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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/26/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 2, 6, 7, 10, 12-19, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EP 3 146 984.
As to claims 17 and 18, EP ‘984 discloses a washing machine comprising:
A sealed washing chamber comprising:
Walkable floor and side walls (figure 2, 200 and 202)
A rest surface (floor of figure 2)
A recirculation system comprising:
A recirculation line (118, figure 1)
A transfer pump (108)
A walkable floor also defining a collection surface for the washing fluid and at least one of the side walls comprising suction slot (414) delimited at a bottom thereof by the floor,
Wherein the suction slot comprises self-regulating height element (410, paragraph 60 and 61) having a membrane configured to fold towards the transfer pump.
Wherein the suction slot is positioned higher than the collection surface and located on one side.
As to claim 2, the suction slot (414) can regulate flow of washing fluid to the transfer pump.
As to claim 6, a conduit as shown in the figure above with constant cross section between pump and suction slot.
As to claim 7, the collection surface has inclined portions tapering downwards toward one another and the suction slot is arranged at a lower portion of the collection surface (figure 1).
As to claim 10, wherein the collection surface has a “V” shape.
As to claim 12-14, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation, the pump is providing vibration onto the collection surface. Therefore, in this instance the pump in Clarke et al inherently provides vibration to the collection surface itself.
As to claim 15, the collection surface is non-slip surface.
As to claim 16, the collection surface has a finished. Since the claim is a product by process, the sandblasted finished has no patentable weight.
As to claim 19, the suction slot is substantially rectangular.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 5, 8, 9, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 3 146 984.
As to claims 5, EP 984 fails to teach a suction slot with a self-regulating height element, length of 1/3 or full length of the washing chamber. However, since EP 984 disclose the suction slot for drainage, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify with a height element or design the size of the drainage based on how much water is meant to be collected and controlled.
As to claim 8 and 9, EP 984 disclose the inclined portion, but not the claimed range. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to design an angle that is sufficient enough to allow proper drainage.
As to claim 11, EP 984 fail to teach a filter element on the suction slot. However, such filter configuration is well known in the art to have a filter at the drain to filter out any undesired hard object that may cause clogging.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Len Tran whose telephone number is (571)272-1184. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am - 4pm.
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/LEN TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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