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 .
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 “filter element positioned in the circulation pump” and the “filter element positioned at the outlet for filtering the fluid” of claims 35 and 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
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 34 and 36 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.
Regarding claim 34, the claim recites “the additional chamber is a closed chamber including the additional pipeline is built into the additional chamber, thereby saving space within an interior of the pool body” in lines 1-3. The underlined portion appears to be grammatically incorrect, making it unclear whether Applicant is intending to further limit the claimed structure or describe a previously recited feature.
Regarding claim 36, the claim recites “the outlet” in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, since claim 20 recites an “outlet” for both the pump and the heater.
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 16, 19-20, 22-25, 28-30, 32, and 34-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lau (US 2012/0124732) in view of Wang (US 4,773,104).
Regarding claim 16, Lau discloses a pool body (see especially the embodiment of Figs. 9-13), comprising:
a pool inner wall comprising a side wall (see 32 in Fig. 2) and a bottom wall (see 46b in Fig. 11) which are connected, the side wall and the bottom wall of the pool inner wall forming a water holding cavity for storing a fluid (Fig. 11);
an additional chamber (204, 202) arranged on the pool inner wall, wherein the additional chamber is arranged at a junction of the side wall and the bottom wall of the pool inner wall (Figs. 10-11); and
wherein the additional chamber is provided with a bubble outlet (220 and 205 in liner 24b) communicating with the additional chamber and the water holding cavity, the bubble outlet is disposed through the additional chamber and disposed directly adjacent to a junction of the side wall and the bottom wall (see Fig. 13). Lau discloses in the embodiment of Figs. 9-13 an additional pipeline (206) connected to the additional chamber, but does not explicitly disclose that it is built into the additional chamber.
Wang teaches a pool body having a similar arrangement (see Fig. 21) wherein an additional pipeline (60, 62, 64, 66; Figs. 20-21) follows a path along a bottom wall (13) of a pool inner wall at a junction of a side wall (11) and the bottom wall. Wang teaches this arrangement as a means of improving portability and lowering cost of providing massaging jets in such a pool body (Col. 1, lines 1-23).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the pool body of Lau with an additional pipeline, as taught by Wang, in order to provide massaging jets in a convenient and low cost manner (as an alternative to the jet assemblies 26 disclosed by Lau, which require electrical connections and further additional chambers built into the inner wall; see Figs. 3-6 of Lau). When making this modification, one having ordinary skill in the art would further find it obvious to locate the pipeline in the existing additional chamber of Lau, especially considering that Lau already discloses a pipeline with similar functionality and the pipelines taught by Wang follow the same path around the lower edge of the pool body as the additional chamber of Lau. Accordingly, Lau in view of Wang renders obvious an additional pipeline built into the additional chamber, thus arriving at the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 19, Lau further discloses that the additional chamber is ring-shaped (see Figs. 9-13).
Regarding claims 20 and 30, Lau further discloses a water filtration and heating system (28; Paragraph 0048) having a water passing pipeline (72); a circulation pump (see 70 in Fig. 2) comprising a water inlet and a water outlet (Paragraph 0049), the water passing pipeline being connected at one end to the water inlet of the circulation pump (72 delivers water from the pool; Paragraph 0049). Lau further discloses a water suction port (80; Paragraph 0049) and a heater (Paragraph 0048), but is silent regarding the arrangement of the heater with respect to the pump. Additionally, the water passing pipeline disclosed by Lau is not explicitly disclosed to be built into the additional chamber.
Wang teaches a water filtration and heating system having a water passing pipeline (62 connecting to 57; Col. 5, lines 39-49); a circulation pump (52) comprising a water inlet and a water outlet, the water passing pipeline being connected at one end to the water inlet of the circulation pump (see Fig. 1), and at the other end to a secondary water suction port (see 33 in Fig. 21), the secondary water suction port being used for sucking the fluid stored in the water holding cavity (Col. 3, line 44 - Col. 4, line 3; Fig. 4); and a heater (53) comprising an inlet and an outlet, the inlet of the heater being connected to the water outlet of the circulation pump (see Fig. 1), the fluid sucked by the secondary water suction port flowing through the heater and flowing back through the outlet of the heater to the water holding cavity (Col. 4, lines 4-11).
