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 “curved portion along the second lateral portion” which makes up part of the curved member 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 1 and 3-12 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 1, it is unclear to examiner how the air can already be “flowing into the dust collecting chamber” and the guide rib is also used for “preventing” that same air from “flowing into the dust collecting chamber”. How is it possible that air which is already present within the dust collecting chamber can also be stopped from entering the dust collecting chamber? For the sake of compact prosecution and for use in this office action, examiner is interpreting “from flowing into the dust collecting chamber” to be --from rotating in the dust collecting chamber--.
Claims 3-12 are rejected as being dependent on a rejected claim.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1 and 3-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 1 recites “a curved member…including a curved portion along the second lateral portion”. Examiner finds that neither Applicant’s drawings or specification support a curved portion of the second lateral portion being part of the curved member. Paragraph 00136 of Applicant’s specification states “The curved member 133 may be formed in such a way that at least a portion from the first lateral portion 140 to the second lateral portion 150 is curved” but does not state that any portion of the second lateral portion makes up the curved member. Examiner further finds that Applicant’s drawings, for example Fig. 11, shows the curved member (133) and the second lateral portion (150) as being separate elements and even shows lines which show the separation between the curved member and the first later portion and between the curved member and the second lateral portion. Therefore, examiner finds this limitation to be new matter.
Claims 3-12 are rejected as being dependent on a rejected claim.
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.
Claims 1 and 3-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (KR20200107756A), provided as a PDF in office action filed 10/10/2025 and hereinafter referred to as Jin.
Regarding claim 1, Jin discloses a cleaner comprising: a housing (Fig. 10 element 211);
a filter (Fig. 12 element 213) provided to form a dust collecting chamber (Fig. 12 element 210a) inside the housing (Fig. 12); and
a main body (Fig. 10 element 230) configured to be moved relative to the housing (Fig. 14, 0171 and 0177),
wherein the main body comprises:
a dirt remover (Fig. 10 element 270) configured to be moved on the dust collecting chamber (Fig. 14, 0178),
an opening and closing structure (Fig. 10 element 260) configured to open and close the dust collecting chamber (Fig. 12, 0148) and provided to interlock with the dirt remover (0157), and
a connecting frame (Fig. 10 element 269) configured to connect the dirt remover and the opening and closing structure (Fig. 10, 0157), the connecting frame comprising a guide rib (see annotated Fig. 14 below, where the first guide rib corresponds to a guide rib) for preventing rubbish, which is contained in air flowing into the dust collecting chamber, from rotating in the dust collecting chamber (see annotated 14' below, where based on at least paragraph 00137 of Applicant's specification, the guide rib having a first lateral portion which corresponds to Applicant's first lateral portion, which is shown in annotated Fig. 14' below) makes the guide rib capable of preventing rubbish from rotating)
wherein the guide rib includes a first guide rib and a second guide rib facing the first guide rib (see annotated Fig. 14 below), and
wherein each of the first guide rib and the second guide rib comprises:
a first lateral portion (see annotated Fig. 14’ below),
a second lateral portion (see annotated Fig. 14’ below), and
a curved member configured to guide a flow of air into the dust collecting chamber (see annotated Fig. 14'' below, where the curved member has a curved profile which follows the curve of elements 260 and 270, where at least a portion of the curved member between the first lateral portion and the second lateral portion is curved, which will form a flow of air in the dust collecting chamber when the air entering the dust collecting chamber contacts the first and second guide ribs).
Jin fails to disclose the second lateral portion is formed such that a lower portion thereof is wider than an upper portion thereof, and the curved member includes a curved portion along the second lateral portion. Pursuant MPEP 2144.04-IV-B, it 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 to modify the second lateral portion of Jin with regards to a desired shape (in this case, the lower portion being wider than the upper portion and including a curved portion which extends into and makes up part of the curved member) in adapting the second lateral portion for a particular application, since such modification would have involved a mere change in the shape of a component. A change in shape is generally recognized as being within the level of one of ordinary skill in the art. Examiner notes that Applicant fails to disclose criticality for these limitations as Applicant’s specification does not include these limitations at all.
