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 response filed on May 19, 2026 is acknowledged.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant elected with traverse Group I in the reply filed on December 15, 2025.
The requirement was still deemed proper and was therefore made FINAL in the Office action mailed on February 19, 2026.
Newly added claims 21-25 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on December 15, 2025.
Inventions I (claims 1-13) and newly added claims 21-25 are directed to related inventions. The related inventions are distinct if: (1) the inventions as claimed are either not capable of use together or can have a materially different design, mode of operation, function, or effect; (2) the inventions do not overlap in scope, i.e., are mutually exclusive; and (3) the inventions as claimed are not obvious variants. See MPEP § 806.05(j). In the instant case, the inventions as claimed have a materially different design. Invention I (claim 1) does not require the laminar housing of newly added claim 21, and newly added claim 21 does not require the second bracket of Invention I (claims 1). Furthermore, the inventions as claimed do not encompass overlapping subject matter and there is nothing of record to show them to be obvious variants.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 9-11 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 9 recites the limitation “wherein the laminar body rotates based on a command” in lines 1-2. The claim fails to recite structure to produce the “command.” The structure recited by the claim is not commensurate in scope with the function required by the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claim(s) 1, 8 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hagaman (2010/0155498).
Hagaman discloses a laminar device for an aquatic application, comprising:
a substantially cylindrical housing 110 forming an enclosure and having an opening at a top end thereof;
a collar 112 designed to releasably engage the opening of the housing;
an arm lid plate 105 rotatably enclosed in the collar;
a first bracket 135A opposite a second bracket 135B, the first bracket and the second bracket extending downwardly in a same direction from the arm lid plate;
a first motor (stepper motor, paragraph 0051 or electrical servo, paragraph 0063) associated (the stepper motor and/or electrical servo is “associated with the first bracket” because they are functionally linked/affected/related); and
a laminar body 115 rotatably coupled to the first bracket and the second bracket and operably connected (laminar jet 115 is functionally/operably connected) with the first motor, wherein the laminar body rotates and tilts to create one or more water features;
wherein a first water feature of the one or more water features is produced when the laminar body is in a first orientation;
wherein the laminar body includes a laminar light engine 220 to generate one or more light patterns.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 and 13 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed May 19, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Hagaman does not disclose “a laminar body rotatably coupled to the first bracket and the second bracket and operably connected with the first motor, wherein the laminar body rotates and tilts to create one or more water features.” The term “operably connected” requires nothing more than functionally connected. In the operation/function of the device of Hagaman, all of the elements of the device of Hagaman are operationally/functionally connected.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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
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