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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 8-9 of the response, filed 08/12/2026, with respect to the rejection of Claims 9 and 11 under 35 U.S.C. , have been fully considered and are persuasive. The dependence of Claims 9 and 11 has been changed, and thus the indefiniteness has been removed from Claims 9 and 11. Therefore, the rejection of Claims 9 and 11 under 35 U.S.C. §112(b) has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 08/12/2026, regarding the rejections made under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1), have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant argues that Chwolka fails to disclose the added limitation to Claim 1 of the first flexible portion being filled between the fan and first housing member. In particular, the applicant argues that Chwolka is totally silent about the first flexible portion 242 being filled between the housing element 212 and the fan 110 to avoid a hard contact between the fan 110 and the housing element 212. Therefore, the applicant argues that the rejections should be withdrawn. The Office respectfully disagrees. First, it is housing elements 122 and 124 that comprise the claimed housing, not housing element 212. Second, the first flexible portion 242 (and second flexible portion 570) of Chwolka does prevent direct contact between the fan 110 and the housing 122, 124, as shown by Figures 3 & 5.
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Flexible portions 242 and 570 are placed to avoid direct contact between the housing 122, 124 and fan 110. If the limitation of being “filled between the fan and first housing member” implies a specific structure of the first flexible portion beyond avoiding contact between the fan and first housing member, then that specific structure should be claimed. Otherwise, Chwolka still discloses this limitation, as the first and second flexible portions 242, 570 of Chwolka fill the space between the housing 122, 124 and the fan 110 the avoid direct contact between the housing and the fan. Chwolka still discloses each and every limitation of amended Claim 1. Therefore, the applicant’s arguments are not persuasive, and the rejections made under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) are maintained.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) were filed on 08/20/2024, 01/07/2025, and 06/11/2025. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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 and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chwolka (DE 102015116990 A1).
Regarding Claim 1: Chwolka discloses a fan assembly (Figure 5), comprising a housing comprising a first housing member (122) and a second housing member (124); a fan (110); and a flexible member (242, 570; Paragraphs [0038] & [0051]) located between two ends of the fan and the housing (Figure 5), the fan being fixed within the housing by the flexible member, the flexible member being configured to avoid a direct contact between the fan and the housing (Figures 3 & 5, see above), and the second housing member being detachably connected to the first housing member to release or fix the fan and the flexible member (Figure 5; Paragraph [0037]); wherein the flexible member comprises a first flexible portion (242), provided between the fan and the first housing member to support the fan (Figure 5), the first flexible portion being filled between the fan and the first housing member (Figures 3 & 5); and a second flexible portion (570), at least a part of the second flexible portion being provided between the fan and the second housing member to clamp the fan together with the first flexible portion (Figure 5)..
Regarding Claim 4: Chwolka discloses the fan assembly according to Claim 1, wherein the first flexible portion is provided independently from the second flexible portion (Figure 5).
Regarding Claim 6: Chwolka discloses the fan assembly according to Claim 4, wherein the first flexible portion is a rubber pad, and the second flexible portion is a rubber sleeve (Paragraphs [0038] & [0051]).
Regarding Claim 5: Chwolka discloses the fan assembly according to Claim 1, wherein a part of the second flexible portion is clamped between the first housing member and the second housing member to seal a gap between the first housing member and the second housing member (Figure 5; Paragraph [0051]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 and 11 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. See previous office action for reasons for indication of allowable subject matter.
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 MICHAEL L SEHN whose telephone number is (571)270-3564. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 AM-6 PM, every other Friday off.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Courtney Heinle can be reached at 571-270-3508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL L SEHN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745
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