DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the filing of a Request for Continued Examination (RCE) and amendments therein. As per the amendments, claim 1 has been amended, claim 5 has been cancelled, and no claims have been added. Thus, claims 1-4 and 7-9 are pending in the application.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 8/05/2026 has been entered.
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 1-4 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith et al. (US Pat. 10,213,573) in view of Doo et al. (US Pat. 10,874,821).
Regarding claim 1, Smith discloses a positive airway pressure apparatus (see Col. 3 lines 15-20 where the system includes a respiratory apparatus with a flow generator that creates a positive flow of breathable air) comprising: a flow generator configured to pressurize and feed air (see Col. 3 lines 15-20 the air coming from a flow generator); and a humidifying tank configured to allow the air, pressurized and fed by the flow generator, to flow thereinto (see Figs. 22-29 where humidifier 102 is a humidifying tank), the humidifying tank having an inner space capable of storing water (the interior space of humidifier 102 in Figs. 22-29, having water 131-134 being held in inner space of the tank, defined by the layers 106, 110, and 114 as well as bottom chamber 118), wherein the humidifying tank includes a top wall (see Figs. 22-29 lid 104), a side wall (see Figs. 22-29 where the side wall is made from the sides of a plurality of levels 106, 110, 114, as well as the transverse middle sections thereof (it is noted that in the rejection, references to a transverse wall or section are understood to refer to extensions in the horizontal direction of the figures)), and a bottom wall defining the inner space (bottom chamber 118 in Figs. 22-29), a first passage through which the flow generator communicates with the inner space (see Figs. 22-29 the flow path of air from inlet 120, along the space above layer 106, through conduit 108, the space above layer 110, through conduit 112, along the space above layer 114, and ending at the start of conduit 116), a second passage through which the inner space communicates with a portion being outside of the humidifying tank and being different from the flow generator (see Figs. 22-29 outlet 122), a flow-dividing section (see Figs. 22-29 layer 110 the middle portion thereof forming a wall which divides the flow into sections above and sections below the layer) facing an inlet when the inlet is defined as an opening of the first passage facing the inner space (see Figs. 22-29 where conduit 108 is an inlet of the first passage, such that the vertical extensions of conduit 108 and layer 110 face one another), and a facing section extending toward the bottom wall from an outer peripheral surface of the first passage (see Figs. 22-29 the transverse wall of layer 114 and conduit 116 which is a facing section, with vertical extensions towards the bottom chamber 118, and is located at the end of the first passage and thus an outer peripheral surface thereof), wherein, when a vertical axis is defined as a specific axis intersecting the bottom wall, the facing section includes a part overlapping the inlet as seen along the vertical axis (see Figs. 22-29 where a vertical axis can be drawn that goes through the bottom chamber 118, through layer 114, and through conduit 108, such that there is overlap between the extension of conduit 108 and the layer 114), and wherein the facing section faces the flow-dividing section (see Figs. 22-29 where the extensions of conduit 116 extend toward and face the layer 110 above it), and wherein the flow-dividing section is a part of the side wall (see Figs. 22-29 where the middle portions of layer 110 form the flow-dividing section, and also have sides which make up the side walls of the humidifier 102, such that they are part of and extend from the side walls), and wherein the facing section extends to a position closer to the bottom wall than a vertical center of the inner space in a direction along the vertical axis (see Figs. 22-29 where the transverse walls of layer 114 extend out horizontally and come into direct contact with the walls of bottom chamber 118, such that the facing sections extends to be closer to the bottom chamber 118 (by virtue of touching) than to some vertical center that appears to exist above and detached from layer 114. It is further understood that the exact dimensions of the Smith device are a matter of design choice for a person of ordinary skill in the art, such that the height and thus vertical center of the device can be changed, and the vertical center is (almost) always further away from layer 114 than bottom chamber 118 is).
Smith lacks a detailed description of the device being a continuous positive airway pressure apparatus, and having a blower configured to pressurize and feed air. However, it is understood that Smith does have at least contemplate that the respiratory apparatus can be a CPAP device (see Col. 12 lines 18-20), and that the positive air can pressurized via a blower (see Col. 6 lines 43-46). In the alternative that Smith lacks these elements, than it is taught by Doo.
However, Doo teaches a similar respiratory therapy device with a humidifier, where the respiratory therapy is CPAP (see Col. 5 lines 40-45), and where the flow generator is a blower (see Col. 6 lines 5-13).
