claim(s) 2 and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlson (US 7073547) in view of Habostad (US 3075534), Durant (US 20090000646), Hamada (JPH10201650; machine translation attached), and Izzi (US 4620330) as applied to claims 1 and 9 above, and further in view of Curtis (US 2266311). Regarding claim 2, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in claim 1. However, Carlson does not disclose support legs attached near a bottom of said bucket as claimed. Curtis discloses a laundry unit including support legs (13) attached near a bottom (12, 23) of said bucket (10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include support legs attached near a bottom of said bucket as claimed, as taught by Curtis, in order to easily move the wash tub upon the floor to any desired location (col. 1, l. 55 – col. 2, l. 14). Regarding claims 10-11, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in claim 9. However, Carlson does not disclose support legs attachable near a bottom of said bucket; one or more hardware members for attaching said support legs as claimed. Curtis discloses a laundry unit including support legs (13) attachable near a bottom (12, 23) of said bucket (10); one or more hardware members (22, 36) for attaching said support legs. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include support legs attachable near a bottom of said bucket and one or more hardware members for attaching said support legs as claimed, as taught by Curtis, in order to easily move the wash tub upon the floor to any desired location (col. 1, l. 55 – col. 2, l. 14). Claim(s) 6 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlson (US 7073547) in view of Habostad (US 3075534), Durant (US 20090000646), Hamada (JPH10201650; machine translation attached), and Izzi (US 4620330) as applied to claims 1 and 9 above, and further in view of Hagan (US 4360041). Regarding claim 6, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in claim 1. The combination above does not explicitly disclose wherein said straight pipe and said elbow pipe are dimensioned to connect to said cleanout wherein said cleanout is 4" in diameter as claimed. Hagan discloses a typical prior art cleanout fitting includes a four-inch pipe (col. 1, ll. 9-33). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the straight pipe and the elbow pipe of the combination above, to be dimensioned to connect to said cleanout wherein said cleanout is 4" in diameter as claimed, as taught by Hagan, in order to drain into cleanout fittings that are commonly used in the construction industry (col. 1, ll. 9-33). Regarding claim 15, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in claim 9. The combination above does not explicitly disclose wherein said straight pipe and elbow pipe are dimensioned to connect to said cleanout wherein said cleanout is 4" in diameter as claimed. Hagan discloses a typical prior art cleanout fitting includes a four-inch pipe (col. 1, ll. 9-33). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the straight pipe and the elbow pipe of the combination above, to be dimensioned to connect to said cleanout wherein said cleanout is 4" in diameter as claimed, as taught by Hagan, in order to drain into cleanout fittings that are commonly used in the construction industry (col. 1, ll. 9-33). Claim(s) 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlson (US 7073547) in view of Habostad (US 3075534), Durant (US 20090000646), and Meyer (US 4875878). Regarding claim 18, Carlson discloses a method of fabricating a cleanout sink comprising: providing a drain opening (28) into a bottom (26, 30) of a bucket (20); installing a drain fixture (44) in said drain opening. Carlson further discloses an ordinary garden hose (col. 3, ll. 7-16); however, Carlson does not disclose providing a water spigot and a hose adapter opening near an upper portion of the bucket; installing a water spigot and a hose adapter into said water spigot and hose adapter opening near said upper portion of the bucket such that a water control knob of said water spigot is positioned inside said bucket and said hose adapter positioned outside of said bucket as claimed. Habostad discloses a paint roller cleaner including providing a water spigot and hose adapter opening (60) near an upper portion of the bucket (12); installing a water spigot (24, 26) and a hose adapter (adapter extending from 26 to 22) into said water spigot and hose adapter opening (opening near 24) near said upper portion of the bucket (see Fig. 1-2) such that said hose adapter positioned outside of said bucket (see Fig. 1 and 5). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to provide a water spigot and hose adapter opening near an upper portion of the bucket and to install a water spigot and a hose adapter into said water spigot and hose adapter opening near said upper portion of the bucket as claimed, as taught by Habostad, in order to connect the container to a water outlet tap and controllably admit water to the nozzle (col. 2, ll. 34-48). Durant discloses paint roller cover cleaning device wherein a water control knob (knobs of 126) of said water spigot (126) is positioned inside said bucket (108; see Fig. 1 and 3-4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the water spigot of the combination above, to position the water control knob inside said bucket as claimed, as taught by Durant, in order to provide additional control over the pressure and the amount of water used during a cleaning operation and since it was known in the art that shut off valves can be located on the interior of a container (¶ 0030). Furthermore, the combination above does not explicitly disclose cutting a drain opening into a bottom of a bucket; cutting a water spigot and a hose adapter opening near an upper portion of the bucket as claimed. Meyer discloses an extension cord/tool carrier including cutting an opening into a bucket (col. 3, ll. 23-42). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the method of fabricating a cleanout sink of the combination above, to include the step of cutting openings as claimed, as taught by Meyer, since it was known in the art that any structural change to a bucket may be readily accomplished with a commonly encountered tool (col. 3, ll. 23-42). Regarding claim 20, the combination above, and specifically Carlson further discloses said bucket is a 5-gallon bucket (col. 2, ll. 47-49). Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlson (US 7073547) in view of Habostad (US 3075534), Durant (US 20090000646), and Meyer (US 4875878) as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of Curtis (US 2266311). Regarding claim 19, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in claim 18. However, Carlson does not disclose drilling three or more support leg openings in the bottom of the bucket; and attaching, on an underside of the bottom of the bucket, a support leg to each drilled opening as claimed. Curtis discloses a laundry unit including providing three or more support leg openings (26) in the bottom (12, 23) of the bucket (10); and attaching, on an underside of the bottom of the bucket, a support leg (13) to each opening (via 22). