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 proposed amendments filed 02/10/2026 have been entered. Claims 1-10 are currently pending. Applicant’s amendments to the drawings are sufficient to overcome the prior drawing objections. Applicant’s amendments are sufficient to overcome the 112(b) rejection previously applied.
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.
Claims 1, 4, 5, and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5491908 (Ruiz hereinafter) in view of US 6705023 (Hoover hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Ruiz teaches a step-in dryer that discloses a housing (Figures 1-4, housing 10); at least one blower unit encased in the housing for generating heated air (Heating fan 48 per Column 3 Lines 34-45); an actuator mechanism for activating and deactivating the blower unit (Actuator 52 per Column 3 Lines 62-67); an air inlet integrated into the housing (Inlet 80 in Figure 2); a vent integrated into the housing and positioned in a perpendicular manner relative to a top cover (Vent covered by distal wall 38 with top cover 12), the vent receives and directs the heated air generated from the at least one blower unit toward the top cover (Evident from Figures 1-3 where the vent at 38 directs the heated air from the blower in a direction towards the top cover 12 where the target’s feet are located); a vent cover attached to a front surface of the vent, the vent cover including a plurality of narrow openings for outputting the generated heated air and to prevent an object from getting into the blower unit (Distal wall 38 with orifices 44 and 46); and the top cover integrated in the housing and positioned in between the pair of air inlets (Top cover 12), the top cover is configured to receive an object or a user's feet (Evident from Figures 1-3).
Ruiz is silent with respect that the air inlet is a pair and positioned on opposite sides of the blower unit; a pair of air inlet covers for attachment to a respective air inlet.
However, Hoover teaches a step-in dryer that discloses a pair of air inlets positioned on opposite sides of the blower unit; a pair of air inlet covers for attachment to a respective air inlet (Figure 1, air inlets 45 with the ducting to the fact and heater at 55 are shown around the entirety of step-in dryer and the resultant combination would allow for air to drawn in from the opposite side of the heater in the event the rear side of the device is blocked).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the singular air inlet of Ruiz with the plurality of air inlets in varying locations as shown by Hoover to ensure that air flow is provided no matter the orientation of the device.
Regarding claim 4, Ruiz’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Ruiz and Hoover would further disclose that the at least one blower unit includes at least one motor driven fan (Inherent of the fan of Ruiz and Hoover discloses the equivalent fan 55 is motorized).
Regarding claim 5, Ruiz’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Ruiz and Hoover would further disclose that the at least one blower unit includes a heating element (Column 3 Lines 34-45 of Ruiz).
Regarding claim 7, Ruiz’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Ruiz and Hoover would further disclose that the actuator mechanism includes a sensor (Hoover details a microswitch 115per Column 4 Lines 24-38that actuates system).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the foot-powered actuator of Ruiz with the weight-based actuator to only require a user to step on the device to activate the dryer.
Regarding claim 8, Ruiz’s modified teachings are described above in claim 7 where the combination of Ruiz and Hoover would further disclose that the sensor is positioned underneath the top cover to detect the presence of a user's feet or an object (Ruiz Column 4 Lines 24-38).
Regarding claim 9, Ruiz’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Ruiz and Hoover would further disclose that the actuator mechanism includes a switch (Actuator 52 per Column 3 Lines 62-67 of Ruiz).
Regarding claim 10, Ruiz’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 where the combination of Ruiz and Hoover would further disclose an air flow control mechanism (Temperature dial 56 of Ruiz is broadly seen as an air flow control mechanism).
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5491908 (Ruiz) in view of US 6705023 (Hoover) and further in view of US 2010/0313438 (Olivera hereinafter).
Regarding claim 2, Ruiz’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 but are silent with respect to a pad which overlays the top cover.
However, Olivera teaches a stand-in dryer that discloses a removable covering on the equivalent top cover (Figure 1, pad 24 per ¶ 20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the top cover of Ruiz with the removable pad of Olivera to increase cleanliness.
Regarding claim 3, Ruiz’s modified teachings are described above in claim 2 where the combination of Ruiz and Olivera would further disclose that the pad is removable (Olivera’s pad 24 per ¶ 20).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5491908 (Ruiz) in view of US 6705023 (Hoover) and further in view of US 5613304 (Lin hereinafter).
Regarding claim 6, Ruiz’s modified teachings are described above in claim 1 but are silent with respect that each air inlet covers includes a plurality of openings to inlet airflow through the air inlets to the blower unit.
However, Lin teaches a step-in dryer that discloses air inlets with a protective cover featuring a plurality of openings to inlet airflow through the air inlets to the blower unit (Figure 3, inlet 17 shows a filtered opening). The resultant combination would apply the filtered opening to each of the air inlets of Ruiz/Hoover such that each air inlet covers includes a plurality of openings to inlet airflow through the air inlets to the blower unit.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the air inlets of Ruiz/Hoover with the filtered/guarded inlets of Lin to prevent debris from entering the airflow path.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/10/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments directed towards the combination of Ruiz and Hoover have been reviewed and are not found to be persuasive. Applicant specifically argues that the combination fails to disclose the vent and top relationship as now disclosed by the claim amendments. The Examiner is relying on Figure 1 showing the vent area at 38 and the top cover 12. The heated airflow would be direct from the vent 38 then in a direction towards the top cover 12 to dry a user’s feet. The use of Hoover is to teach a plurality of inlets as outlined above. In light of this interpretation, Applicant’s arguments directed towards Ruiz and Hoover in view of the claim amendments are not found to be persuasive.
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 CONNOR J. TREMARCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-2175. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 0700-1700 Eastern.
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/CONNOR J TREMARCHE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762