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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the water tank being arranged obliquely and communicated with the water receiving sink of claim 7 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 1-20 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.
In line 7 of claim 1, the air inflow section extends horizontally or obliquely forwards from the air outflow section to define a first mounting space behind the air inflow section. How can a part extending forward define a space behind what it extends from? Similarly, in line 9, a part extends downward and forwards from a remaining part of the air outflow section to define a second mounting space behind the air outflow section. It is unclear how a part extending downward and forward form a space behind what it extends from? Claims 2-13 depend from claim 1, so they are unclear due to their dependency. Similarly, beginning in line 9 of claim 14, a part extends downwards and forwards from a remaining part of the air outflow section to define a second mounting space behind the air outflow section. How can a part extending downward and forward produce a space behind what it extends from? Claims 16-20 depend from claim 14. Claim 15 is confusing because it claims a first mounting space and a third mounting space without claiming a second mounting space. It is unclear if the second mounting space is required.
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) 1-6,8,9 and 14-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Japanese Published Application 2002-156135 to Takada (hereinafter “JP ‘135”) from the 11-24-2023 IDS.
JP ‘135 discloses a wall mounted air conditioner with a housing and an air duct having an air inlet and an air outlet with the air inlet on the front surface of the housing. The air inflow section extends horizontally forward from the air out flow section. A first mounting space is formed behind the air inflow section. A second mounting space is formed behind the air outflow section. A third mounting space is defined between the air inflow section and the air outflow section. See the annotated figure below. As seen in the figure, the inlet grill is slightly forward from the outlet.
In regard to claims 2-4, 6 in the first mounting space is “circulating parts”, 17 in the second mounting area is pipelines and 8 in the third mounting area is an electric control box.
In regard to claim 5, see the second annotated figure below. That figure further shows a sunken part that can receive condensate water as claimed in claim 6.
In regard to claim 8, the figures below show the third mounting space on one side of the sunken part.
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338
421
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214
484
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In regard to claim 9, the second flat plate portion and the centerline of the air outlet section are shown not quite parallel. While not discussed in the specification, this is seen as between 0 and 30 degrees.
The figures above are seen to disclose all of the claimed features of claims 14 and 15, as these claims are seen as broader than claim 1. Claim 16 is seen commensurate in scope to claim 1 and the discussion of claim 1above is seen applicable to claim 16.
In regard to claims 17-19, 6 in the first mounting space is “circulating parts”, 17 in the second mounting area is pipelines and 8 in the third mounting area is an electric control box.
In regard to claim 20, see the second annotated figure above.
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) 7 and 10-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP ‘135 in view of Japanese Patent Publication JPH10103706 to Mitsubishi Electric (hereinafter “JP ‘706”) which was submitted as part of the January 7, 2025 IDS.
As discussed above, JP ‘135 discloses the claimed features of claim 6. Claim 7 depends from claim 6 and adds a water tank between the first and second mounting spaces to receive water from the water receiving sink. JP ‘706 discloses a wall mounted air conditioner with grooves 11 and 13 to feed water to a tank 8 behind the blower (in an area between where the first and second mounting spaces would be). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of applicant’s invention from the teaching of JP ‘706 to modify the wall mounted air conditioner of JP ‘135 by adding a water tank on the middle of the rear wall to remove condensate from the evaporator in a manner that reduces the chance of the condensate leaving through the outlet port. As the specification is not clear on the demarcation between the first air inflow plate and the first air outflow plate, the tank of JP ‘706 can be said to be behind the first air inflow plate as claimed in claim 7 or the first air outflow plate as claimed in claim 13.
In regard to claims 10 and 11, the figures of JP ‘135 and JP ‘706 appear to show the intersection angle between a centerline of the air inflow section and a centerline of the air outflow section between 10 and 85 degrees and also the intersection of the centerline of the air outflow section and a vertical upward direction between 120 and 155 degrees. Such angles are not explicitly discussed in the written descriptions, but if the angles are slightly different, changing them slightly to meet the claimed angles is seen to be a matter of obvious design choice that will not greatly change the functioning of the device.
In regard to claim 12, it is considered obvious to place wires in the housing where they will not interfere with airflow. Such a position is the second mounting space which JP ‘135 shows refrigerant pipes.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM C DOERRLER whose telephone number is (571)272-4807. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eileen Lillis can be reached at (571) 272-6928. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM C DOERRLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3993