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 .
Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-4) in the reply filed on 9/26/25 is acknowledged. Claims 5-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. The examiner notes that upon the finding of an allowable generic claim, all non-elected claims depending from the allowable generic claim will be considered for rejoinder.
35 USC § 102 Rejection
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al (KR 101233080).
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses a pump assembly comprising:
a cylinder (130) having a suction port (opening at lower end) formed through the lower end thereof;
a piston (150) ascended and descended inside the cylinder and having an inlet (152) formed through one side thereof;
a seal cap (160) ascended and descended inside the cylinder, in a state of coming into close contact with the inner wall of the cylinder, to open and close the inlet;
a stem (140, 141) coupled to the piston in such a way as to be ascended and descended together with the piston and having an outlet formed on top thereof;
a cylinder cap (120) coupled to the upper side of the cylinder to surround the stem;
a first elastic member (175) disposed between the seal cap and the stem inside the cylinder; and
a second elastic member (145) disposed between the cylinder cap and the stem outside the cylinder.
Regarding claim 2, in addition to the limitations in claim 1, Kim further discloses wherein the first elastic member is an elastic body (spring) having the shape of a post (spring shaped as cylinder) with a hollow portion formed therethrough in such a way as to surround at least one of the piston (175 surrounds 150) and the stem.
Regarding claim 3, in addition to the limitations in claim 2, Kim further discloses wherein if the pump assembly is pressurized (stem depressed), the second elastic member is compressed to allow the piston and the stem to move down, so that as the first elastic member is compressed, the seal cap moves up relative to the piston to allow the inlet to be exposed (shown in third figure).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is objected to as being dependent from a rejected claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David P. Angwin whose telephone number is (571) 270-3735. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:30 AM - 5 PM (M-F). The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DAVID P ANGWIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754