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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 9-24 are 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.
Claims 9, 15, and 19 are indefinite because of the language “wherein sizes of mist droplets of a mist of the water sprayed by the sprayer are set in a predetermined range to suppress a decrease in a temperature of the sample irradiated with the light by spraying the water to the sample”.
There is no clear metes and bounds of what decrease in temperature is suppressed relative to the droplet size or by how much a temperature is suppressed by the water droplets. Therefore a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would not know if the claim were infringed because spraying the sample with water may suppress a temperature decrease comparatively.
Claims 10-14, 16-18, 20-24 inherit the rejection of respective claims 9, 15, and 19.
Claims 13-14, 17, 23-24 are 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.
The term “warm” in claims 13-14, 17, 23-24 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “warm” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The temperature of the water is never disclosed and the term “warm” provides no limits on the temperature.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Hardcastle, III et al. (8670938) teaches (Fig. 1-2) a thermostatic tank; a heater configured to heat air inside the thermostatic tank (housing 12); a rotary sample stage (rack 16) which holds the sample (specimen 18); a light source (light source 22) arranged at a rotation center of the rotary sample stage and configured to irradiate the black panel thermometer (black panel temperature sensor 40) and the sample placed on the sample placement frame with light for a weathering test, wherein the rotary sample stage is configured to rotate around the light source ([0021]); an in-tank thermometer (temperature sensor 100) configured to measure a temperature in the thermostatic tank; a hygrometer (humidity sensor 43) configured to measure humidity in the thermostatic tank; a sprayer (water sprayer atomizer unit 63) configured to spray water to the sample placed on the sample placement frame, and a controller (controller 38 [0031]) configured to control the temperature in the thermostatic tank based on a measurement result of the black panel thermometer and a measurement result of the in-tank thermometer such that the measurement result of the in-tank thermometer is a set sample temperature.
Brennen et al. (US20070051906) teaches a spray nozzle 36 [0023].
Sleiman et al. (US2013/0287966) teaches different nozzle size openings and various pressures [0053] including a 100-200μm droplet size.
Scott et al. (US20060254372), teaches a weathering testing machine.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN MORELLO whose telephone number is (313)446-6583. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-4.
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/JEAN F MORELLO/Examiner, Art Unit 2855 10/31/25
/KRISTINA M DEHERRERA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855