The combined invention according to claim 16 includes the water passing pipeline (62) and secondary water suction port (33 being built into casing 60) as part of the additional pipeline that is built into the additional chamber, thus meeting the limitations of claim 30. When modifying Lau in view of Wang, as described above regarding claim 16, it would have further been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the combined invention with the water filtration and heating system arrangement taught by Wang. Since Lau is silent regarding these details, one having ordinary skill in the art would look to the prior art for solutions, and would recognize that Wang provides a suitable arrangement for the combined invention, resulting in the claimed invention according to claim 20.
Regarding claim 22, the combined invention discloses the pool body according to claim 20, and Lau further discloses an outer wall of the additional chamber (liner 24b covers the chamber; see 220 in Fig. 13), and a port in sealed connection with this wall (see 212 in Fig. 13; Paragraph 0068). When modifying Lau in accordance with claims 16 and 20, as described above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the combined invention with the same sealed connection for the secondary water suction port, since the functionality is similar to that described by Lau with respect to element 212. Doing so would place the secondary water suction port in sealed connection with an outer wall of the additional chamber and in communication with the water holding cavity, thus arriving at the claimed invention.
Regarding claims 23-25, the combined invention discloses the pool body according to claim 20, and Lau further discloses a primary water suction port (80) connected to the water inlet of the circulation pump, the primary water suction port being used for sucking the fluid stored in the water holding cavity (Paragraph 0049), wherein the primary water suction port is in sealed connection with the side wall of the pool inner wall and communicates with the water holding cavity (see 80 in Fig. 3, 80b in Fig. 10).
Wang discloses a similar configuration (see the embodiment of Fig. 1) having two separate suction ports (3) in sealed connection with the side wall of the pool inner wall (Col. 4, line 66 - Col. 5, line 11) on opposite sides of the pool body, wherein the fluid sucked by the two water suction ports are combined and then flow into the water inlet of the circulation pump (at 59 in Fig. 1).
When modifying Lau in view of Wang in accordance with claims 16 and 20, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to arrange the secondary water suction port to be on an opposite side of the pool body from the primary water suction port and to combine the fluid sucked by the primary water suction port and the fluid sucked by the secondary water suction port, as taught by Wang, in order to achieve better circulation of water and to minimize the amount of pipes and connections to the pump.
Regarding claims 28-29, the combined invention discloses the pool body according to claim 20, and further discloses that the additional pipeline comprises a water outlet pipeline (64) built into the additional chamber. When arranged in accordance with the teachings of Wang, the fluid sucked by the secondary water suction port is able to flow back into the water holding cavity via the water outlet pipeline after flowing through the heater (see Fig. 1 of Wang), and the circulation pump of the pool body further comprises a water inlet and a water outlet, the water outlet pipeline being connected to the water outlet of the circulation pump (Col. 5, lines 49-60 and Fig. 1 of Wang).
Regarding claim 32, the combined invention discloses the pool body according to claim 16, but the additional chamber of Lau is only depicted as being ring-shaped, and thus the combined invention lacks an additional chamber that is polygon-shaped.
However, the shape of the additional chamber of the combined invention follows the general shape of the pool body, and it is well known in the art to provide pool bodies that are ring-shaped or polygon-shaped, as evidenced by Brereton et al. (WO 2016/116864; Paragraph 0031) and Huang (US 2022/0339063; Paragraph 0047; see Fig. 1). Huang further demonstrates that internal components such as pipelines can be conformed to such a shape (see Fig. 2).
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one having ordinary skill in the art to provide the pool body of the combined invention, and thus the additional chamber, in the shape of a polygon because Applicant has not disclosed that such a shape provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem. One having ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected the pool body of the combined invention to perform equally well with either a ring-shaped additional chamber/pipeline or a polygon-shaped additional chamber/pipeline because both shapes would perform the same function. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the combined invention to obtain the shape specified in claim 32 because such a modification would have been considered a mere design consideration which fails to patentably distinguish over the prior art of Lau and Wang. See MPEP 2144.04(IV)(A).
Regarding claim 34, the combined invention discloses the pool body according to claim 16 wherein the additional chamber is a closed chamber (covered by liner 24b including 220; see Figs. 9 and 13) including the additional pipeline is built into the additional chamber, thereby saving space within an interior of the pool body.
Regarding claim 35, the combined invention discloses the pool body according to claim 20, and Lau further discloses that the water filtration and heating system includes a filter element positioned in the circulation pump (28 includes a filter pump; Paragraph 0048).
Regarding claim 36, the combined invention discloses the pool body according to claim 20, and, as described above regarding claim 35, Lau discloses a filter in the pump. However, the filter of Lau is not explicitly disclosed to be positioned at an outlet.
