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
This Office Action is in response to the remarks and amendments filed on 06/15/2026. The 35 U.S.C. 112b rejection is withdrawn. Claims 6-7, 9, 18 and 21-22 are cancelled. Claims 23-25 are new. Claims 1-5, 8, 10-17 and 23-25 remain pending for consideration on the merits.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/15/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/23/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the published application on 04/20/2023. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “wherein, when the power supply assembly is connected with the battery coupling portion and the fan is placed on the placement plane, at least part of an orthographic projection of the power supply assembly to the placement plane is overlapped with an orthographic projection of the fan assembly to the placement plane in claim 1” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
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 1-5, 8, 10-17 and 23-24 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 1 recite “the rack having an extending portion that can be placed in a plane parallel to a placement plane of an external environment” which renders the claim indefinite. This language is indefinite because it’s not clear what is being claimed and what the scope is. This limitation is indefinite because it is not clear if the device “is” required to be placed in a plane parallel to a placement plane of an external environment or “is not” required to be placed in a plane parallel to a placement plane of an external environment. No person of ordinary skill in the art would know what “can be” means with reasonable certainty. Therefore, the scope is unclear and for purposes of examination, the entire paragraph has been considered optional because of the “can be”.
Claims 2-5, 8, 10-17 and 23-24 are rejected based on dependency from a rejected claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 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.
Claims 2-5, 8, 10-17 and 23-24 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 25 is allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 1, the subject matter which is considered to distinguish from the closest prior art of record, Stenis (CN 203856744 U). The prior art of record when considered as a whole, alone, or in combination, neither anticipates nor renders obvious “wherein, when the power supply assembly is connected with the battery coupling portion and the fan is placed on the placement plane, at least part of an orthographic projection of the power supply assembly to the placement plane is overlapped with an orthographic projection of the fan assembly to the placement plane; wherein, when the power supply assembly is connected with the battery coupling portion and the fan is placed on the placement plane, a top of the power supply assembly is lower than the fan axis; wherein an extending direction of the battery coupling portion and the plane obliquely intersect and form an included angle, and the included angle is greater than or equal to 10° and less than or equal to 75°; and wherein a size of the host in an up-down direction is greater than or equal to 400 mm and less than or equal to 550 mm; when the host is installed on the rack, a diameter of the entire misting fan is greater than or equal to 550 mm and less than or equal to 1000 mm”. The closest prior art, Stenis teaches a spraying fan, the spraying fan comprises a base, a support on the base of the motor, is supported on the base and vane driven by the motor assembly, extending from the base and arranged in a first pipeline for receiving liquid from the first liquid source, and extending from the base and configured to second conduit for receiving liquid from the second liquid source that is different from the first liquid source.
Regarding claim 25, the subject matter which is considered to distinguish from the closest prior art of record, Stenis (CN 203856744 U). The prior art of record when considered as a whole, alone, or in combination, neither anticipates nor renders obvious “the rack supporting the fan assembly and having an extending portion extending in a first direction that is skew relative to the fan axis; a wheel coupled to an end of the extending portion for moving the fan assembly over a placement surface; and a battery coupling portion detachably connectable to the power supply assembly to electrically couple the power supply assembly to the motor and to power the motor, the battery coupling portion arranged to receive the power supply assembly along a second direction that obliquely intersects with the first direction to form an included angle that is greater than or equal to 10° and less than or equal to 75° and, when the power supply assembly is coupled with the battery coupling portion, at least part of an orthographic projection of the power supply assembly onto the placement surface overlaps with an orthographic projection of the fan assembly onto the placement surface”. The closest prior art, Stenis teaches a spraying fan, the spraying fan comprises a base, a support on the base of the motor, is supported on the base and vane driven by the motor assembly, extending from the base and arranged in a first pipeline for receiving liquid from the first liquid source, and extending from the base and configured to second conduit for receiving liquid from the second liquid source that is different from the first liquid source.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARIO DELEON whose telephone number is (571)272-8687. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerry Daryl Fletcher can be reached at 571-270-5054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DARIO ANTONIO DELEON/Examiner, Art Unit 3763 /LEN TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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