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 Examiner acknowledges the amendments. The previous rejections are withdrawn. New rejections are set forth herein.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 5 does not appear to have the proper formatting. Words that have been removed should appear in the claims with a strike through the word. New words should be underlined. As such the claim should be:
“5. (Currently Amended) A drain unclogger tool consisting of: a coiled helical wire spring base in a cylindrical shape an [[a]] L-shaped crank handle
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 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei (US 2015/0176263) in view of KR200276644, herein referenced as KR 644.
Regarding claim 5, Lei discloses a drain unclogger tool consisting of: a coiled helical wire spring base in a cylindrical shape for trapping debris and hair (Item 160), a straight shaft that is flexible as the stem of the tool drain unclogger tool (Item 155), and a handle as the grasping point of the drain unclogger tool (Item 120), wherein the drain unclogger tool is made by only one single flexible piece to follow the curve of a drain (Paragraph 16).
Lei fails to disclose an l-shaped The crank handle. But does disclose in Paragraph 32 that it can be any shape.
KR644 teaches a drain unclogging tool wherein the handle is L shaped (Item 31 Figure 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to simply substitute the handle of Lei for the L shaped handle of KR 644. Lei discusses in Paragraph 32 that the handle can be any shape. KR644 gives an example in the art how the handle can be l shaped. Thus leading one skilled in the art to the predictable result of a handle that can guide and apply torque to the pipe cleaning tool.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 11/26/2025 with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 5 under Lei in view of Sincock have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Lei in view of KR 644.
Applicant argues lack of enablement and lack of definiteness to Lei’s claim of “any shape”. The Examiner believes Applicant is misinterpreting the rejection. Lei stating the handle can be any shape, means Lei does not limit their design to the specific handle shown in the figures. The Examiner relies on the handle of KR 644 to teach the l shape.
Applicant argues Sincock and Lei are non analogous. Althought he examiner disagrees with this argument, the Examiner has changed references to help further prosecution and show the l shaped handle is well known in the art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TOM R RODGERS whose telephone number is (313)446-4849. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 8AM-5PM EST.
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/TOM RODGERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723