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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 9/11/2023 and 2/22/2024 are being considered.
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 backing plate for the embodiments of Figures 19-26 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 Objections
Claim 4 and 8 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 4 should read “wherein a
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rigid tube is shorter a thickness of said pad.”
Claim 8 should read “8. The towel quick connector cleaning wand [[ad]] of claim 7,”
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 1-6 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 “a cleaning wand having a base with a top surface and bottom surface and formed with a plurality of bores”. It is unclear if the bore is in one part of the base or if the bore goes through the top and bottom surfaces. As such the claim is determined to be indefinite. For Examination purposes, it will be assumed to be ” a cleaning wand having a base with a top surface and bottom surface and formed with a plurality of bores extending through the top and bottom surfaces”.
Claim 7 recites the limitation “a compressible foam pad sized to approximate said base and that has a top surface and a bottom surface and formed with a plurality of bores”. It is unclear if the bore is through the compressible foam pad, or if its through the base. As such the claim is determined to be indefinite. Since the claim further requires “an aperture comprising of a rigid tube and a locking mechanism within said concentric bore that is attached to said base within each said bore”, the claim will be interpreted as “a compressible foam pad sized to approximate said base, and said base has a top surface and a bottom surface and formed with a plurality of bores.
Claim 7 recites the limitation “a locking mechanism within said concentric bore that is attached to said base within each said bore”. “said concentric bore” lacks antecedent basis. It is unclear if one of the bores is supposed to be concentric of if this is an additional bore. As such the claim is determined to be indefinite. For examination, the claim will be interpreted as “a locking mechanism within a bore of the plurality of bores
Claim 7 recites the limitations “conforming approximately to said top surface of said compressible foam pad”. Although applicant can be their own lexicographer, the surface in which the towel contacts, would be the bottom surface. The top surface would contact the base. “said top surface” exacerbates the previous 112 rejection. As such the claim is determined to be indefinite. For Examination purposes, the claim is to be interpreted as “thereby conforming approximately to a bottom surface of said compressible foam pad.”
In view of the 112 above, claim 8 will be interpreted as “further comprising a gap between a top surface of the foam pad and said locking mechanism of said aperture.
Claims 2-6 and 8-10 are rejected due to dependency
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderson (US 3,528,076) in view of Clark (US (2006/0277706).
Regarding claim 1 (as best understood), Anderson discloses a towel quick connector cleaning wand comprising:
a cleaning wand (Item 1) having a base (Item 2) with a top surface (Figure 3 top of page) and bottom surface (Figure 3 bottom of page) and formed with a plurality of bores (Item 6),
wherein said top end has a plurality of locking tabs (Item 7), and
wherein said bottom end is attached to said base.
Anderson fails to explicitly disclose a retaining aperture formed by a rigid tube within each said bore, wherein said rigid tube has a top end and a bottom end.
Clark teaches a retaining aperture formed by a rigid tube within each said bore, wherein said rigid tube has a top end and a bottom end wherein said top end has a plurality of locking tabs, and wherein said bottom end is attached to said base (Paragraph 41, Figure 7 Item 43). 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 retaining aperture of Anderson to be formed as a separate part and then pressed into the base as taught by Clark. Clark discusses in Paragraph 38 an embodiment in which the retaining apertures could be formed in the base. Whether the retaining aperture is formed with the base or if the retaining aperture is formed separately and pressed in, a simple substitution of the method in which the cleaning wand is formed would lead to the predictable result of the retaining aperture being held properly and both being able to properly hold a cleaning implement. This would lead one of ordinary skill in the art to the predictable result of the cleaning implement being properly held.
Regarding claim 2, Anderson in view of Clark disclose the towel quick connector cleaning wand of claim 1 further comprising a flexible towel passing through said bore and through said locking tabs of each said aperture (Anderson Item 8, Column 2 Lines 54-63).
Regarding claim 3, Anderson in view of Clark disclose the towel quick connector pad of claim 2. Anderson fails to explicitly disclose wherein said cleaning wand further comprises a compressible foam medium.
Clark further teaches a compressible foam medium (Item 51, Paragraph 43). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Anderson to incorporate the foam of Clark. Clark further discussed in Paragraph 46 that the foam medium increases friction between the base and the towel, which minimizes slippage between the base and the towel.
Claims 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderson (US 3,528,076) in view of Clark (US (2006/0277706) in view of Noble (US2018/0064306).
