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 .
Response to Amendment
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The reply filed on February 27, 2026 is acknowledged.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on October 20, 2025 is acknowledged.
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 “connecting body…is a separate member from the liquid nozzle body” recited in claims 5 and 7 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 § 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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hanratty (2004/0123991).
Hanratty discloses a mist blower comprising:
a liquid tank (tank, paragraph 0082, l. 4) configured to store a liquid (water and/or foam);
a fan 112;
an ejection tube 117, 30 through which air delivered by the fan flows;
a liquid nozzle body 68, 69 disposed inside the ejection tube and configured to inject the liquid stored in the liquid tank into the ejection tube; and
a facing body 72, 74 positioned with respect to the liquid nozzle body such that a space 70 is defined between the liquid nozzle body and the facing body,
wherein
the liquid nozzle body comprises:
a liquid passage (passage within tube 44 and tubular portion 68) through which the liquid flows and which comprises a constricted part (see figure 2, downstream end of tubular portion 68) having a diameter that is a minimum diameter among a plurality of diameters of the liquid passage; and
a nozzle side surface (surface of tubular portion 68) along which the air delivered by the fan flow, the liquid is ejected from an ejection hole (hole at the downstream end of tubular portion 68) of the constricted part, and
the facing body comprises:
a facing surface (surface of cone 74) that faces the ejection hole; and
a facing body side surface (cylindrical surface of rod 72) connected to the facing surface and along which the air delivered by the fan flows;
wherein
the nozzle side surface has a circular shape having a first diameter,
the facing body side surface has a circular shape having a second diameter, and
the second diameter is equal to (as shown in figures 2 and 4) or more than 60% of the first diameter and equal to (as shown in figures 2 and 4) or less than 100% of the first diameter;
further comprising a connecting body 62, 65 that connects the liquid nozzle body and the facing body;
wherein when the mist blower is cut in a plane (plane perpendicular to the page in figure 2) perpendicular to a direction in which the liquid passage extends, a length (thickness of blade 62) of a periphery of a cross section of the connecting body is equal to less than 50% of a length (circumferential length of rod 72) of a periphery of a cross section of the facing body side surface;
wherein the connecting body is integrated with the facing body and is a separate member (separate has been interpreted as two elements and not non-integral; Applicant’s connecting body is shown as being integral with the liquid nozzle body in figure 8) from the liquid nozzle body;
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) 6 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hanratty (2004/0123991).
Hanratty discloses the limitation of the claimed invention with the exception of a distance between the facing surface and the liquid nozzle body is equal to or more than 200% of the diameter of the constricted part and equal to or less than 600% of the diameter of the constricted part. Doing so is mere optimization of range. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of invention to have made the distance between the facing surface and the liquid nozzle body equal to or mor than 200% of the diameter of the constricted part and equal to or less than 600% of the diameter of the constricted part in the device of Hanrattey to optimize flow, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-7 have been considered but are moot based on the new grounds of rejections.
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 CHRISTOPHER S KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4905. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-3:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur O Hall can be reached at (571) 270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER S KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752 CHRISTOPHER S. KIM
Examiner
Art Unit 3752
CK