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 .
Status of Claims
Claim 1 is amended. Claim 7 is cancelled. Claims 2-6, and 8-35 are as previously presented. Claims 3, 11-12, 15, and 18-35 are withdrawn. Therefore, claims 1-6, and 8-35 are currently pending and claims 1-2, 4-6, 8-10, 13-14, and 16-17 have been considered below.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 10/16/2025 has been entered. Applicant's amendment overcomes the following:
Drawing Objections
35 USC § 112(b) Rejections
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.
Claims 1, 9-10, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burke (U.S. 3,606,073) in view of Hewitt (US 8,857,061).
Regarding claim 1, Burke discloses, a protected branch connector assembly (Fig. 3, all structural elements) for a supply pipe (The device is capable of connection to a supply pipe because Col. 1: Ln. 27-29 describes the device under hydraulic pressure which can come from a supply pipe.) of a fire protection device (The device is capable of use in a fire protection device), the protected branch connector assembly comprising:
a tubular member (Annotated Fig. 3A) having a first terminal end surface (Annotated Fig. 3A) defining an inlet opening (Annotated Fig. 3A), a second terminal end surface (Annotated Fig. 3A) defining an outlet opening (Annotated Fig. 3A), the second terminal end surface axially spaced from the first terminal end surface to define an internal passageway (Annotated Fig. 3A) extending from the inlet opening to the outlet opening along a central longitudinal axis (Annotated Fig. 3A) with an internal seal chamber formed between the inlet and outlet openings (Annotated Fig. 3A);
an annular seal member (Annotated Fig. 3A & Fig. 3, 32) disposed within the internal seal chamber (Annotated Fig. 3A) and defining a seated orientation (The orientation shown in Fig. 3 is a seated orientation.) circumscribed about the central longitudinal axis, the seal member having a first confronting surface (Annotated Fig. 3A) confronting the inlet opening (Annotated Fig. 3A) and a second confronting surface (Annotated Fig. 3A) opposite the first confronting surface and confronting the outlet opening (Annotated Fig. 3A); and
a protective device (Fig. 1, 10; Annotated Fig. 3B) including:
a plug body (The body of the protective device is a plug.) having a first end (Annotated Fig. 3B) and a second end (Annotated Fig. 3B) coaxially spaced apart from one another along a central body axis (Annotated Fig. 3B), the plug body being coaxially inserted into the outlet opening (Annotated Fig. 3B) of the tubular member with the second end in contiguous surface contact with the second confronting surface of the seal member (Annotated Fig. 3A & Annotated Fig. 3B); and
at least one indicator (Fig. 3, 16 & 18).
Burke does not explicitly teach the at least one indicator to define at least one indicative relationship between the protective device and the tubular member that indicates the annular seal member is within the internal chamber in the seated orientation.
However, Hewitt teaches at least one indicator (Fig. 4, 14) to define at least one indicative relationship (Fig. 4, x; Col. 4: Ln. 2-7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate to teaching of an indicative relationship taught by Hewitt into the invention of Burke because Burke already shows a gap one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, when faced with the teachings of Hewitt would recognize that the gaps of both references would serve as an indicative relationship, which is beneficial for knowing the annular seal member is within the internal chamber in the seated orientation.
Annotated Figure(s)
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Regarding claim 9, Burke in view of Hewitt teaches the assembly of claim 1.
Burke in view of Hewitt further discloses wherein the at least one indicator includes a portion of the device (Annotated Fig. 3F) coupled to the first end of the plug body and axially spaced from the second terminal end surface of the tubular member to define a gap (Annotated Fig. 3F) therebetween and an indicative relationship between the protective device and the tubular member that indicates the annular seal member is within the internal chamber in the seated orientation (Taught by Hewitt in claim 1).
Annotated Figure(s)
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Regarding claim 10, Burke in view of Hewitt teaches the assembly of claim 9. Burke further discloses wherein the at least one indicator includes a first segment extending axially from the first end (Annotated Fig. 3G) of the plug body parallel to the central body axis; a second segment (Annotated Fig. 3G) extending orthogonally with respect to the first portion of the indicator and radially with respect to the central body axis, the gap being between the second segment and the second terminal end surface of the tubular member (Annotated Fig. 3G).
