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 .
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 5 April 2023 and 9 August 2024 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 105 in Figure 2.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) 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. 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.
Specification
The amendment filed 5 April 2023 is objected to under 35 U.S.C. 132(a) because it introduces new matter into the disclosure. 35 U.S.C. 132(a) states that no amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention. The added material which is not supported by the original disclosure is as follows:
The incorporation by reference of the international patent application PCT/SE2020/051012 is ineffective as it was added on the date of entry into the national phase, which is after the filing date of the instant application. The filing date of this national stage application is the filing date of associated PCT, in this case 21 Oct 2020, see MPEP 1893.03(b). Therefore, the specification amendment of 5 April 2023 to include the incorporation by reference is new matter, per MPEP 608.01(p). Applicant is advised to remove the phrase “incorporated herein by reference in its entirety” from the specification.
Applicant is required to cancel the new matter in the reply to this Office Action.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 6, 10 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 1, line 8 “water circulation arrangement (101) comprises” should likely read “water circulation arrangement comprises” since the rest of the reference numbers have been amended to be removed.
In Claim 6, line 5 “the direction” should likely read “a direction”.
In Claim 10, line 4 “the outlet of the of the water rinsing arrangement” should likely read “the outlet of the water rinsing arrangement”.
In Claim 11, line 10 “from the first portion towards the second portions” should likely read “from the first portion towards the second portion”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 6-7, 9 and 11 are 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.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the heat exchanger" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For purposes of examination, “the heat exchanger” will be interpreted as referring to “a heat exchanger arrangement” from Claim 6, line 3.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the tank" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For purposes of examination, “the tank” will be interpreted as referring to the water tank from the same claim.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the water ejector" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For purposes of examination, “the water ejector” will be interpreted as referring to the water ejector arrangement from the same claim.
Claim 9 recites the limitation "the electronically controlled water ejector" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For purposes of examination, “the electronically controlled water ejector” will be interpreted as referring to the electronically controlled water ejector arrangement from the same claim.
Claim 9 recites the limitation “a predetermined threshold limit” in line 8. This limitation is unclear because it is unclear if this predetermined threshold limit is the same predetermined threshold limit from Claim 8 line 6 or a different predetermined threshold limit. For purposes of examination, they will be interpreted as being the same.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the tank" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For purposes of examination, “the tank” will be interpreted as referring to the water tank from the same claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5, 8 and 10 are allowed.
Claim 6-7 and 9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 11 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 1, the closest prior art appears to be Hartman (US 20090222981).
Hartman discloses a water tank arrangement (Figure 3 generally) comprising a water tank (46) connectable between an outlet of a water rinsing arrangement (Figure 1 from shower 42 to 44) and a water cistern of a toilet (Figure 1 at 26 from 82), the water tank comprising an inlet portion connectable to the outlet of the water rinsing arrangement for receiving water from the water rinsing arrangement (from 44); and a first outlet portion connectable to the water cistern of the toilet (76 to 80); wherein the water tank arrangement further comprises a water temperature detecting device (114); a water circulation arrangement comprising a water pump (22) for circulating the water in the water tank (for distribution to the toilet as seen in Figure 1), and a control unit (112) connected to the water temperature detecting device and to the water pump (Figure 1), the control unit being configured to:
- receive a signal from the water temperature detecting device, the signal being indicative of a temperature level or a temperature distribution of the water within the water tank (¶ 35);
- compare the temperature level of the water with a predetermined temperature threshold limit, or compare the temperature distribution with a predetermined temperature deviation (¶ 34),
But fails to expressly disclose wherein the water circulation arrangement comprises a circulation conduit extending between a first and a second portion of the water tank, the water pump being connected to the circulation conduit for directing water from the first portion towards the second portion; when the temperature level is above the predetermined temperature threshold limit or the temperature distribution is above the predetermined temperature deviation: - control the water pump to circulate at least a portion of the water from the first portion to the second portion in the water tank.
This limitation is neither anticipated by, nor rendered obvious over, the prior art of record.
Regarding Claim 11, the closest prior art appears to be Hartman (US 20090222981).
Hartman discloses a method for controlling a water tank arrangement (Figure 3), the water tank arrangement comprising a water tank (46) connected between an outlet of a water rinsing arrangement (Figure 1 from shower 42 to 44) and a water cistern of a toilet (Figure 1 at 26 from 82), the water tank comprising an inlet portion connected to the outlet of the water rinsing arrangement for receiving water from the water rinsing arrangement (from 44); and a first outlet portion connected to the water cistern of the toilet (76 to 80); wherein the water tank arrangement further comprises a water circulation arrangement comprising a water pump (22) for circulating the water in the tank (for distribution to the toilet as seen in Figure 1), the method comprising the steps of:- determining a temperature level or temperature distribution of the water within the water tank (¶ 35) ; - comparing the temperature level of the water with a predetermined temperature threshold limit, or compare the temperature distribution with a predetermined temperature deviation (¶ 34),
But fails to expressly disclose wherein the water circulation arrangement comprises a circulation conduit extending between a first and a second portion of the water tank, the water pump being connected to the circulation conduit for directing water from the first portion towards the second portions; when the temperature level is above the predetermined temperature threshold limit or the temperature distribution is above the predetermined temperature deviation: - controlling the water pump to circulate at least a portion of the water from the first portion to the second portion in the water tank.
This limitation is neither anticipated by, nor rendered obvious over, the prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICOLE GARDNER whose telephone number is (571)270-0144. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8AM-4PM EST.
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/NICOLE GARDNER/
Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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