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
The amendment filed September 8th, 2025 has been entered. Claims 1 and 3-15 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome each and every objection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed June 16th, 2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed September 8th, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant firstly argues that neither Kubokawa nor Felber teach the claimed head strip attached to an end fold section of a fold pack and comprising a first leg extending in a height direction of the fold pack and a second leg extending away from the first leg acting as a seal section projecting laterally and angularly away from the end fold section of the fold pack. The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Kubokawa teaches a filter element (¶0006 “The filter assembly also includes a filter element”) comprising: a fold pack comprising a filter material folded in a zigzag shape (Fig. 1, pleated sheet 21), the fold pack comprising lateral fold profiles (Fig. 6) and a first end fold section at a first head side of the fold pack (Fig. 1, end surface 24); a head strip attached to the first end fold section (Fig. 5, attachment strip 28) and comprising a first leg extending in a height direction of the fold pack (see annotated figure below) and a second leg extending from the first leg and acting as a first seal section projecting laterally and angularly away from the first end fold section at the first head side of the fold pack (Fig. 5, attachment strip 28 extends laterally and angularly away from the first end fold section (note that the attachment strip 28 extends perpendicular from the first end fold section at a 90⁰ angle ; see also annotated figure below));
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wherein the first seal section comprises at least one first incision or cutout (Fig. 1, openings 34, 35), configured to receive a corresponding first filter housing contour (¶0020 “filter element 20 can be mounted on the frame 11 with either of the attachment strips 28 on the end portions of the sheet 21of filter media engaged with the projections 32 and 33 (i.e., with the projections 32 and 33 in the opening 34 and 35 in the end portions and the attachment strips 28)”).
Applicant additionally argues that there is no suggestion or motivation to modify the attachment strip 28 disclosed by Kubokawa with the lateral strip 26, 28 taught by Felber. The Examiner agrees with this assertion; however, in the Non-Final Rejection mailed June 16th, 2025 there was no suggestion to modify the attachment strip 28 disclosed by Kubokawa in such a way. Rather, Felber was relied upon to meet the limitation of claim 1 wherein “lateral strips attached to the lateral fold profiles of the fold pack.” Felber teaches a filter arrangement (Fig. 4) with lateral strips (Fig. 4, sealing strips 26, 28) attached to the lateral fold profiles of the fold pack (Fig. 1 shows a side view of the filter arrangement with lateral folds). Felber further teaches that the lateral strips provide a seal between the filter insert and a filter housing (Pg. 5, lines 179-180 “The seal of the filter insert 2 according to Figure 4, designed as a sealing strip 26, 28, can be brought into sealing engagement with a filter housing 34 enclosing the filter insert 2”) and ensures an adequate seal even with changes in the dimension of the filter insert (Pg. 2, lines 64-66 “The seal, designed as a sealing strip along the outer sides of the pleated packs, allows manufacturing-related tolerances in the dimensions of the filter insert and/or filter housing to be compensated particularly well.”). 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 filter apparatus of Kubokawa to incorporate the sealing strips as taught by Felber to further improve the seal within the filter arrangement and ensure a proper seal is formed regardless of the dimensions of the filter insert to account for slight manufacturing variations. Such a modification would not replace the attachment strips 28 as taught by Kubokawa as Applicant suggests but would rather incorporate the lateral sealing strips 26, 28 as taught by Felber on the lateral sides of the filter element of Kubokawa (see annotated figure below).
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For the reasons stated above, the rejection of claims 1 and 3-15 made under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kubokawa in view of Felber in the Non-Final Rejection mailed June 16th, 2025 is maintained.
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.
Claims 1 and 3-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0172928 to Kubokawa (hereinafter referred to as Kubokawa), in view of International Patent Publication No. WO 2008/119410 A1 to Felber et al. (hereinafter referred to as Felber).
Regarding claim 1, Kubokawa teaches a filter element (¶0006 “The filter assembly also includes a filter element”) comprising: a fold pack comprising a filter material folded in a zigzag shape (Fig. 1, pleated sheet 21), the fold pack comprising lateral fold profiles (Fig. 6) and a first end fold section at a first head side of the fold pack (Fig. 1, end surface 24); a head strip attached to the first end fold section (Fig. 5, attachment strip 28) and comprising a first leg extending in a height direction of the fold pack (see annotated figure below) and a second leg extending from the first leg and acting as a first seal section projecting laterally and angularly away from the first end fold section at the first head side of the fold pack (Fig. 5, attachment strip 28 extends laterally and angularly away from the first end fold section (note that the attachment strip 28 extends perpendicular from the first end fold section at a 90⁰ angle ; see also annotated figure below));
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wherein the first seal section comprises at least one first incision or cutout (Fig. 1, openings 34, 35), configured to receive a corresponding first filter housing contour (¶0020 “filter element 20 can be mounted on the frame 11 with either of the attachment strips 28 on the end portions of the sheet 21of filter media engaged with the projections 32 and 33 (i.e., with the projections 32 and 33 in the opening 34 and 35 in the end portions and the attachment strips 28)”). Kubokawa does not teach lateral strips attached to the lateral fold profiles of the fold pack.