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Regarding claim 17 Burke in view of Hewitt teaches the assembly of claim 1. Burke further discloses wherein the internal passageway includes an internal thread (Fig. 3, 22) proximate the outlet opening with the plug body in a frictional fit with the internal thread to retain the device within the internal passageway (The friction of threads of the plug body (Fig. 3, 20) with the internal threads retains the device in the internal passageway.) with the second end of the plug body in surface contact with the second confronting surface of the seal member (Annotated Fig. 3A and Annotated Fig. 3B).
Claims 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burke in view of Hewitt and Foster (US 5,224,515).
Regarding claim 2 Burke in view of Hewitt teaches the assembly of claim 1. Burke further discloses wherein the plug body includes a base (Annotated Fig. 3C) centered about the central body axis defining the second end with a peripheral wall (Annotated Fig. 3C) circumscribed about the base and the central body axis.
Burke does not disclose the plug body including the peripheral wall having an edge circumscribed about the central body axis to form the first end as an open end of the plug body, the edge defining a first indicator of the open first end of the plug body and a first indicative relationship between the protective device and the tubular member.
However, Foster teaches plug body (Fig. 5, 10) includes a base (Fig. 5, 20) centered about a central body axis defining the second end with a peripheral wall (Annotated Fig. 5) circumscribed about the base and the central body axis, the peripheral wall having an edge (Annotated Fig. 5) circumscribed about the central body axis to form the first end (Annotated Fig. 5) as an open end of the plug body, the edge defining a first indicator of the open first end of the plug body and a first indicative relationship between the protective device and the tubular member.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the prior art elements taught by Foster (the peripheral wall having an edge circumscribed about the central body axis to form the first end as an open end of the plug body, the edge defining a first indicator of the open first end of the plug body and a first indicative relationship between the protective device and the tubular member) into the assembly disclosed by Burke, by known methods (machining or injection molding) with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded nothing more than predictable results. Additionally, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Foster to allow for integrated sampling and venting capability (Col. 3: Ln. 14-23).
Annotated Figure(s)
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Regarding claim 4, Burke in view of Hewitt and Foster teaches the assembly of claim 2.
Burke further discloses, wherein the at least one indicator includes a first portion of the first end of the body extending radially with respect to the central body axis from the edge and a second portion circumscribed about the central body axis, the second portion being integrally connected with the first portion.
Annotated Figure(s)
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Regarding claim 5, Burke in view of Hewitt and Foster teaches the assembly of claim 4.
Burke in view of Foster does not disclose wherein the at least one indicator includes a first portion of the first end of the body extending radially with respect to the central body axis from the edge and a second portion circumscribed about the central body axis, the second portion being integrally connected with the first portion.
Burke further teaches in another embodiment wherein the first portion (Annotated Fig 6) includes a pair of diametrically opposed radially extending segments (Fig. 5 & Fig. 6, 50), at least one segment in the pair of segments being integrally connected with the second portion (Annotated Fig. 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique (a pair of diametrically opposed radially extending segments) as taught by Burke, into the system taught by Burke in view of Foster to allow for tightening of the cap by hand (Col. 3: Ln. 25-28) and yielding the predictable result of the addition a pair of diametrically opposed radially extending segments.
Annotated Figure(s)
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Regarding claim 6, Burke in view of Hewitt and Foster teaches the assembly of claim 5.
Burke further discloses wherein the second portion is an annular ring (Annotated Fig. 3D).
Regarding claim 8, Burke in view of Hewitt and Foster teaches the assembly of claim 4
Foster further teaches wherein the second portion of the at least one indicator is spaced from the second terminal end surface of the tubular member defining a gap (Annotated Fig. 3E) there between and a second indicative relationship between the protective device and the tubular member indicating that the annular seal member is within the internal chamber in the seated orientation (If the annular seal member was missing there would be no gap.)
