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, 3, and 7-17 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. New claim 16 depend from claim 7 which claims “the shower head can be manually activated by the user;” however, claim 16 added that “the activation take place in a contactless manner.” Therefore, it is unclear as to how a manually activation can take place in a “contactless manner.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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) 1, 3, 7-14, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 5,906,012 (hereinafter Sakane).
Regarding claim 1, Sakane discloses a basin (Fig. 1) capable of being used as a urinal by a male user inserting the penis into the opening (where 2 is pointing in Fig.1) comprising a basin (60) for collecting a stream of urine and a shower head (64) arranged within the basin and designed for delivering an upwardly directed water jet (see Fig. 3) that is capable of washing the penis after or during urination; and a cover (3) that is designed in the form of a privacy shield that is capable of protecting the penis from glances of the user of an adjacent urinal in the back side.
Regarding claim 3, the urinal according to claim 1, wherein the cover is arranged above the basin in such a way that an upper edge (about 31 in Fig. 1) of the basin and a lower edge (4) of the cover are arranged at a distance from one another or at an angle to one another (see Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 7, the urinal according to claim 1, wherein the shower head can be manually activated by the user (via control panel 7).
Regarding claim 8, the urinal according to claim 1, wherein the shower head is automatically activated as soon as the urinal is used (see col. 3, lines 10-13).
Regarding claim 9, the urinal according to claim 1, wherein the water jet is deactivated automatically after a predefined period of time (see col. 3, lines 10-18: finishing shampoo operation) or the water jet is deactivated automatically upon departure of the user from the urinal.
Regarding claim 10, the urinal according to claim 1, furthermore comprising a splashback protection (see Fig. 3: element 61) that is designed for preventing splashback of the stream of urine.
Regarding claim 11, the urinal according to claim 10, wherein the splashback protection is formed by a body with rounded surfaces (see Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 12, the urinal according to claim 1, wherein the basin is supported by a column (cabinet 1 is considered a column) that rests on a floor.
Regarding claim 13, the urinal according to claim 12, furthermore comprising a drain pipe (110) that leads into the floor through the column (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 14, the urinal according to claim 1, furthermore comprising a drain pipe (110) that leads into a wall (a cabinet wall), on which the urinal is mounted.
Regarding claim 16, as best understood, the urinal according to claim 7, wherein the activation takes place in a contactless manner (see col. 3, lines 10-13: automatic shampoo).
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, 7-14, and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN-109162337-A (hereinafter Tian) in view of Sakane.
Regarding claim 1, Tian discloses a urinal (see Fig. 1) comprising a basin (where 2 is pointing in Fig. 6) for collecting a stream of urine and a shower head (7) arranged within the basin and designed for delivering water jet for rinsing the urinal; and a cover (6) that is designed in the form of a privacy shield that is capable of protecting the penis from glances of the user of an adjacent urinal. Although the direction of the Tian water jet is not clearly disclosed, attention is directed to the Sakane reference which teaches an analogous basin having a shower head (66a) within the basin (60) for delivering an upwardly water jet for washing/rinsing purpose. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to arrange the shower head (7) of Tian to deliver delivering an upwardly water jet for washing/rinsing as taught by Sakane in order to wash a user. Doing so would have involved routine skill in the art to rearrange the shower head of Tian in view of Sakane to wash the urinal as well as the user at the same time.
Regarding claim 3, the urinal according to claim 1, wherein the cover is arranged above the basin in such a way that an upper edge of the basin and a lower edge of the cover are arranged at a distance from one another or at an angle to one another (see Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 7, the urinal according to claim 1, wherein the shower head can be manually activated by the user (by wavering a user hand pass sensor 3).
Regarding claim 8, the urinal according to claim 1, wherein the shower head is automatically activated as soon as the urinal is used (via sensor 3 when the user exit).
Regarding claim 9, the urinal according to claim 1, wherein the water jet is deactivated automatically after a predefined period of time (the time period of the automatic washing) or the water jet is deactivated automatically upon departure of the user from the urinal.
Regarding claim 10, the urinal according to claim 1, furthermore comprising a splashback protection (where 8 is pointing in Fig. 7) that is designed for preventing splashback of the stream of urine.
Regarding claim 11, the urinal according to claim 10, wherein the splashback protection is formed by a body with rounded surfaces (see Figs. 7).
Regarding claim 12, the urinal according to claim 1, wherein the basin is supported by a column (1) that rests on a floor.
Regarding claim 13, the urinal according to claim 12, furthermore comprising a drain pipe (9) that leads into the floor through the column (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 14, the urinal according to claim 1, furthermore comprising a drain pipe (9) that leads into a wall (1), on which the urinal is mounted.
Regarding claim 16, as best understood, the urinal according to claim 7, wherein the activation takes place in a contactless manner (via sensor 3).
Regarding claim 17, the urinal according to claim 10, wherein the splashback protection is formed by a sphere (where 8 is pointing in Fig. 7).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tian in view of Sakane, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2016/0296086 (hereinafter Smith).
Tian in view Sakane teach all of the claimed elements as discussed above except for the at least one light source, wherein the at least one light source preferably is formed by light-emitting diodes for producing luminous spots or luminous bands or the at least one light source preferably is arranged on the upper edge of the basin or on the lower edge of the cover. Attention is directed to the Smith reference which teaches an analogous urinal having at least one light source (30, 35), wherein the at least one light source (30, 35) is formed by light-emitting diodes for producing luminous spots, or luminous bands, or the at least one light source (30, 35) is arranged on the upper edge (see Fig. 1) of the basin or on the lower edge (see Fig. 2) of the cover (20). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to employ, on the urinal of Tian, at least one light source, wherein the at least one light source preferably is formed by light-emitting diodes for producing luminous spots or luminous bands or the at least one light source preferably is arranged on the upper edge of the basin or on the lower edge of the cover as taught by Smith in order to permit male users to view the direction of their splatter or misdirected urine in real time during a urination event (see para. [0023] of Smith).
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.
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/TUAN N NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754