DETAILED ACTION
This is a non-final Office Action on the merits for U.S. App. 18/421,153. Receipt of the Response to the Election/Restriction filed on 02/16/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 39-58 are pending.
Claims 1-38 are cancelled.
Claims 43, 44, 47, and 58 are withdrawn from consideration.
Claims 39-42, 45, 46, and 48-57 are examined.
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 of Species VII, Figures 14a and 14b in the reply filed on 02/16/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)). Therefore, claims 43, 44, 47, and 58 are withdrawn from consideration for defining non-elected embodiments.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it exceeds the 150 word limit. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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) 39-42, 45, 46, 48-53, and 55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Greene (U.S. Patent 3,749,424).
Regarding claim 39, Greene discloses an apparatus comprising:
an anchor baseplate (#22) defining an upper surface (the left vertical surface of figure 1, which can face upwardly when the apparatus is rotated 90 degrees clockwise within the figure), a lower surface (the right vertical surface of figure 1), and a baseplate throughbore (the through hole that extends through the baseplate #22 as depicted in figure 2) passing therethrough (see figure 2);
an elongated post (#12) coupled to the anchor baseplate (the post #12 is integrally formed with the baseplate and thus coupled thereto), extending at least partially through the baseplate through bore (As taught in paragraph 117 of the present specification, forming the post and baseplate with one another as a one-piece component can be considered to meet the limitations where the post extends through the baseplate throughbore. Therefore, the post #12 of Greene is considered to extend through the baseplate throughbore and extend past such a throughbore to form upper and lower portions of the post, where such elements are integrally formed with one another and are attached to one another at the location of the throughbore.), and defining a lower post portion projecting from the lower surface (the right portion of the post #12 of figure 1 which extends to the right of the lower right vertical surface of the baseplate #22); and
an internal post throughbore (the interior opening of the post #12 as depicted in figure 2 which comprises of smooth #24 and threaded #26 sections) passing longitudinally through the elongated post (see figure 2).
Regarding claim 40, Greene discloses the lower surface is configured to allow a flat structure to lie generally flush thereagainst except for an area of the lower surface covered by the elongated post (see figure 1, where flat structure #30 is configured to lie flush with the baseplate, where such a positioning is not positively defined).
Regarding claim 41, Greene discloses the internal post throughbore is cylindrical (see figures 2 and 5, where the throughbore is cylindrically shaped).
Regarding claim 42, Greene discloses the internal post throughbore is at least partially internally threaded (see figure 2 at #26).
Regarding claim 45, Greene discloses the elongated post is at least partially externally threaded (see figure 1 at #20).
Regarding claim 46, Greene discloses a nut (#14) threadably engaging the elongated post (see figure 1).
Regarding claim 48, Greene discloses the elongated post defines an upper post portion projecting from the upper surface (the left post portion #12 that extends to the left of the base plate #22 is considered the upper post portion).
Regarding claim 49, Greene discloses a lower tube (#28) coupled to the lower post portion (see figure 1).
Regarding claim 50, Greene discloses the lower tube is coupled to the lower post portion by clamping, threading, snap fit, friction fit, or a combination thereof (col. 2, ll. 29-33 disclose threading can be used to attach tube #28 to the internal post bore).
Regarding claim 51, Greene discloses an upper tube coupled to the elongated post opposite the lower tube and in fluid communication with the lower tube via the internal post through bore (element #50 can be considered an upper tube since it is cylindrical in shape and comprises of a hollow through portion, where the claims do not define the length such a tube is to extend and where such an upper tube #50 is in fluid communication with the lower tube through the internal post through bore as depicted in figure 2).
Regarding claim 52, Greene discloses the upper tube is coupled to the elongated post by clamping, threading, snap fit, friction fit, or a combination thereof (lock nut #18 provides a clamping effect to hold the upper tube #18 to the post #12).
Regarding claim 53, Greene discloses a structure (#30), wherein the elongated post penetrates the structure (see figure 1).
Regarding claim 55, Greene discloses a nut (#14) threadably engaging the elongated post on a side of the structure opposite the anchor baseplate (see figure 2).
Claim(s) 39, 53, 54, 56, and 57 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sakno (U.S. Publication 2004/0100040).