Annotated Figure(s)
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Claims 13-14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Burke in view Hewitt, and Letica (US 5,799,813).
Regarding claim 13, Burke in view of Hewitt teaches the assembly of claim 10, but does not teach wherein the at least one indicator includes an annular ring affixed to the second segment and circumscribed about the central body axis and axially spaced from the second terminal end surface of the tubular member, the first and second segments of the at least one indicator defining a hinge connection between the annular ring and the plug body, the at least one indicator forming a lever for removal of the protective device from the tubular member.
However, Letica teaches a prior art comparable device (Fig. 1, 18; Ti. – “Plug Closure”) wherein the at least one indicator (Fig. 1, {28, 30, & 32}) includes an annular ring (Fig. 1, 28) affixed to a second segment (Fig. 1, 24) and circumscribed about a central body axis (Annotated Fig. 3A) and axially spaced from a second terminal end surface (Fig. 3, 14) of a tubular member (Fig. 1, 10), a first (Fig. 1, 32) and second segments of the at least one indicator defining a hinge connection (Fig. 1, 34) between the annular ring and a plug body (Fig. 3, 20 & 38), the at least one indicator forming a lever (Fig. 3, 30) for removal of the protective device from the tubular member (Col. 3: Ln. 16-28).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique (annular ring to separate the plug body when grasped by several fingers {Letica: Col. 1: Ln. 66 to Col. 2 Ln. 8}) as taught by Letica, into the system disclosed by assembly disclosed by Burke to eliminate the need for tooling when removing the plug body (Burke discloses the need for mechanical means to untighten {Burke: Col. 1: Ln 57-60}) and yielding the predictable result of eliminating the use of tools when removing the plug body.
Annotated Figure(s)
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Regarding claim 14, Burke in view of Hewitt, and Letica teaches the assembly of claim 13.
Letica further teaches wherein the at least one indicator includes a pair of indicators (Annotated Fig. 2) diametrically opposed from one another about the plug body, the annular ring being affixed to the second portion of each of indicators in the pair of diametrically opposed indicators (Annotated Fig. 2).
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Regarding claim 16, Burke in view of Hewitt, and Letica teaches the assembly of claim 13.
Leticia further teaches wherein the annular ring defines a first width about the central longitudinal axis (Annotated Fig. 3B), a second terminal end surface defining a second width about a central longitudinal axis (Annotated Fig. 3B), the first width being greater than the second width (Annotated Fig. 3B).
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Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/16/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With regards to the rejection on pages 11-13 of the applicant’s arguments regarding the rejection of claim 1, 9-10, and 17 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 namely “Burke shows and describes a cap 10 disposed within a flare fitting 24. As shown in Figure 3, the cap 10 is disposed against a beveled surface 32 and the beveled surface 32 then abuts against the annular surfaces 30. Thus, because the beveled surface 32 is positioned between the cap 10 and the annular surfaces 30 the cap 10 is not in contact with the annular surfaces 30. Therefore, Burke does not show or describe the claimed protective device in surface contact with an annular seal member disposed within an internal seal chamber of a tubular member,” the examiner respectfully disagrees because as stated in the office action the annular seal includes the body shown Annotated Fig. 3A of claim 1 and Fig. 3, 32. Therefore, the annular surfaces (Fig. 1, 30) of the protective device (Fig. 1, 10) are in surface contact, and further in contiguous surface contact with the annular seal member, namely item 32 as shown in Fig. 3 and as recited in Col. 2: Ln. 48-50 of Burke. Additionally, with regards to “the cap 10 is not in contact with the annular surfaces 30” as recited by the applicant, the annular surfaces are part of the cap as shown in Fig. 1 and described in Col. 2: Ln. 43-47 of Burke.
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 ANDREW DOMENIC ONDREJCAK whose telephone number is (571)270-5465. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00-5:00 EST.
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/ANDREW DOMENIC ONDREJCAK/Examiner, Art Unit 3752 April 6, 2026
/ARTHUR O. HALL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3752
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