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 .
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 1, 2, 7, 13, 16, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by KR 0143844 B1.
KR 0143844 B1 (Fig. 1; the entire English machine translation) discloses a humidifier including a water storage tank (110), a heater (121) within an outer wall (the walls to the outside of the water tank that contains the heater), with a floating valve (170, 171) that is located within an inner wall (the wall adjacent to the right of the floating valve), the center of the inner wall area that is spaced apart from the center of the outer wall area (claim 2), the floating valve controlling water flow from the overlying water supply tank (110) (claim 7) into the inner wall area of the water heating tank (claims 1, 13, and 16). The opening below the inner wall provides a connector to supply water to the heating area within the outer wall area of the tank, with an air flow pipe (sloped top of the heating tank that connects to discharge pipe 150) to discharge humidified air generated within the water heating tank wall (claim 17).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6, 8-12, 14, 15, and 18-20 are 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.
The prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest the structural aspects of the invention as recited by instant claims 3, 5, 8, 14, and 18. Claims 4, 6, 9-12, 15, 19, and 20 would be allowable based upon their dependency on the noted allowable claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/C.S.B/1-10-26
/CHARLES S BUSHEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776