However, Felber teaches a filter arrangement (Fig. 4) with lateral strips (Fig. 4, sealing strip 26, 28) attached to the lateral fold profiles of the fold pack (Fig. 1 shows a side view of the filter arrangement with lateral folds). Felber further teaches that the lateral strips provide a seal between the filter insert and a filter housing (Pg. 5, lines 179-180 “The seal of the filter insert 2 according to Figure 4, designed as a sealing strip 26, 28, can be brought into sealing engagement with a filter housing 34 enclosing the filter insert 2”) and ensures an adequate seal even with changes in the dimensions of the filter insert (Pg. 2, lines 64-66 “The seal, designed as a sealing strip along the outer sides of the pleated packs, allows manufacturing-related tolerances in the dimensions of the filter insert and/or filter housing to be compensated particularly well.”).
Kubokawa and Felber are considered analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of filter arrangements. 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 filter apparatus of Kubokawa to incorporate the sealing strips as taught by Felber to further improve the seal within the filter arrangement and ensure a proper seal is formed regardless of the dimensions of the filter insert to account for slight manufacturing variations.
Regarding claim 3, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter element as applied to claim 1 above. Kubokawa further teaches wherein the first seal section is formed by the first end fold section projecting past the first head side of the fold pack(Fig. 6 depicts a sectional view of the filter where it can be seen that the first seal section is formed by first end 24 and attachment strip 28 extending past the end of the lateral folds at a right angle).
Regarding claim 4, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter element as applied to claim 1 above. Felber further teaches lateral strips that form a second seal section (Pg. 5, lines 179-180 “The seal of the filter insert 2 according to Figure 4, designed as a sealing strip 26, 28, can be brought into sealing engagement with a filter housing 34 enclosing the filter insert 2”) projecting laterally and angularly away from at least one of the lateral strips (Fig. 4, second leg 28.2 projects away from first leg 28.1).
Regarding claim 5, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter element as applied to claim 4 above. As is discussed above, Felber teaches lateral strips that form a second seal section (Pg. 5, lines 179-180 “The seal of the filter insert 2 according to Figure 4, designed as a sealing strip 26, 28, can be brought into sealing engagement with a filter housing 34 enclosing the filter insert 2”). Felber does not teach that said second seal section comprises at least one second incision or cutout configured to receive a corresponding second filter housing contour.
However, with the modification of the filter assembly as taught by Kubokawa to incorporate the second seal section as taught by Felber, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to additionally modify the second seal section to include the through openings within the first seal section as taught by Kubokawa. This would ensure that the modification would be compatible with the filter assembly of create an adequate seal around the entire perimeter of the assembly when placed inside the corresponding housing. Furthermore, mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. An incision or cutout would yield predictable results as Kubokawa has previously demonstrated the success of such a mechanism to secure the first seal section. See MPEP § 2144.04 (VI)(B).
Regarding claim 6, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter element as applied to claim 4 above. Felber further teaches wherein the second seal section is a section of the at least one of the lateral strips and projects laterally past a width and/or past a height of the fold pack (Fig. 4, it can be seen that legs 26.2 and 28.2 project laterally past the width of the fold pack).
Regarding claim 7, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter element as applied to claim 1 above. Kubokawa further teaches wherein the first seal section is a flat material strip (Fig. 6, attachment strip 28) and the at least one first incision or cutout is a notch, a hole and/or a stamped-out portion in the flat material strip (Fig. 1, openings 34 and 35 on attachment strips 28).
Regarding claim 8, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter element as applied to claim 1 above. Kubokawa further teaches wherein the first seal section is a section of the head strip and projects laterally past a length and/or past a height of the fold pack (Fig. 6, it can be seen that attachment strip 28 extends above the height of the fold pack depicted by element 42).
Regarding claim 9, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter element as applied to claim 1 above. Kubokawa further teaches wherein a second seal section is a section of a second end fold section at a second head side of the fold pack opposite the first head side (Fig. 8 depicts a seal section of an end fold section at a head side of the fold pack is present on either side of the filter element, the first head side (left) is opposite of a second head side (right)) and projects laterally past a length and/or past a height of the fold pack (Fig. 6 shows that first end 24 and attachment strip 28 project laterally past the length of the fold pack).
Regarding claim 10, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter element as applied to claim 1 above. Kubokawa further teaches wherein the first seal section is comprised of the filter material (¶0031 “The attachment strips 28 may be formed of a suitable material including … multiple layers of the filter media laminated together.”).
Regarding claim 11, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter element as applied to claim 1 above. Kubokawa further teaches wherein the angle at which the first seal section angularly projects away from the end fold section is variable (¶0019 “The filter assembly 10 also includes a filter element 20 comprising a sheet 21 of flexible filter media” ; ¶0031 “The attachment strips 28 may be formed of a suitable material including … multiple layers of the filter media laminated together.” ; As the attachment strips are comprised of the filter media, they are inherently flexible filter media and the angle at which they project would therefore be variable).
