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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-12 are currently pending
Claims 13-20 are currently withdrawn from consideration
Claims 1-12 are currently rejected
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements filed on 07/19/2023 and 04/08/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and have been considered. An initialed copy of the Form 1449 is enclosed herewith.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I claims 1-12 in the reply filed on 06/23/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Lines 4, 5 and 6 each state “the filter” and instead should each state “the at least one filter” for further clarity and to maintain consistency. FURTHERMORE, line 6 states “drains the DI water” and instead should state “drains DI water” for further clarity and to avoid any antecedent issues. Appropriate corrections are required.
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: Line 5 states “at desired time intervals.” and instead should state “at the desired time intervals.” for further clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: Line 2 states “in the case” and instead should state “in a case” for further clarity and to avoid any antecedent issues. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: Line 4 states “under the control” and instead should state “under a control” for further clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-12 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the outside” on line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 2-12 are also rejected since these claims depend on claim 1.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "…and that receives an initial sensing signal” on lines 5-6. It is unclear and confusing what is receiving an initial sensing signal, the sensing control unit or the initial sensing unit? Claim 9 is also rejected since this claim depends on claim 8.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ARAKI HIROYUKI et al. (JP 2013030690 A) (hereinafter “Araki”) (see attached English description) in view of LEE YOUNG HUN et al. (KR 20050024959 A) (hereinafter “Lee”) (see attached English description).
Regarding Claim 1:
Araki teaches a filter flushing device (see FIGS. 1-2) (see paragraphs 1-2, 6-7, 9-10 and 14-15), comprising:
a main body in which at least one filter can be mounted (see FIGS. 1-2) (see paragraphs 1-2, 6-7, 9-10 and 14-15);
a deionized (DI) water supply unit that can selectively supply a plurality of types of DI water having different temperatures to the at least one filter mounted in the main body at desired time intervals, thereby flushing the at least one filter (see paragraphs 6-9, 11 and 14);
a drain unit that drains DI water passing through the at least one filter to an outside of the main body (see FIGS. 1-2) (see paragraphs 1-2, 6-7, 9-10 and 14-15).
Araki does not explicitly teach a control unit that is electrically connected to the DI water supply unit to apply a control signal to the DI water supply unit so that a temperature and a flow rate of the DI water supplied to the main body through the DI water supply unit can be controlled, as recited in independent claim 1.
However, Lee further teaches a similar filter flushing system and method including a control unit capable of controlling and sending/receiving signals to further perform actions/functions of the system and method (see Lee FIGS. 1-4, valve control unit 182 and detection unit 180) (see Lee paragraphs 2, 5 and 15).
Araki and Lee are analogous inventions in the art of teaching a filter flushing system and method. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of invention to modify the filter flushing system and method of Araki to include a control unit/controller of Lee in order to further control and effectively control the filter flushing system and method of Araki and be capable and configured to perform actions/functions for optimization purposes (see Lee FIGS. 1-4, valve control unit 182 and detection unit 180) (see Lee paragraphs 2, 5 and 15).
Other Reference Considered
JUNG IN DON (KR 20200106692 A) (hereinafter “Jung”) (see attached English description) teaches a system and method for cleaning a filter element.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, AND to follow Examiner’s suggestion below, set forth in this Office action.
Examiner’s note/suggestion: Examiner suggests to amend independent claim 1 to further include all of dependent claim 2 limitations, and to further cancel dependent claim 2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AKASH K. VARMA whose telephone number is (571)272-9627. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9-5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin L. Lebron can be reached at (571)-272-0475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AKASH K VARMA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1773
Prosecution Insights