Regarding claim 4, Anderson in view of Clark disclose the towel quick connector cleaning wand of claim 3. Anderson fails to explicitly disclose wherein the length of said
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rigid tube is shorter then then the thickness of said pad
Noble teaches a cleaning wand wherein he length of said
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rigid tube is shorter then then the thickness of said pad (Figure 8, Item 26 is thicker than the length of Item 22). 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 length of the rube and/or the thickness of the pad such that the tube was shorter than the thickness of the pad as taught by Noble. Such a modification is viewed as a change in size, which has been held to be of routine by one skilled in the art (see MPEP 2144.04). In Paragraphs 38 and 44 Clark briefly discusses changes in height to the base (which would affect the height of the tube) and playing with the height and configuration of the pad such that it might affect the cleaning performance. Different heights/sizes would be modified based on the surface intended to be cleaned and the type of towel being held by the retaining aperture. Further in the instant application, there is no criticality or unexpected result given for the claimed dimensional relationship. Applicant briefly discusses the limitation on pages 12 and 17, but this is directed toward a different embodiment which has a different configuration.
Regarding claim 5, Anderson in view of Clark in view of Noble disclose the towel quick connector cleaning wand of claim 4 wherein said locking mechanism further comprises of a plurality of internally projecting plastic tabs (Anderson Figure 4, and Column 2 Line 5-10).
Regarding claim 6, Anderson in view of Clark in view of Noble disclose the towel quick connector cleaning wand of claim 4 wherein said locking mechanism further comprises .at least eight internally projecting plastic tabs (Anderson Figure 1, Clark Figure 2).
Claims 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anderson (US 3,528,076) in view of Clark (US (2006/0277706) in view of Kunkler (DE 10003899 C1).
Regarding claim 7 (as best understood), Anderson discloses a towel quick connector cleaning wand comprising:
a base (Item 2);
the base has a top surface (Figure 3 top of page) and bottom surface (Figure 3 bottom of page) and formed with a plurality of bores (Item 6); and
a towel (Item 8) removably attached to said aperture (Item 7), wherein said towel is flexible, thereby conforming approximately to a bottom surface of said compressible foam pad.
Anderson fails to explicitly disclose a compressible foam pad sized to approximate said base, wherein said bottom surface of said compressible foam pad has a backing plate to attach to said base; an aperture comprising of a rigid tube and a locking mechanism within said concentric bore that is attached to said base within each said bore
Clark teaches a cleaning wand wherein a compressible foam pad sized to approximate said base (Item 51, Paragraph 43). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Anderson to incorporate the foam of Clark. Clark further discussed in Paragraph 46 that the foam medium increases friction between the base and the towel, which minimizes slippage between the base and the towel.
Clark further teaches an aperture comprising of a rigid tube and a locking mechanism within said concentric bore that is attached to said base within each said bore. (Paragraph 41, Figure 7 Item 43). 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 retaining aperture of Anderson to be formed as a separate part and then pressed into the base as taught by Clark. Clark discusses in Paragraph 38 an embodiment in which the retaining apertures could be formed in the base. Whether the retaining aperture is formed with the base or if the retaining aperture is formed separately and pressed in, a simple substitution of the method in which the cleaning wand is formed would lead to the predictable result of the retaining aperture being held properly and both being able to properly hold a cleaning implement. This would lead one of ordinary skill in the art to the predictable result of the cleaning implement being properly held.
Although Clark discusses how the foam pad may be releasably connected to the base (Paragraph 42), Clark does not explicitly disclose wherein said bottom surface of said compressible foam pad has a backing plate to attach to said base.
Kunkler teaches a cleaning wand wherein said bottom surface of said compressible foam pad has a backing plate to attach to said base (Item 9 and 10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Anderson in view of Clark with the backing plate of Kunkler. Such a modification would allow the foam pad to easily be replaced. The pad could need to be replaced for different cleaning tasks or in the event the pad became damaged.
In the chance that the Examiner has inaccurately assumed the interpretations from the 112 rejections, to advance prosecution, the Examiner encourages Applicant to review US 4852210 from the IDS, which shows bores in the base and the foam pad.
Regarding claim 8, Anderson in view of Clark in view of Kunkler disclose the towel quick connector cleaning wand of claim 7, further comprising a gap between a top surface of the foam pad and said locking mechanism of said aperture (as taught by Clark, the locking mechanism is located at the top of the tube, while the foam pad is at the bottom.
Regarding claim 9 Anderson in view of Clark in view of Kunkler disclose the towel quick connector cleaning wand of claim 8, further comprising a hook and loop fastener attached to the top of said backing plate (Kunkler Paragraph 21 of translation).
Regarding claim 10 Anderson in view of Clark in view of Kunkler disclose the towel quick connector cleaning wand of claim 9, wherein said locking mechanism further comprises a plurality of internally projecting plastic tabs located at the opening of said rigid tube (Anderson Figure 4).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TOM R RODGERS whose telephone number is (313)446-4849. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 8AM-5PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Posigian can be reached at (313) 446-6546. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TOM RODGERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723