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Regarding claim 3, Jin, as modified, discloses the limitations of claim 1, as described above, and further discloses the first lateral portion is spaced apart from an inner circumferential surface of the filter by a first distance, and
Wherein the second lateral portion is positioned opposite to the first lateral portion and is spaced apart from the inner circumferential surface of the filter by a second distance greater than the first distance (see annotated Fig. 12 below, where a distance is shown between the first and second guide rib and the inner circumferential surface of the filter and also see Figs 10 and 14 and annotated Fig. 14' above which show the first lateral portion extending radially outward further than the second lateral portion and therefore the distance between the first lateral portion and the inner circumferential surface of the filter is greater than the distance between the second lateral portion and the inner circumferential surface of the filter).
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Regarding claim 4, Jin, as modified, discloses the limitations of claim 3, as described above, and further discloses the first lateral portion is disposed adjacent to the inner circumferential surface of the filter (see annotated Fig. 12 above, which shows the entirety of the first and second guide rib being adjacent (e.g. next to) the inner circumferential surface of the filter and therefore the first lateral portion is also disposed adjacent to the inner circumferential surface of the filter).
Regarding claim 5, Jin, as modified, discloses the limitations of claim 3, as described above, and further discloses a distance between the first guide rib and the second guide rib increases from the first lateral portion toward the second lateral portion (see annotated Fig. 10 below, where the first arc length is shown to be smaller than the second arc length which means that a distance (including a shortest distance) between the first guide rib and the second guide rib increases from the first lateral portion toward the second lateral portion).
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Regarding claim 6, Jin, as modified, discloses the limitations of claim 1, as described above, and further discloses the guide rib is configured to guide air, which flows into the dust collecting chamber, to allow the air, which flows into the dust collecting chamber, to be moved to a direction away from the guide rib (Figs. 10 and 12, where Fig. 12 shows the air flow entering the dust collecting chamber in a vertical direction and the air flow discharging from the filter in a horizontal direction which shows that a redirection of the air flow has occurred, and Fig. 10 shows the guide rib being a curved member which would guide the airflow entering the dust collecting chamber to be moved in a direction away from the guide rib (i.e. towards the filter)).
Regarding claim 7, Jin, as modified, discloses the limitations of claim 3, as described above, and further discloses the curved member is formed, in such a way that at least a portion from the first lateral portion to the second lateral portion is curved, (see annotated Fig. 14'' above).
Regarding claim 8, Jin, as modified, discloses the limitations of claim 7, as described above, and further discloses the curved member extends along a circumferential direction of the dust collecting chamber (see annotated Fig. 14'' above, where the curved member extends along a circumferential direction of the dust collecting chamber).
Regarding claim 9, Jin, as modified, discloses the limitations of claim 1, as described above, and further discloses the guide rib is biasedly disposed inside the dust collecting chamber (see annotated Fig. 10 above, where the first arc length being smaller than the second arc length means that the guide rib is biasedly disposed inside the dust collecting chamber (i.e. the guide rib is closer to one side of the dust collecting chamber than the other, where this interpretation is based on Applicant's definition of "biased" in paragraph 00126 of Applicant's specification)).
Regarding claim 10, Jin, as modified, discloses the limitations of claim 1, as described above, and further discloses the main body is further configured to be slidable between a first position for closing the dust collecting chamber (0156 and 0178-0179) and a second position for opening the dust collecting chamber (0156 and 0178-0179), and wherein in response to the main body being moved from the first position to the second position, the connecting frame is moved from an inside of the housing to an outside of the housing (0156 and 0178-0179).
Regarding claim 11, Jin, as modified, discloses the limitations of claim 1, as described above, and further discloses the connecting frame further comprises: a first frame on which the dirt remover is mounted; and a second frame on which the opening and closing structure is mounted (see annotated Fig. 14''' below, where the dirt remover (270) is mounted on the first frame and the opening and closing structure (260) is mounted on the second frame).
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Regarding claim 12, Jin, as modified, discloses the limitations of claim 1, as described above, and further discloses the main body further comprises a dirt separator (Fig. 12 element 251) disposed above the dust collecting chamber (Fig. 12) and configured to remove rubbish from air passing through the dust collecting chamber (0146-0147).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 1/6/2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 1 and 3-12 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection for claims 1 and 3-12 is made under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. (KR20200107756A).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CALEB A HOLIZNA whose telephone number is (571)272-5659. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00-4:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Carter can be reached at 571-272-4475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/C.A.H./Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/MONICA S CARTER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723