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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/15/2023 has been considered by the examiner.
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) 1-3 and 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Al Hamli (US 11006785) in view of Oehler (US 2011/0067195).
Regarding claim 1 and 11, Al Hamli discloses:
1. A toe and foot cleaning device (300) comprising: a toe and foot cleaning handheld device having a telescoping handle (312, 308a, 308b) including a plurality of telescoping sections to extend and retract a length of said telescoping handle; wherein said plurality of telescoping sections having a first telescoping section including a first end and a second end, further wherein said first end having a threaded connector for enabling a user to detachably attach a toe and foot cleaning attachment; wherein said second end is telescopically engageable with a first end of a second telescoping section; wherein said second end of said second telescoping section is engageable with a first end of a third telescoping section; and further wherein a second end of said third telescoping section having a protruding member for grasping by a user to grip and hold said toe and foot cleaning device (see annotated Al Hamli Fig. 7B' below, all limitations except for a female threaded connector are either annotated or apparent from the Figure; Col. 7 lines 31-40 discloses scrubbing a foot; protruding member can be interpreted to be 318 or end part near 314
a plurality of toe and foot cleaning attachments for selectively attaching one of said plurality of toe and foot cleaning attachments to said telescoping handle (Col. 5);
further wherein said plurality of toe and foot cleaning attachments selected from the group consisting of a football brush, a pumice brush, a sponge, and a flat brush.
(Col. 5 lines 50-56 discloses that its scrubbing device may be used with many different types of scrubbing pads including bristle brushes and a sponge).
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Al Hamli does not explicitly disclose wherein said first end having a female threaded connector for enabling a user to detachably attach a toe and foot cleaning attachment, although Al Hamli does disclose that it is known in the art to use a threaded connection to attach the cleaning attachment to the device (Al Hamli Col. 5 lines 47-49)
However, Oehler discloses a toe and foot cleaning device similar to Al Hamli and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Oehler teaches foot care device 10 having a first end (40) of a longitudinal member coupled to the handle (20) and the cleaning attachment having a female threaded connector (41) for enabling a user to detachably attach said one of said plurality of toe and foot cleaning attachments (54).
Since it is known to use a female threaded connector to connect a cleaning attachment to a longitudinal member coupled to the handle of a handheld cleaning device, and since male and female threaded connectors are obvious equivalents, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of Al Hamli to have used a female threaded connector at the end of the longitudinal member coupled to the handle, which would be the first end of the furthest telescopic section, to couple a toe and foot cleaning device as taught by Oehler. Both of these coupling mechanisms are used to attach a cleaning attachment to a longitudinal member extending from a handle, and thus perform the same function and are therefore deem obvious equivalents. Substituting one coupling mechanism for another would only yield the predictable result of securely attaching a cleaning attachment to the handle via the longitudinal member.
The combination of Al Hamli in view of Oehler further renders obvious:
2. The toe and foot cleaning device of claim 1, wherein said first telescoping section is narrower than said second telescoping section and said second telescoping section is narrower than said third telescoping section (apparent from Al Hamli Figures, 308b is narrower than 308a which is narrower than 312).
3. The toe and foot cleaning device of claim 2, wherein said telescoping handle extendable and retractable manually by pulling and pushing one or more of said first telescoping section, said second telescoping section, and said third telescoping section (Col. 3 lines 29-44 renders obvious manually pulling and pushing the telescoping sections to extend and retract the device as is well known in the art, examiner takes official notice that manual pulling and pushing telescoping members to extend and retract the device respectively is known in the art and obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art).
Regarding claims 12-13, see claim 2-3 rejections for equivalent limitation mapping and discussion.
Claim(s) 4-5, 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Al Hamli in view of Oehler as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Fromm (US 2006/0257137) and/or NPL reference: ‘Gadgeteer_Motorized_Compact_Umbrella’, hereinafter ‘Gadgeteer’.
