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 .
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 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.
Status of Claims
Below are the Final Action on the Merits for claims 18 – 20. Claims 1 – 17 are allowed.
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.
Claims 18 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated Yong (WO 2020114484 A1) as cited by Applicant – See Machine translation provided.
Regarding Independent Claim 18, Yong teaches a portable vacuum device (Fig. 1) comprising: a vacuum housing (housing, 10) defining an inlet (Fig. 3); a handle (handle, 50 with cover, 107) having a length extending from a first pivot point to a second pivot point (Fig. 9; right and left pivots as shown in Fig. 9 and the handle 50 with cover, 107 has a length that extends between the two pivot points), the handle coupled to the vacuum housing (1) and rotatable relative to the vacuum housing (1) between a first position (Fig. 1) and a second position (Fig. 9) offset approximately 90 degrees from the first position (Fig. 9); and a hose (60) coupled to the inlet of the vacuum housing and configured to, in a storage position (Fig. 1), attach to the handle (50/107) such that the hose extends along a majority of the length of the handle in the first position (Fig. 1) and the second position (Fig. 9).
Regarding Claim 19, Yong teaches the portable vacuum device (Fig. 1) wherein the hose (60) is movable from the storage position (Fig. 1) to a use position (Fig. 11), wherein, in the use position (Fig. 11), the hose is configured to separate from the handle (Fig. 11).
Regarding Claim 20, Yong teaches the portable vacuum device (Fig. 1) wherein the handle (Fig. 8) is generally U-shaped between the first and second pivot points (Fig. 8), and wherein the cross-section of the handle between the first and second pivot points is generally U-shaped to define a cradle that receives the hose in the storage position (Fig. 8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 was objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims in the Non-Final Office Action dated 25 November 2025. Claim 3 has been rewritten in independent form, therefor, amended claim 1 is allowed.
Claims 2 – 15 are further allowed as dependents of allowed claim 1
Claims 16 – 17 were allowed in Non-Final Office action dated 25 November 2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicants Arguments/Remarks dated February 24, 2026 with respect to the rejection of claims 1 – 15 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been fully considered the rejection has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicants Arguments/Remarks dated February 24, 2026 with respect to the rejection of claims 18 - 20 under 35 U.S.C. 102 have been fully considered and are not persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been maintained.
Applicant argues “Yong discloses a handle 50. As described in the specification of Yong, the handle 50 is arranged above the cover body 107 and arranged on the cover body 107. As shown in the figures, the handle 50 has a length extending between a first end and a second end. The handle 50 is movable with the cover body 107 by lifting the cover body 107 (shown open in FIG. 14 and closed in FIG. 15). The first and second pivot points (unnumbered) of the cover body 107 (upon which the handle 50 is arranged) are shown in FIG. 14. As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the handle 50 does not have a length extending from the first pivot point to the second pivot point, as claimed. Rather, the handle 50 extends perpendicular to a line between the first and second pivot points. Written another way, the length from the first pivot point to the second pivot point of Yong does not correspond to a length of a handle”.
Examiner respectfully disagrees as the handle was defined as “a handle (handle, 50 with cover, 107)” in the Non-Final Office action. The handle, as defined, anticipated the claim limitations.
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATINA N HENSON whose telephone number is (571)272-8024. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday; 5:30am to 3:30pm.
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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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/KATINA N. HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723