Regarding claim 12, Kubokawa teaches a filter assembly (Fig. 1) comprising: a filter housing (Fig. 1, frame 11) comprising a first housing part with a filter housing contour comprising at least one engagement element (Fig. 1, first and second projections 32, 33); a filter element configured to be received at least partially in the filter housing (Fig. 1, filter element 20), the filter element comprising: a fold pack comprising a filter material folded in a zigzag shape (Fig. 1, pleated sheet 21), the fold pack comprising lateral fold profiles (Fig. 6) and an end fold section disposed at a head side of the fold pack (Fig. 1, end surfaces 24 and 25); a head strip attached to the end fold section (Fig. 5, attachment strip 28) and comprising a first leg extending in a height direction of the fold pack (see annotated figure below) and a second leg extending from the first leg and acting as a seal section projecting laterally and angularly away from the end fold section at the head side of the fold pack (Fig. 5, attachment strip 28 extends laterally and angularly away from the first end fold section (note that the attachment strip 28 extends perpendicular from the first end fold section at a 90⁰ angle ; see also annotated figure below));
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wherein the seal section comprises at least one incision or cutout (Fig. 1, openings 34, 35) configured to receive the at least one engagement element of the filter housing contour (¶0020 “filter element 20 can be mounted on the frame 11 with either of the attachment strips 28 on the end portions of the sheet 21 of filter media engaged with the projections 32 and 33 (i.e., with the projections 32 and 33 in the opening 34 and 35 in the end portions and the attachment strips 28)”). Kubokawa does not teach lateral strips attached to the lateral fold profiles of the fold pack.
However, Felber teaches a filter arrangement (Fig. 4) with lateral strips (Fig. 4, sealing strip 26, 28) attached to the lateral fold profiles of the fold pack (Fig. 1 shows a side view of the filter arrangement with lateral folds). Felber further teaches that the lateral strips provide a seal between the filter insert and a filter housing (Pg. 5, lines 179-180 “The seal of the filter insert 2 according to Figure 4, designed as a sealing strip 26, 28, can be brought into sealing engagement with a filter housing 34 enclosing the filter insert 2”) and ensures an adequate seal even with changes in the dimensions of the filter insert (Pg. 2, lines 64-66 “The seal, designed as a sealing strip along the outer sides of the pleated packs, allows manufacturing-related tolerances in the dimensions of the filter insert and/or filter housing to be compensated particularly well.”).
Kubokawa and Felber are considered analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of filter arrangements. 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 filter apparatus of Kubokawa to incorporate the sealing strips as taught by Felber to further improve the seal within the filter arrangement and ensure a proper seal is formed regardless of the dimensions of the filter insert to account for slight manufacturing variations.
Regarding claim 13, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter assembly as applied to claim 12 above. Kubokawa further teaches wherein the first housing part comprises a first seal ridge against which the seal section is fastened (Fig. 1, perimeter portion 14; perimeter 14 comprises projections 32 and 33 which engage with the openings 34 and 35).
Regarding claim 14, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter assembly as applied to claim 13 above. Kubokawa further teaches wherein the filter housing comprises a second housing part with a second seal ridge (Fig. 1, cover perimeter portion 14, see annotated figure below), and wherein the seal section is sealingly clamped between the first seal ridge of the first housing part and the second seal ridge of the second housing part (Fig. 4).
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Regarding claim 15, Kubokawa and Felber teach the filter assembly as applied to claim 12 above. Kubokawa further teaches the use of axially extending ribs (Fig. 2, element 67) projecting from the engagement projections (Fig. 2, element 32) that help retain the attachment strips around the projections (¶0032 “The generally cylindrical projections 32 and 33 can have a plurality of equally circumferentially spaced radially projecting axially extending ribs 67 that will press into the structures along the end portions of the sheet 21 of filter media (e.g., the attachment strips 28) when they are pressed over the projections 32 and 33 to help retain those structures around the projections 32 and 33.”). In order to securely attach the cover and base portions of the filter system, Kubokawa teaches the use of a latch member (Fig. 4, latch member 59) which receives a lug (Fig. 1, lug 61). Kubokawa and Felber do not explicitly teach wherein the engagement element comprises a hook.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the attachment strips could be held in their position using a latch member as taught by Kubokawa in place of the engagement projections. Such a substitution would yield predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art, as Kubokawa has additionally demonstrated that the latch member successfully holds the cover and base portions together. See MPEP § 2143 (I)(B).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Haefner (US 8747507) teaches a filter element with guiding slots to allow for proper insertion into a filter housing.
Ogawa (JP H10286421 A) teaches a filter assembly with reinforcing plates surrounding the perimeter of the filter element.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 RACHEL MARIE SLAUGOVSKY whose telephone number is (571)272-0188. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 5:30 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JENNIFER DIETERLE can be reached at (571) 270-7872. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RACHEL MARIE SLAUGOVSKY/Examiner, Art Unit 1773
/Jennifer Dieterle/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1776
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