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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 May 22, 2026 has been entered.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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 “internal member is configured to receive a sprinkler threaded portion” recited in claims 21; and the “internal member is configured to engage with said sprinkler threaded portion” recited in claim 36 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
Claims 21-27, 29, 36-39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 21 recites the limitation “wherein said internal member is configured to receive a sprinkler threaded portion of said fire sprinkler” in lines 4-5. The specification discloses, in paragraph 0033, a smooth internal member 124 configured to fit over the outside of the pipe outlet 110. The specification further discloses, in paragraph 0032, The connecting member 120 encompasses first threaded portion 122 configured to receive a fire sprinkler 104 at its sprinkler threaded portion 106. The disclosure, as originally filed, does not disclose that the internal member 124 is configured to receive a sprinkler threaded portion of a fire sprinkler 104.
Claim 22 recites the limitation “a first threaded portion configured to engage with said sprinkler threaded portion” in lines 2-3. Therefore, claim 22 requires the internal member and the first threaded portion to receive/engage the sprinkler threaded portion. The disclosure, as originally filed, does not disclose such configuration.
Claim 36 recites the limitation “wherein said internal member is configured to engage with said sprinkler threaded portion of a fire sprinkler” in lines 7-8. The specification discloses, in paragraph 0033, a smooth internal member 124 configured to fit over the outside of the pipe outlet 110. The specification further discloses, in paragraph 0032, The connecting member 120 encompasses first threaded portion 122 configured to receive a fire sprinkler 104 at its sprinkler threaded portion 106. The disclosure, as originally filed, does not disclose that the internal member 124 is configured to receive a sprinkler threaded portion of a fire sprinkler 104.
Claim 37 recites the limitation “a first threaded portion configured to engage with said sprinkler threaded portion” in lines 2-3. Therefore, claim 37 requires the internal member and the first threaded portion to engage with the sprinkler threaded portion. The disclosure, as originally filed, does not disclose such configuration.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 31-34 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed May 22, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that connecting member 120 includes internal member 124 which is configured to receive the sprinkler threaded portion 106 of the fire sprinkler 104. The specification does not support Applicant’s argument. The specification discloses, in paragraphs 0032-0033, that the connecting member 120 encompasses a first threaded portion 122 and encompasses a smooth internal member 124. The first threaded portion 122 and the smooth internal member 124 are two distinct elements of the connecting member 120. The first threaded portion 122 receives/engages the sprinkler threaded portion 106 and the smooth internal member 124 receives/engages the pipe outlet 110.
Applicant argues a distinction between the terms “receive” and “engage.” Yet, Applicant fails to explicitly define the distinction. When the smooth internal member 124 receives the sprinkler threaded portion 106, the smoother internal member 124 engages the sprinkler threaded portion 106 when received. When the first threaded portion 122 engages with the sprinkler threaded portion 106, the first threaded portion 122 receives the sprinkler threaded portion 106 in order to engage. In either case, the smooth internal member 124 does not receive or engage with the sprinkler threaded portion 106. How can the smooth internal member 124, which is smooth, receive the sprinkler threaded portion 106? Additionally, claims 36 and 37 do not recite such distinction. Both claims 36 and 37 recite “configured to engage with.” Claim 36 recites “said internal member is configured to engage with said sprinkler threaded portion,” and claim 37 recites “a first threaded portion configured to engage with said sprinkler threaded portion.”
Conclusion
All claims are identical to or patentably indistinct from, or have unity of invention with claims in the application prior to the entry of the submission under 37 CFR 1.114 (that is, restriction (including a lack of unity of invention) would not be proper) and all claims could have been finally rejected on the grounds and art of record in the next Office action if they had been entered in the application prior to entry under 37 CFR 1.114. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL even though it is a first action after the filing of a request for continued examination and the submission under 37 CFR 1.114. See MPEP § 706.07(b). 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 CHRISTOPHER S KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4905. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-3:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur O Hall can be reached at (571) 270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER S KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752 CHRISTOPHER S. KIM
Examiner
Art Unit 3752
CK
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