Regarding claim 39, Sakno discloses an apparatus comprising:
an anchor baseplate (#6) defining an upper surface (the top surface of figure 1), a lower surface (the bottom surface of figure 1), and a baseplate throughbore (the bore formed between tabs #7) passing therethrough (see figure 1);
an elongated post (#3) coupled to the anchor baseplate (see figure 1, where the tabs #7 of the baseplate throughbore hole attach the plate to the post), extending at least partially through the baseplate through bore (see figure 1); and
an internal post throughbore passing longitudinally through the elongated post (the post #3 comprises of a throughbore to allow fluid to travel therethrough).
Regarding claim 53, Sakno discloses a structure (#1), wherein the elongated post penetrates the structure (see figure 1).
Regarding claim 54, Sakno discloses a membrane (#5) disposed between the anchor baseplate and the structure (see figure 1).
Regarding claim 56, Sakno discloses the apparatus forms part of a radiant heating system operative to cause hot water to pass through the internal post throughbore (as depicted in figure 5, such an apparatus can be attached to a bathtub #30 above a structure #23 which the post #21 is to extend through, where such a bathtub would inherently be supplied with both hot and cold water and thus allow hot water to pass from the bathtub and through the post of the apparatus, thus meeting such limitations as broadly defined).
Regarding claim 57, Sakno discloses wherein at least a portion of the apparatus is covered in cement or synthetic mortar (figure 1 depicts the concrete floor #1 covers the sides of the post #3 and thus covers at least a portion of the apparatus as defined).
Claim(s) 39-41, 45, 46, 48, 53, 54, and 57 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wydra (U.S. Patent 4,817,348).
Regarding claim 39, Wydra discloses an apparatus comprising:
an anchor baseplate (#20) defining an upper surface (the top surface of figure 2), a lower surface (the bottom surface of figure 2), and a baseplate throughbore (the bore which post #12 extends through in figure 2) passing therethrough (see figure 2);
an elongated post (#12) coupled to the anchor baseplate (see figure 2 and col. 4, ll. 55-62), extending at least partially through the baseplate through bore (see figure 2); and
an internal post throughbore passing longitudinally through the elongated post (the post #12 comprises of a throughbore to allow objects to travel therethrough).
Regarding claim 40, Wydra discloses the lower surface is configured to allow a flat structure to lie generally flush thereagainst except for an area of the lower surface covered by the elongated post (see figure 1, where the upper and lower surfaces can be reversed and the top, lower surface can lie flush against the flat structure #16).
Regarding claim 41, Wydra discloses the internal post throughbore is cylindrical (see figure 2).
Regarding claim 45, Wydra discloses the elongated post is at least partially externally threaded (see figure 2 at #42).
Regarding claim 46, Wydra discloses a nut (#38) threadably engaging the elongated post (see figure 1).
Regarding claim 48, Wydra discloses the elongated post defines an upper post portion projecting from the upper surface (see figure 2, where the post #12 comprises of upper and lower post portion extending above and below, respectively, of the base plate #20).
Regarding claim 53, Wydra discloses a structure (#16), wherein the elongated post penetrates the structure (see figure 2).
Regarding claim 54, Wydra discloses a nut (#38) threadably engaging the elongated post on a side of the structure opposite the anchor baseplate (see figure 1).
Regarding claim 57, Wydra discloses wherein at least a portion of the apparatus is covered in cement or synthetic mortar (see figure 1 at #16, where col. 3, lines 62-65 disclose such posts #12 can be embedded within the cement/concrete #16).
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.
Claim(s) 56 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Greene in view of Becker (U.S. Patent 1,670,094).
Regarding claim 56, Greene does not specifically disclose the apparatus forms part of a radiant heating system operative to cause hot water to pass through the internal post throughbore, such as by use within the walls of a hot tub or other pool with a hot water supply. However, it is highly well known in the art, as evidenced by Becker, that such nozzles #24 provided in the walls of a poll, where pipes #22/23 supply hot water to such nozzles so as to be sprayed within the pool. See figure 1, claim 15, and page 1, ll. 62-69. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used the nozzle attachment apparatus of Greene within a heated pool so as to allow hot water to pass through the internal post throughbore, as taught in Becker, in order to provide such an easy to install water conduit connector of Greene within known heated pool assemblies and thus allow the end user to provide water of a temperate as needed for use.
Conclusion
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/THEODORE V ADAMOS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635