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 1-9 and 10-15 and Figure 83 in the reply filed on 30 March 2026 is acknowledged.
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 “first body portion” in claim 4 and the “second body portion” in claim 4 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). The specification is silent in regards to the claimed features. 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.
Claim 4 is 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.
Claim 4 recites “first body portion” and a “second body portion”; however, the specification does not mention the a “first body portion” or a “second body portion”, thus the claim is unclear.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pasquier, et al. (“Pasquier”) (U.S. Pat. 9,821,279).
Regarding claim 1, Pasquier discloses an inline shower (col. 1, line 7) device (1), comprising:
a housing (2) having an inlet (6) and an outlet (7);
an interface (10) disposed at a first end of the housing;
a capsule (11) including a circumferential wall defining a recessed area (proximate 97 seen in Fig. 17), the capsule coupled to the housing at the interface so that at least a portion of the interface is disposed within the recessed area and engaged with the circumferential wall (seen in Fig. 14); and
an actuator (34) disposed on the housing, the actuator configured to cause a fluid from the capsule to be dispensed into the outlet (col. 5, lines 52-57).
Regarding claim 2, Pasquier discloses a valve (29) disposed within the housing, the valve fluidly coupled to the capsule, the actuator including a cam (threads 33) that is engaged with the valve.
Regarding claim 4, Pasquier discloses (Fig. 17) that the capsule includes a first body portion and a second body portion coupled to the first body portion (98), the second body portion (12) defining the recessed area (step near 97).
Regarding claim 5, Pasquier discloses the interface further comprises a diaphragm, wherein the diaphragm is nestably engaged with the recessed area when the capsule is coupled to the housing. (Col. 4, lines 24-32: “The rim here is produced in two portions which together form a lower face intended to collaborate with the bearing surface, but other modes of embodiment are possible, for example with the rim being formed by a diaphragm such as those used in photographic equipment, the diaphragm in a retracted position having no face facing the bearing surface and, as it deploys, bringing the lower face of said diaphragm to face the bearing surface in order to form the peripheral groove.”)
Claim(s) 10-12 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Pasquier, et al. (“Pasquier”) (U.S. Pat. 9,821,279).
Regarding claim 10, Pasquier discloses an apparatus capable of performing the following steps during its normal use:
coupling a capsule (11) having a circumferential wall (98) defining a recessed area (step near 97) to a housing (2) by engaging the circumferential wall with an interface (10) disposed at a first end of the housing so that at least a portion of the interface is disposed within the recessed area;
drawing a fluid (water soluble product 13) from the capsule into an inlet of the housing (20 is an inlet into the housing from the capsule) in response to movement of an actuator (34) that is disposed on the housing from a first position (loosened) to a second position (tightened); and dispensing the fluid into an outlet (7) of the housing.
Regarding claim 11, Pasquier discloses wherein drawing the fluid from the capsule comprises moving a valve (29) within the housing to fluidly couple the capsule to a hydraulic chamber (5) that is disposed within the housing.
Regarding claim 12, Pasquier discloses that the fluid is drawn into the housing in response to movement of the actuator between a first rotational position (loosened) and a second rotational position (tightened) and engaging the actuator with at least one detent (36) along the housing. (col. 12, lines 11-15: “FIG. 7 depicts a perspective view of a knob 34 of the device of FIG. 1. The internal spike 35 of the knob 34 which is intended to collaborate with the clamping guide 36 then with the lateral screw thread 33 of the puncturing device 4 is situated on an internal face 71 of the knob 34. The knob 34 constitutes the part for grasping of the device that the user will turn in order to open or close the device 1.”
Regarding claim 14, Pasquier discloses dispensing a first fluid (14) from an inlet (6, 17) of the housing into a hydraulic chamber (5) on a first side (toward 50) of a fluid-driven piston (45) in response to movement of the actuator.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6-9, 13 and 15 are 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.
Claim 3 requires a plurality of detents (36) to retain the knob in multiple rotational positions with respect to the housing. Pasquier discloses that the actuator comprises a knob (Pasquier describes the actuator is a “knob”), at least one of the knob or the housing including a
Claim 6 requires that the actuator comprising a self-return mechanism. Pasquier is silent in regards to such a mechanism and it would not have been obvious to modify Pasquier as required without improper hindsight analysis.
Claim 7 requires a timing element that is configured to control an amount of the fluid that is dispensed form the capsule in response to movement of the actuator. Pasquier is silent in regards to any kind of timing element and it would not have been obvious to modify Pasquier as required without improper hindsight analysis.
Claim 8 requires a fluid-driven piston, wherein the actuator controls the actuation of the piston. Pasquier is silent in regards to an actuator-controlled fluid-driven piston and it would not have been obvious to modify Pasquier as required without improper hindsight analysis. Claim 9 depend from claim 8.
Claim 13 requires inserting a diaphragm of the housing into the recessed area defined by the capsule. Pasquier does not disclose structure capable of mating as required by the claim and it would not have been obvious to modify Pasquier as required without improper hindsight analysis.
Claim 15 requires automatically returning the actuator from the second position to the first position using a self-return mechanism disposed in the housing. Pasquier is silent in regards to such a mechanism and it would not have been obvious to modify Pasquier as required without improper hindsight analysis.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See form PTO-892, attached.
The Examiner is aware of the commonly owned U.S. Patent 11,666,931. Upon analysis and consideration, there does not seem to be an obvious double-patenting conflict between the instant claims and the claims of the ‘931 patent.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J MELARAGNO whose telephone number is (571)270-7735. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri: 8 am - 5 pm +/- flex.
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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 J. MELARAGNO/Examiner, Art Unit 3754
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