Therefore 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 respiratory device and flow generator of Smith to be a CPAP and blower respectively, as taught by Doo, as it would be a simple substitution of one type of positive pressure therapy for another, and of one airflow generating device for another, to yield the predictable result of delivering a positive air pressure therapy of breathable gas to a patient.
Regarding claim 2, the modified Smith device has wherein the facing section extends toward the bottom wall from a portion that is included in the outer peripheral surface of the first passage and that overlaps the inlet when seen along the vertical axis (Smith; see Figs. 22-29 where a vertical axis can be drawn that goes through the bottom chamber 118, through conduit 108, and through layer 114 of the facing section, and the conduit 116 is located at the outer peripheral surface of the first passage with extensions that extend towards bottom chamber 118).
Regarding claim 3, the modified Smith device has wherein the facing section includes a facing surface being a surface facing in a same direction as a direction in which the inlet faces (Smith; see Figs. 22-29 where the extensions of conduit 108 have a face on the bottom that faces downward, which is the same direction that a surface of layer 114 and conduit 116 face).
Regarding claim 4, the modified Smith device has wherein, an outlet is defined as an opening of the second passage facing the inner space (Smith; see Figs. 22-29 where outlet 122 faces the interior space of the humidifier), wherein, when seen along the vertical axis, the outlet is located on an opposite side from the direction in which the inlet faces with respect to an imaginary straight line extending on the facing surface (Smith; see Figs. 22-29 where the outlet 122 is located at the top of the humidifier, which is opposite the bottom of the humidifier which the conduit 108 and the inlet faces, when an imaginary line is drawn from conduit 108 to bottom chamber 118).
Regarding claim 7, the modified Smith device has wherein the facing section extends in a direction radially away from the inlet (Smith; see Figs. 22-29 where the transverse wall of level 114 extends in a direction that is radially away from the vertical axis of the conduit 108).
Regarding claim 8, the modified Smith device has wherein the inlet faces a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the bottom wall faces (Smith; see Figs. 22-29 where conduit 108 is in the vertical direction, and bottom chamber 118 has side walls which extend vertically and face horizontally, such that these side walls are orthogonal to the vertical direction of the conduit 108).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith in view of Doo as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Giocoechea (US Pat. 3,864,440).
Regarding claim 9, the modified Smith device has wherein the facing section includes a portion extending in a direction toward the bottom wall.
The modified Smith device lacks a detailed description of the direction being inclined toward the bottom wall.
However, Giocoechea teaches a humidifier system, where a conduit stretching vertically between layers has a section extending downward, including a portion that is inclined towards the bottom wall (see Figs. 2 and 6 where reinforcing gusset 74 is part of the delivery tube 66 that is below continuous plate edge 72, connecting to the conduit extension below the plate edge and being incline in shape towards the bottom wall).
Therefore 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 facing section conduit of the modified Smith device to include a reinforcing gusset attached to it as taught by Giocoechea, as it would provide a reinforcing structure to the conduit extension, helping it maintain its shape and position.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. It is noted that while the same references are used in the current rejection as in the previous rejection of record (in particular Smith and Doo), the interpretation of mapping of the Smith reference is different from previous rejections of record, making the arguments largely moot.
Applicant argues that the amended claim language includes a limitation where “the facing section extends to a position closer to a bottom wall than a vertical center of the inner space in a direction along the vertical axis” and that the Office Action and Smith reference don not identify a vertical center of the inner space of the humidifier. The argument is not well-taken. Smith clearly shows a rectangular-shaped humidifier, where the vertical center would be understood to geometrically be the midpoint height dimension. Hence, even though Smith does not directly point to a vertical center, it is an inherent property of the shape of the Smith humidifier. While the specific dimensions are not given in Smith, a person of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that there is a range of dimensions to make a rectangular humidifier, which results in a plurality of different positions for a vertical center. As the layer 114 and chamber 118 are touching via the extension of the wall of layer 114, the vertical center is (almost) always further away than the bottom wall. Additionally, it would be a simple matter of design choice to adjust the height of the humidifier of Smith, thus changing the vertical center, and resulting in it being farther from the facing section than the bottom wall is. Even as noted by the applicant in the response, the “Approximate vertical center” of the humidifier of Smith does appears to be offset from the layer 114, thus making it further away than the bottom chamber 118 is.
For the reasons above, the rejections hold.
Conclusion
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/MATTHEW D ZIEGLER/Examiner, Art Unit 3785
/TIMOTHY A STANIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3785
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