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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/13/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 04/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In regards to applicant’s argument that the prior art reference Heydari et al. does not disclose the amended claim language, Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant states that the disclosure of paragraphs 108-109 of Heydari et al. does not have a connection with a clogging event and are used to provide potential water savings, Examiner respectfully disagrees. As is disclosed in the example of paragraph 108, the water in the toilet bowl is monitored and after the toilet bowl is flushed and after refilling of the water that is monitored, the processing system can determine if there is a minor obstruction on the water line if it is increasing the water pressure based on the time it takes for the water to stabilize in the toilet bowl. The disclosure of paragraph 109 discloses how the upon a detection of a potential obstruction based on the fluid pressure change the controller can control the valve to change the position of the valve to increase or decrease the fluid pressure, hence a flush cleaning mode that includes water.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 3 and 28-36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Heydari et al. (Pub. No. US 2021/0157340).
Regarding claim 3, Heydari et al. disclose a water consumer system (Figs. 1-11) comprising: a water consumer (105, paragraph 56) that comprises a water receptacle (106 or 108), the water consumer system further comprising a fluid inlet with an inlet valve (110, paragraph 62), a fluid outlet, at least one HF motion sensor (known sensors disclosed in paragraph 44) for detecting fluid motion provided on the water receptacle and/or at the fluid outlet (paragraph 44), and a water consumer controller (112, paragraph 57) coupled with the at least one HF motion sensor and the inlet valve (paragraphs 62-63), wherein the water consumer is one of a sink, toilet bowl (paragraph 56), cistern, shower, and bath, wherein the water consumer controller (112) comprises a data processing system and/or is connected with a data processing system (20 or 700, paragraphs 52-53 or 130-132), which is arranged to at least retrieve and/or receive data captured by the at least one HF motion sensor (paragraphs 54-55), to evaluate the data arithmetically and, based on the evaluated data, to detect an obstruction (multiple potential obstruction detections disclosed for example a change in water level, change water pressure, media sensing, etc., paragraphs 91-94, 102-104, 108-110, 114, 116, 118-122), and wherein, upon detection, the inlet valve (110) is controlled (paragraph 109) to activate one or more flush cleaning modes (multiple modes that are dependent of the severity of the obstruction, for example an entirely clogged obstruction will turn off the inlet valve as disclosed in paragraph 91, or a smaller obstruction affecting the water pressure will change the position of the inlet valve as disclosed in paragraphs 108-109) of a plurality of flush cleaning modes dependent on the severity of the detected obstruction, where the one or more flush cleaning modes include flushing water (paragraph 109).
Regarding claim 28, Heydari et al. disclose the water consumer system (Figs. 1-11), wherein the water consumer controller (112) is arranged to control (paragraphs 55 & 62) the inlet valve (110) to control one or more of: i) a volume of water flowing through the fluid inlet or fluid outlet (paragraph 86); ii) the water pressure of water flowing through the fluid inlet or fluid outlet (paragraphs 108-109); iii) one or more periods of time in which water may flow through the fluid inlet or fluid outlet (paragraphs 86-89); and iv) one or more intervals at which water may or may not flow through the fluid inlet or fluid outlet (paragraphs 91-94).
Regarding claim 29, Heydari et al. disclose the water consumer system (Figs. 1-11), wherein the data processing system (20 of 700) comprises at least one data processing block that is machine-learning (paragraphs 52-53 or 130-132).
Regarding claim 30, Heydari et al. disclose the water consumer system (Figs. 1-11), wherein the machine-learning comprises one or more of: unsupervised machine learning; an artificial neural network; and an expert system (paragraphs 52-53 or 130-132).
Regarding claim 31, Heydari et al. disclose the water consumer system (Figs. 1-11), wherein the water consumer controller (112) is arranged to control (paragraph 63) the inlet valve (110) to operate the flush cleaning mode at a high, medium and/or low flow rate for a single period of time (paragraphs 86-89 or 102-104).
Regarding claim 32, Heydari et al. disclose the water consumer system (Figs. 1-11), wherein the water consumer controller (112) is arranged to control (paragraph 63) the inlet valve (110) to modify the high, medium and/or low flow rate according to the period of time that the water is flowing (paragraphs 102-104 or 108-110).
Regarding claim 33, Heydari et al. disclose the water consumer system (Figs. 1-11), wherein the water consumer controller (112) is arranged to control (paragraph 63) the inlet valve (110) to activate the high, medium and/or low flow rate for multiple periods of time (paragraphs 102-104 or 108-110).
Regarding claim 34, Heydari et al. disclose the water consumer system (Figs. 1-11), wherein the water consumer controller (112) is arranged to control (paragraph 63) the inlet valve (110) to turn the water flow on and off at defined intervals (paragraphs 102-104 or 108-110).
Regarding claim 35, Heydari et al. disclose the water consumer system (Figs. 1-11), comprising at least two or more HF motion sensors (paragraphs 44-46 or 54), wherein the HF motion sensors are located at different positions (paragraphs 44-46 or 54) in the water receptacle and/or fluid outlet, wherein the data processing system (20 or 700) is arranged to analyse the data captured by the HF motion sensors to determine the severity of the obstruction (paragraphs 52-53 or 130-132) and, based on the determined severity, activate the one or more flush cleaning modes (as rejected above for claim 3).
Regarding claim 36, Heydari et al. disclose the water consumer system (Figs. 1-11), wherein the water consumer (105) is one of the urinal and the toilet bowl (paragraph 56), the water consumer system further comprising a flush controller (paragraph 54) coupled to the water consumer controller (112), wherein upon detection of the obstruction, the water consumer controller (112) is arranged to perform one or more of: i) activate one or more of the flush cleaning modes dependent on the severity of the detected obstruction by activating the flush controller (as rejected above for claim 3); ii) close the inlet valve (110, paragraph 91); iii) deactivate operation of the flush controller (paragraph 92); and iv) send an error message and/or service message (paragraph 93).
Conclusion
All claims are identical to or patentably indistinct from, or have unity of invention with claims in the application prior to the entry of the submission under 37 CFR 1.114 (that is, restriction (including a lack of unity of invention) would not be proper) and all claims could have been finally rejected on the grounds and art of record in the next Office action if they had been entered in the application prior to entry under 37 CFR 1.114. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL even though it is a first action after the filing of a request for continued examination and the submission under 37 CFR 1.114. See MPEP § 706.07(b). 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 Reinaldo Sanchez-Medina, telephone number 571-270-5168, fax number 571-270-6168. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (7:30AM-4:00PM EST).
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/REINALDO SANCHEZ-MEDINA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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