Regarding claims 4 and 5, the combination of Al Hamli and Oehler renders obvious the device of claim 2 and 12 but does not disclose wherein said telescoping handle having a first length adjustment switch and a length adjustment motor including an extension button for extending said plurality of telescoping sections while actuated or wherein said telescoping handle having a second length adjustment switch including a retraction button for retracting said plurality of telescoping sections while actuated.
However, Fromm and Gadgeteer both disclose a handheld telescoping device similar to the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Fromm teaches a handled device wherein a telescoping handle (14) having a first length adjustment switch (29) and a length adjustment motor including an extension button (first position of 29) for extending said plurality of telescoping sections while actuated (paragraph [0032] discloses a motorized extension and retraction of the telescopic device, and implicitly discloses/renders obvious an electric motor for the motorized operation as it mentions zoom in lenses in modern cameras which are generally known to be electronic)
wherein said telescoping handle having a second length adjustment switch including a retraction button (second position of switch 29) for retracting said plurality of telescoping sections while actuated (similar to as seen in applicant’s Fig. 1 which shows rocker switch 126 with two positions 128, 130).
Gadgeteer discloses a telescoping handle including two buttons, one for electronically extending the telescopic sections of the device and one button for electronically retracting the telescopic sections apparent from the pictures.
It is obvious to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. See MPEP 2143(A). The MPEP states the prior art must: (1) teach each claimed element (a method or apparatus that will be modified), (2) show that one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements by known methods and that the combination doesn’t change the function of the elements, and (3) show that one of ordinary skill would have recognized that applying the known technique to the base device would yield predictable results. See MPEP 2143(A).
In this case, the modified device of Al Hamli in view of Oehler renders obvious all elements except:
wherein said telescoping handle having a first length adjustment switch and a length adjustment motor including an extension button for extending said plurality of telescoping sections while actuated.
wherein said telescoping handle having a second length adjustment switch including a retraction button for retracting said plurality of telescoping sections while actuated.
Fromm/Gadgeteer teaches the above elements, which has the function of extending and retracting telescoping members of a handheld device with a motor. When combined into Al Hamli such that the handle incorporates the motor and motor actuation switch, it maintains its function of extending and retracting the telescoping members of the handheld device. One of ordinary skill would expect predictable results because both references pertain to extending and retracting telescoping sections that function in the same manner in the environment of telescoping handheld devices.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the device of Al Hamli in view of Fromm/Gadgeteer because all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claims 14-15, see claim 4-5 rejections for equivalent limitation mapping and discussion.
Claim(s) 6-8, 16-18, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Al Hamli in view of Oehler and Fromm/Gadgeteer as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Hendricks (US 5781955).
Regarding claim 6-8 and 20, the combination of Al Hamli, Oehler, and Fromm/Gadgeteer renders obvious the device of claim 5 and 15, but does not disclose wherein said telescoping handle rotatable in 360 degrees; or
wherein said telescoping handle having a third rotation switch and a rotation motor including a clockwise button for rotating said telescoping handle clockwise while actuated; or
wherein said telescoping handle having a fourth rotation switch including a counterclockwise button for rotating said telescoping handle counterclockwise while actuated.
However, Hendricks discloses a handheld cleaning device similar to Al Hamli and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Hendricks discloses a motorized brush device for cleaning with a handle (12) including an actuator button (58) that rotates a detachable brush in a first direction, and a reverse button (60) that rotates the attached bristle brush (50) in a direction opposite the first direction, and the handle and the attached brush are relatively rotatable in 360 degrees.
Since rotating a bristle brush improves cleaning, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have further modified the device of Al Hamli in view of Oehler and Fromm/Gadgeteer to have implemented a handle having a third rotation switch and a rotation motor including a clockwise button for rotating said handle clockwise while actuated; and a fourth rotation switch including a counterclockwise button for rotating said handle counterclockwise while actuated which results in the handle being able to rotate in 360 degrees, as taught by Hendricks. Implementing the rotation feature and actuation configuration of two buttons for forward and reverse rotation to a handheld cleaning device would only yield the predictable result of improved cleaning ability of the device due to increased scrubbing due to the implemented rotation motion.
