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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 10-20 in the reply filed on 1/15/26 is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 10-20 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.
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Claims are, overall, difficult to understand.
This element of claim 10 is unclear:
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The underlined portion is confusing, and difficult to figure out, especially, “along the second axis.” The second filter head opening is along the first axis. Claim 14 has similar problem.
From the disclosure, the examiner understands that the filter head is cylindrical, it has two diametrically opposite openings on the cylindrical wall, and each opening has a flared out flange surrounding the opening. The top of the cylinder is closed by a dome. The bottom of the cylinder is open to the filter below. The openings of plurality of these heads can be interconnected. That is the gist of the invention.
The cross section 211 perpendicular to the first axis decreases from the left most plane along the flared portion, then increases to the center, then decreases towards the right side, and then increases along the flared portion to the right most plane. This is an artifact of the flared openings and the cylindrical shape of the head. See the annotated figure copied herein.
Claims 11, 15: which part is elliptical is unclear. It is assumed that the part marked in the annotated figure is the elliptical part – the flared flange. Also, “the inner edge” lacks antecedent basis. In claim 15, “in the area of the reduction …” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 17: “the second end” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 and 103
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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) 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over EP 3113864.
Figure 23 of this EP reference is copied herein with some annotations.
Claims recite a filter module having a filter head with the openings. The rest of claim 10 only recite the shape of the filter head. That is, applicant’s filter head 210 is open to the left, to the right, and to the bottom, and closed on top. The bottom is open to a filter. The left and the right openings 211 have flared flanges. The other shapes recited are as a result of providing nozzle openings on a cylindrical wall.
EP, fig 23, illustrates these structure. The left and the right openings are at 76 and 82which extend outward with outer ends shown expanded or flared or with an elliptical expansion. The head is cylindrical, which results in a similar construction as claimed in claims 10, 12 and 14 – the progression of opening 211.
The edge is also partially elliptical in shape as claimed in claims 11, 13 and 15.
Claim 16: the filter head part 214 is only an artifact of what remains of the cylinder after providing the through hole that forms the openings. Therefore, EP fig. 23 has the same structure.
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Claim 17: there is a filter 20 at the said second end.
Claims 18 and 20: several filter heads are interconnected as in claim 18 – see figures 18, 20 etc.
Claim 19: EP fails to show the dome-end, but that end is sealed or closed by the air inlet device 43. However, having this end as dome-shaped would have been only a simple change in shape (particularly when the cylinder diameter is larger than the size of the air inlet device 43,) and is not patentable unless otherwise shown. See MPEP 2144.0 – change of shape.
Overall, because of the difficulty in understanding the claims due the 112(b) issues, the identification of certain parts, like the element “runs partially elliptically” may not be an exact match. Even then, the claims are considered unpatentable because these are only minor changes in shapes. MPEP 2144.04.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRISHNAN S MENON whose telephone number is (571)272-1143. The examiner can normally be reached Flexible, but generally Monday-Friday: 8:00AM-4:30PM.
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, Prem C Singh can be reached at 571-272-6381. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KRISHNAN S MENON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1777