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
This Office Action is in response to the applicant’s amendment filed on August 13, 2025. Claim 1 has been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 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 § 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, 2, 4,-9, 17-20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (CN204412484U) in view of Spangler et al. (US 2013/0299608 A1).
With regard to claim 1, Lin discloses a water spraying assembly (Fig. 18) comprising: a showerhead including a housing having a faceplate with a plurality of sheer nozzles (1) projecting from said faceplate (Fig. 18); and a primary conduit (Fig. 18) configured to receive water from a water source and transport such water to said plurality of sheer nozzles (1), wherein each sheer nozzle of said plurality of sheer nozzles is configured to spray a non-oscillating stream of water that disperses narrow in one direction (Fig. 3) and wide in another so as to provide a fan- shaped stream of water (Fig. 4), wherein said fan-shaped stream of water (7) is configured to converge with a first adjacent fan-shaped stream of water (7), wherein said fan-shaped stream of water and said first adjacent fan-shaped stream of water are configured to converge at a first point of intersection (Fig. 18).
However, Lin is silent to disclose that the showerhead including the arrangement of the plurality of sheer nozzles that are configured to converge said fan-shaped stream of water with the first adjacent fan-shaped stream of water and a second adjacent fan-shaped stream of water, wherein said fan-shaped stream of water and said first adjacent fan-shaped stream of water are configured to converge at a first point of intersection, and wherein said fan-shaped stream of water and said second adjacent fan-shaped stream of water are configured to converge at a second point of intersection, and wherein said fan-shaped stream of water and said first adjacent fan-shaped stream of water are further configured to diverge at said first point of intersection so as to disperse a first diverging fan-shaped stream of water in a first supplemental trajectory and a second diverging fan-shaped stream of water in a second supplemental trajectory, wherein said first supplemental trajectory and said second supplemental trajectory do not intersect, wherein said fan-shaped stream of water and said second adjacent fan-shaped stream of water are further configured to diverge at said second point of intersection so as to disperse a third diverging fan-shaped stream of water in a third supplemental trajectory and a fourth diverging fan-shaped stream of water in a fourth supplemental trajectory, and wherein said third supplemental trajectory and said fourth supplemental trajectory do not intersect.
Spangler teaches a showerhead that comprising a plurality of nozzles that configured to converge said fan-shaped stream of water with the first adjacent fan-shaped stream of water and a second adjacent fan-shaped stream of water, wherein said fan-shaped stream of water and said first adjacent fan-shaped stream of water are configured to converge at a first point of intersection, and wherein said fan-shaped stream of water and said second adjacent fan-shaped stream of water are configured to converge at a second point of intersection, and wherein said fan-shaped stream of water and said first adjacent fan-shaped stream of water are further configured to diverge at said first point of intersection so as to disperse a first diverging fan-shaped stream of water in a first supplemental trajectory and a second diverging fan-shaped stream of water in a second supplemental trajectory, wherein said first supplemental trajectory and said second supplemental trajectory do not intersect, wherein said fan-shaped stream of water and said second adjacent fan-shaped stream of water are further configured to diverge at said second point of intersection so as to disperse a third diverging fan-shaped stream of water in a third supplemental trajectory and a fourth diverging fan-shaped stream of water in a fourth supplemental trajectory, and wherein said third supplemental trajectory and said fourth supplemental trajectory do not intersect (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform the identical water streams as claimed).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the arrangement of the nozzles of Lin, by incorporating the nozzle arrangement (Fig. 5) as taught by Spangler, for the benefit of generating a spray of water that provides multi-dimensional spray patterns (Par. 0059).