Regarding claims 16-18, see claim 6-8 rejections for equivalent limitation mapping and discussion.
Claim(s) 9, 10, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Al Hamli, Oehler, Fromm/Gadgeteer, and Hendricks as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Shaw (US 10405704).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Al Hamli, Oehler, Fromm/Gadgeteer, and Hendricks renders obvious the toe and foot cleaning device of claim 8, but does not explicitly disclose wherein said telescoping handle having an adjustable length from 1 foot to 3 feet.
However, Shaw discloses a handheld toe and foot cleaning device similar to Al Hamli and the present application and therefore constitutes analogous art. Shaw teaches that it is known in the art to have a desired extended device length of 3 feet and a retracted device length of below 1 feet, therefore including an adjustable length of 1 foot to 3 feet (Col. 5 lines 25-31, Col. 6 lines 46-52)
Since Al Hamli is silent as to its specific device length dimensions, and since it is known in the art to dimension a telescopic handheld toe and foot cleaning device to be between 8” retracted length and 36” extended length, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have further modified the device of Al Hamli in view of Oehler, Fromm/Gadgeteer, and Hendricks such that said telescoping handle having an adjustable length from between 8” and 36”, which includes 1 foot to 3 feet, as taught by Shaw. Implementing these dimensions would not change the primary operation or function of the device and would only yield the predictable result of a cleaning device being extendable between 1 and 3 feet.
The combination of Al Hamli, Oehler, Fromm/Gadgeteer, Hendricks, and Shaw further renders obvious:
10. The toe and foot cleaning device of claim 9, wherein said telescoping handle having a battery for powering said length adjustment motor and said rotation motor (Al Hamli, battery 325 housed within handle of the device seen in Fig. 9, in light of the modifications of the teaching references; further Hendricks discloses a battery situated within the handle 12 powering the rotation motor, therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have used the same battery to power all electronics within the device to yield only the expected result of a battery operated handheld cleaning device).
Regarding claims 19, see claim 10 rejection for equivalent limitation mapping and discussion.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lies (US 2006/0248666) discloses an electronic scrubbing device with detachable heads 1 using an electric motor that rotates the head, and is actuated with a button near the handle 7, discloses a handle with a protruding part for assisting with holding the device; discloses a battery 4 within the handle 7
Enriquez (US 5353461) discloses a rotary scrubber apparatus for dishes that has forward and reverse rotation control
Hawkins (US 10843232) discloses a hand held electric rotary cleaning tool that has a switch for clock wise rotation and a switch position for counterclockwise rotation, and an actuator power switch
Henry (US 7331077), Watson (US 5511269) discloses a battery powered cleaning apparatus that includes a handle, a telescoping feature, and an electric motor that rotates the cleaning brush with an on button and a motor speed control button
Waterman (US 6732394) discloses a positionable body scrubbing device with a sliding switch that controls actuation of a rotation motor for the scrubber, with adjustable speeds, and discloses obvious equivalence to a toggle switch
Burk (US 9687123) discloses: a switch 18 to electrically activate the agitation mechanism 30; agitation mechanism 30 may include a motor, that may rotate
or pulls back and forth; switch 218 to control agitation mechanism; Fig. 11, discloses extending and retracting elongate member 212 in an alternative embodiment.
Thatcher (US 2023/0057838) discloses a pertinent telescopic toe and foot cleaning device
George et al. (US 6170107) discloses a rotating brush cleaning apparatus is provided having grippable handle and a plurality of elongated brush attachments and various alternates are envisioned as provided a useful brush cleaning tool as a personal hygiene bathroom use version that can allow one to scrub, clean, or exfoliate difficult or hard to reach areas such as behind the back or heels of the feet.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dustin T Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)270-0163. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathaniel E. Wiehe can be reached at (571) 272-8648. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DUSTIN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745 December 11, 2025