Final Rejection
Reissue
For reissue applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, all references to 35 U.S.C. 251 and 37 CFR 1.172, 1.175, and 3.73 are to the current provisions.
Status of Claims
Amended patent claims 1-6, 8, 11-19, 21-27, and 29-31 are pending.
New claims 32-39 and 43-48 are pending.
Improper Amendment
The amendment filed 31 March 2026 proposes amendments to claims 1, 8, 15, 18, 19, 27, 32-39, and 43-48 that do not comply with 37 CFR 1.173(b), which sets forth the manner of making amendments in reissue applications.
In particular, amendments in reissue must be made with respect to the original patent claims, not to any previous amendment. See MPEP 1453 IV. Further, matter to be canceled by reissue must be enclosed in single brackets. Strikethrough and double-brackets are not permitted in reissue. New claims must be underlined even when previously presented because these claims are new with respect to the original patent claims.
Patent Owner is urged to review the examples in MPEP 1453 V. for proper amendment format.
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(s) 1-4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, and 48 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2005/0133070 to Vanderroest et al. (hereinafter Vanderroest) in view of DE 19935728 to Budich (hereinafter Budich).
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With respect to claims 1, 3, 4, and 48, Vanderroest teaches a dishwasher 10 including a washing chamber 12, a door 20 closing the chamber, a detergent compartment (not shown), and multiple static nozzle openings 65 in an upper spray arm 24, 64 arranged on an upper wall (roof) in the washing chamber (Figures 2, 7A and 7B), wherein the one or more static nozzle openings of spray assembly 64 are configured to spray water into the detergent compartment during operation of the dishwasher. See para [0046] and Figure 8. Further, the dishwasher comprises an upper spray arm 23 and an upper hydraulic conduit 25 arranged to feed water to the upper spray arm and the static nozzle openings. Vanderroest is silent as to the detergent compartment being arranged on the door, wherein the detergent compartment comprises an opening facing the washing chamber when the detergent compartment is in a closed position.
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Budich discloses a detergent compartment 1 for a dishwasher wherein the compartment may be attached to the door during dispensing. See English translation page 5, second and third paragraphs. The compartment 1 is formed of two halves forming a chamber 4 for containing detergent capsules 2. The compartment has an open position (Figure 3) and a closed position (Figure 1), wherein the closed position comprises at least one opening 5 facing the washing chamber. The compartment is capable of receiving detergent therein when open or closed. Budich teaches that water flows into and out of the chamber 4 during washing and rinsing. See translation page 4, description of Figures 1-3. As can be ascertained from Figures 1 and 5, the compartment is configured to inhibit the detergent tablet 2 from leaving the detergent compartment in the closed position.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the detergent dispenser of Budich in the dishwasher of Vanderroest, such that the upper spray assembly 64 is configured to spray water into the compartment because Vanderroest is not limited to a particular type or location of detergent compartment and Budich discloses a suitable detergent compartment for a dishwasher. All the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. KSR, 550 U.S. at 416, 82 USPQ2d at 1395.
With respect to claims 2 and 11, there are openings 5 locating at an upper and lower portion of the compartment 1 of Budich as shown in Figure 1. The openings form inlets and outlets for the dispenser.
As to claim 6, Figure 8 discloses that the static nozzle unit 64 of Vanderroest includes more than one static nozzle opening.
With respect to claim 8, Vanderroest teaches the “spray assembly 64 can be located…adjacent a detergent or rinse aid dispenser” (para [0046]). As the spray assembly is located on the roof of the dishwasher interior, it would have been obvious to place the detergent dispenser of the combination on an upper portion of the door so as to be adjacent the spray assembly.
With respect to claims 13 and 14, the dispenser of Budich may contain two separate capsules 2 such that one side is capable of containing a detergent and the other a rinse aid. As the interior compartment 4 is open between the sides, the water may enter the top of one side and exit at the bottom of the other side, thus forming a shared liquid conducting path. See page 3, third full paragraph; Figure 2b.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vanderroest in view of Budich as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of WO 2006/069827 to Kaczmarek (hereinafter Kaczmarek).
The combination of Vanderroest with Budich is silent as to a nozzle arrangement that causes the jets therefrom to cross paths. Kaczmarek teaches the provision of guiding devices 12 at the entrance of the detergent dispenser 5 to deflect spray jets directed thereto such that they cross paths to provide a more effective rinsing configuration for the detergent dispenser. See Abstract. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to add the guiding devices of Kaczmarek to the dispenser of Budich such that the washing fluid jets cross paths prior to reaching the detergent dispenser in order to provide a more effective rinsing of the detergent dispenser.
Claim Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 11, “directly on a side the rack” should be changed to –directly on a side of the rack--. Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claim 12, neither Vanderroest nor Chen teach or suggest a siphon. While Elliott discloses a siphon 6 in a dispenser, the outlet 7 of the siphon is not connected to the detergent outlet 5. Instead, the inlet of the siphon is connected to the detergent outlet. See Figure 1.
Upon correcting the claim amendment informalities discussed above, claims 15-19, 21-27, 29-39, and 43-47 will be patentable.
The following is an examiner’s statement of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claims 15-18, 27, 29-39, 43, and 47, neither Vanderroest nor Chen teach or suggest a static nozzle opening arranged directly on a side of the rack facing the door.
As to claims 19, 21-26, and 44-46, as set forth above none Vanderroest, Chen, or Elliott teach or suggest a siphon wherein the outlet of the siphon is connected to the detergent outlet.
Response to Arguments
With respect to claims 1 and 48, Patent Owner argues that “Chen and Vanderroest fail to disclose or suggest any such detergent compartment arranged on the doors of their dishwashers.” However, in the previous rejection Vanderroest was combined with Budich, which teaches the claimed dispenser configuration. This rejection is maintained.
The rejections under 35 USC §112(a), (b), (d), and 35 USC §251 have been overcome by the amendments filed 31 March 2021.
The rejection under 35 USC §102(a)(1) over Chen has been overcome by the amendment.
Conclusion
Applicant is reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.178(b), to
timely apprise the Office of any prior or concurrent proceeding in which Patent No.
11,412,911 is or was involved. These proceedings would include any trial before the
Patent Trial and Appeal Board, interferences, reissues, reexaminations, supplemental
examinations, and litigation.
Applicant is further reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.56, to
timely apprise the Office of any information which is material to patentability of the
claims under consideration in this reissue application.
These obligations rest with each individual associated with the filing and
prosecution of this application for reissue. See also MPEP §§ 1404, 1442.01 and
1442.04.
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.
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/ELIZABETH L MCKANE/Specialist, Art Unit 3991
Conferees:
/LEE E SANDERSON/Reexamination Specialist, Art Unit 3991
/Patricia L Engle/SPRS, Art Unit 3991
Prosecution Insights