With regard to claim 2, the device of Lin as modified Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Spangler further discloses that said each sheer nozzle of said plurality of sheer nozzles is arranged adjacent to a first adjacent sheer nozzle of said plurality of sheer nozzles spraying said first adjacent fan-shaped stream of water, wherein said each sheer nozzle of said plurality of sheer nozzles is arranged adjacent a second adjacent sheer nozzle of said plurality of sheer nozzles spraying said second adjacent fan-shaped stream of water (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical to the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
With regard to claim 4, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Spangler further discloses that said first point of intersection and said second point of intersection lie along a same longitudinal axis (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
With regard to claim 5, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Spangler further discloses that said first point of intersection and said second point of intersection lie along different points on a same longitudinal axis (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
With regard to claim 6, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Spangler further discloses that said showerhead defines a central axis, and wherein said first point of intersection and said second point of intersection do not lie along said central axis (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
With regard to claim 7, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Spangler further discloses that said first supplemental trajectory and said second supplemental trajectory are perpendicular to one another, and wherein said third supplemental trajectory and said fourth supplemental trajectory are perpendicular to one another (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
With regard to claim 8, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Spangler further discloses that said first supplemental trajectory and said third supplemental trajectory lie along a same first longitudinal axis, and wherein said second supplemental trajectory and said fourth supplemental trajectory lie along a same second longitudinal axis (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
With regard to claim 9, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 8 above. Spangler further discloses that said first diverging fan-shaped stream of water is configured to spray in an opposite trajectory from said third diverging fan-shaped stream of water (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
With regard to claim 17, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Spangler further discloses that said plurality of sheer nozzles includes at least three sheer nozzles (Fig. 5).
With regard to claim 18, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Spangler further discloses that said first point of intersection defines a first converging fan-shaped stream of water configured to spray in a first primary trajectory, wherein said second point of intersection defines a second converging fan-shaped stream of water configured to spray in a second primary trajectory, and wherein said first primary trajectory, second primary trajectory, first supplemental trajectory, said second supplemental trajectory, said third supplemental trajectory, and said fourth supplemental trajectory each disperse in a different direction than one another (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
With regard to claim 19, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 18 above. Spangler further discloses that said first converging fan-shaped stream of water and said second converging fan-shaped stream of water are configured to disperse at a same time as said first diverging fan-shaped stream of water, said second diverging fan-shaped stream of water, said third diverging fan-shaped stream of water, and said fourth diverging fan-shaped stream of water (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
With regard to claim 20, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Spangler further discloses that said showerhead is a handheld showerhead, wherein handheld showerhead includes an elongate hollow handle extending longitudinally to define a longitudinal axis, and wherein said faceplate is configured to face an angle between 45° and 90° relative to said elongate hollow handle's longitudinal axis (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
With regard to claim 22, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Spangler further discloses that said each sheer nozzle is positioned on said faceplate so as to spray said fan-shaped stream of water that converges and diverges with said first adjacent fan-shaped stream of water and said second adjacent fan-shaped stream of water so as to form a spray matrix predefined by the positioning of said each sheer nozzle on said faceplate (as shown in Fig. 5, nozzles 166 are structurally arranged in identical as the arrangement in Fig. 8 of the instant invention, as a result, the sheer nozzles 166 of Spangler are designed to perform/produce the identical water streams as claimed).
Claims 3, 10-16 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin in view of Spangler as applied in claim 1 above, and further in view of Parisi-Amon et al. (US 2016/0059243 A1).
With regard to claims 3 and 10-16, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. They are silent to disclose alternative nozzle arrangements as recited in the claims.
However, Parisi-Amon teaches a water spraying assembly comprising sheer nozzles (150) that designed in various nozzle arrangements (Figs. 3 and 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Spangler, by forming the sheer nozzles in different arrangement as taught by Parisi-Amon, doing it would create a various and desired spraying patterns to meet the user’s requirement.
With regard to claim 21, the device of Lin as modified by Spangler discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 1 above. They are silent to disclose that said faceplate includes one or more ancillary nozzles configured to disperse water at a same time as said plurality of sheer nozzles.
However, Parisi-Amon teaches a water spraying assembly comprising a faceplate includes one or more ancillary nozzles (130) configured to disperse water at a same time as said plurality of sheer nozzles (150).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the showerhead of Lin, by incorporating the ancillary nozzles (130) as taught by Parisi-Amon formed on the faceplate of Lin, for the benefit of producing full conical sprays in combination with the fan sprays (Fig. 7).
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 JOEL ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)270-1163. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ARTHUR HALL can be reached at 5712701814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JOEL . ZHOU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3752
/QINGZHANG ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752