Wang teaches an arrangement wherein the water filtration and heating system includes a filter element positioned at an outlet for filtering the fluid (filter 55 connected to outlet of heater 53; see Fig. 1). Wang teaches this arrangement as a means to allow water to be diverted around the filter based on flow conditions (Col. 4, lines 24-53).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the combined invention with a filter positioned at the outlet of the heater, as taught by Wang, in order to enable water to be diverted around the filter based on flow conditions.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lau in view of Wang, as applied to claim 20 above, and further in view of Li (US 2009/0241252).
The combined invention of Lau-Wang discloses the pool body according to claim 20. Lau further discloses that the pool body further comprises a pool outer wall (30b; Fig. 9), and the pool outer wall and the pool inner wall enclosing an air-filled chamber (34, 36, 38 are inflatable air chambers; Paragraph 0045). Neither Lau nor Wang disclose the water filtration and heating system being built into the air-filled chamber.
Li teaches a pool body with a water filtration and heating system (Fig. 4) built into an air-filled chamber (interior of inflatable tub body 310) enclosed by a pool outer wall and a pool inner wall (Fig. 3, Paragraph 0031). Li teaches that this configuration reduces the cost and complexity of using and packaging the pool body (Paragraphs 0020-0021).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the pool body of the combined invention to incorporate the water filtration and heating system inside the air-filled chamber, as taught by Li, in order to offer a simplified product at a lower cost.
Claims 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lau in view of Wang, as applied to claim 20 above, and further in view of Peterson JR. et al. (US 2009/0100589).
The combined invention of Lau-Wang discloses the pool body according to claim 20. Neither Lau nor Wang disclose details regarding internal components of the pump.
Peterson JR. et al. teach a circulation pump (10) for a pool or spa (see the Abstract) including a circulation bin (24, formed by 50 and 16; Paragraph 0023; Fig. 3), a housing (50, Figs. 1-3) of the circulation bin being provided with the water inlet (26) and the water outlet (28), the water inlet and the water outlet communicating with an inner cavity of the circulation bin (Figs. 2-3); an impeller assembly (14) located within the circulation bin (Fig. 3), the impeller assembly being mounted on a rotating part (12) extending in an axial direction (Fig. 3), the rotating part being used for driving the impeller assembly to rotate in a circumferential direction under the drive of a driving part (20, Fig. 2), the circumferential direction encircling the axial direction (Fig. 3); wherein, along the axial direction, a free end of the impeller assembly facing an axial housing wall of the housing of the circulation bin is disposed spaced from the axial housing wall (see A in annotated Fig. 3 below). Peterson JR. et al. further teach that the impeller assembly includes a plurality of vanes (B in annotated Fig. 3 below) disposed circumferentially around the rotating part, an axial end of the rotating part having a convex portion (A in annotated Fig. 3 below) disposed protruding from the plurality of vanes; an outer diameter of the convex portion gradually decreases in a direction towards the axial housing wall. Peterson JR. et al. teach that this overall arrangement provides compact size and long pump life (Paragraph 0032).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the water filtration and heating system of the combined invention of Lau-Wang with the pump taught by Peterson JR. et al. in order to minimize the size of the system and offer a long service life of the pump.
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Fig. 3 of Peterson JR. et al., annotated by Examiner
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 16 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Examiner notes that the prior Office Action dated 10/24/2025 addresses Applicant’s argument regarding the additional chamber of the Shun Lau reference lacking a bubble outlet (i.e., the rejection was based on both air chamber 72 and central section 74 in combination forming a single additional chamber). However, as noted above, these arguments are moot because a new rejection is being made in response to the current amendments.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form. In particular, Huang et al. (US 2021/0108431) and Lin et al. (US 9,254,240) provide examples of pool bodies with bubble outlets relevant to the independent claim of the instant application. Wang (US 7,334,274; previously cited), Wadsworth (US 6,108,829), Wilson (US 5,408,707), Amaral et al. (US 5,815,854), and Carreau et al. (US 2006/0137087) disclose additional pipelines relevant to the instant invention. Prescott et al. (US 2006/0218716), Murphy (US 4,893,362), Lake (US 5,172,433) and Livingston (US 5,418,984) provide examples of alternative structures that could be considered to be additional chambers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL C PATTERSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5558. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:00 CST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paul Durand can be reached at 571-272-4459. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL C PATTERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3754
/PAUL R DURAND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754 March 9, 2026