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include three or more support leg openings in the bottom of the bucket; and attaching, on an underside of the bottom of the bucket, a support leg to each opening as claimed, as taught by Curtis, in order to easily move the wash tub upon the floor to any desired location (col. 1, l. 55 – col. 2, l. 14). Furthermore, the combination above does not explicitly disclose drilling three or more support leg openings in the bottom of the bucket; and attaching, on an underside of the bottom of the bucket, a support leg to each drilled opening as claimed. Meyer discloses an extension cord/tool carrier including drilling an opening into a bucket (col. 3, ll. 23-42). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the method of fabricating a cleanout sink of the combination above, to include the step of drilling openings as claimed, as taught by Meyer, since it was known in the art that any structural change to a bucket may be readily accomplished with a commonly encountered tool (col. 3, ll. 23-42). Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlson (US 7073547) in view of Habostad (US 3075534), Durant (US 20090000646), and Meyer (US 4875878) as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of Hamada (JPH10201650; machine translation attached). Regarding claim 21, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in the rejection of claim 18. Carlson further discloses attaching a straight pipe (40) to said drain fixture for use with a vertical cleanout (10, col. 2, ll. 36-46); however, Carlson does not disclose an elbow pipe for use with a horizontal cleanout as claimed. Hamada discloses a washing bowl including attaching a straight pipe (see Fig. 2, element 5) to said drain fixture (3) for use with a vertical cleanout (¶ 0007-0008) and an elbow pipe (see Fig. 1, element 5) for use with a horizontal cleanout (element 5 is capable of use with a horizontal cleanout, see Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid dispensing device of Carlson, to include a straight pipe and an elbow pipe as claimed, as taught by Hamada, so that the container can be drained flow directly to the drain opening of a sink while not contaminating the inside of the sink (¶ 0007-0008) or so that the container can be drained freely from the drain port (¶ 0006). Claim(s) 22-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlson (US 7073547) in view of Curtis (US 2266311), Habostad (US 3075534), and Durant (US 20090000646). Regarding claim 22, Carlson discloses a bucket comprising: a bottom (26, 30); one or more walls (wall of 22) extending upward from said bottom and defining a space (space within 22) above said bottom; a drain opening (28) in said bottom, said drain opening sized to receive a drain fixture (44). However, Carlson does not disclose two or more support leg openings in said bottom, said two or more support leg openings configured for attachment of two or more support legs to said bucket as claimed. Curtis discloses a laundry unit including two or more support leg openings (26) in said bottom (12, 23), said two or more support leg openings configured for attachment of two or more support legs (13) to said bucket (10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include two or more support leg openings in said bottom, said two or more support leg openings configured for attachment of two or more support legs to said bucket as claimed, as taught by Curtis, in order to easily move the tub upon the floor to any desired location (col. 1, l. 55 – col. 2, l. 14). Carlson further discloses an ordinary garden hose (col. 3, ll. 7-16); however, Carlson does not disclose a water spigot and a hose adapter opening near a top of said one or more walls, said water spigot and said hose adapter opening configured to receive a water spigot and hose adapter such that a water control knob of said water spigot is positioned inside said bucket and said hose adapter positioned outside of said bucket as claimed. Habostad discloses a paint roller cleaner including a water spigot and a hose adapter opening (60) near a top of said one or more walls (walls of 12), said water spigot and said hose adapter opening configured to receive a water spigot (24, 26) and hose adapter (adapter extending from 26 to 22) such that said hose adapter positioned outside of said bucket (see Fig. 1 and 5). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to have modified the liquid disposal device of Carlson, to include a water spigot and a hose adapter opening near a top of said one or more walls, said water spigot and said hose adapter opening configured to receive a water spigot and hose adapter such that said hose adapter positioned outside of said bucket as claimed, as taught by Habostad, in order to connect the container to a water outlet tap and controllably admit water to the nozzle (col. 2, ll. 34-48). Durant discloses paint roller cover cleaning device wherein a water control knob (knobs of 126) of said water spigot (126) is positioned inside said bucket (108; see Fig. 1 and 3-4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the water spigot of the combination above, to position the water control knob inside said bucket as claimed, as taught by Durant, in order to provide additional control over the pressure and the amount of water used during a cleaning operation and since it was known in the art that shut off valves can be located on the interior of a container (¶ 0030). Regarding claim 23, the combination above discloses substantially all of the elements of the present invention as stated above in the rejection of claim 22. Carlson further discloses said space holds 5 gallons of water (col. 2, ll. 47-49) and the connector (44) is in the nature of a two-inch fiberglass shower base drain (col. 3, ll. 26-29). However, the combination above does not specifically disclose said drain opening is 3 1/8 inches in diameter, said two or more support leg openings are ¼ inch in diameter and said water spigot and hose adapter opening is 7/8 inches in diameter as claimed. There is nothing in the record which establishes that the claimed dimensions present a novel or unexpected result, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the dimensions of the combination above to perform equally well as Applicant's. It would have been obvious to have modified the device of the combination above to be dimensioned as claimed since such a modification is a mere design consideration which fails to patentably distinguish. See MPEP § 2144.04(IV)(A). 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 WILLIAM R KLOTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-0274. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 11AM-5PM. 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, David P Angwin can be reached at (571)270-3735. 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. WILLIAM R. KLOTZ Examiner Art Unit 3754 /DAVID P ANGWIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 21, 2022
Application Filed
Jun 15, 2024
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Jan 22, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 22, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 28, 2025
Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
39%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+55.7%)
3y 6m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 265 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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