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 .
Abstract
The last 3 lines discuss merits of the invention, which is not allowed (MPEP 608.01(b)I)
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 5 recites “arranged intervals”, which is grammatically incorrect. “at” should be inserted after “arranged”.
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 3 recites “arranged intervals”, which is grammatically incorrect. “at” should be inserted after “arranged”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1 and 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Byrne (US 2016/0153157) in view of Rosenblum (US 2015/0327661).
As to claim 1, A cleaning brush for shower hoses (Embodiment of Fig. 10-13), comprising a shell (412, 414, 416, 418) and a plurality of bristle groups (472) [para 64];
wherein the shell is an inwardly curved body under a natural state, and a C-shaped cavity (Each shell includes a C-shaped cavity; Fig. 11) is formed in the shell to fit with a shower hose (A shower hose is able to fit into the cavity); and
wherein the plurality of bristle groups are arranged at intervals on an inner surface of
the C-shaped cavity (Groups of bristles are spaced along the inner surface of the cavity).
Byrne does not include the shell as soft.
Rosenblum includes a cleaning brush (1; Fig. 1) having a shell (11) made of a soft material (The shell is flexible, making it soft; para 30)
It would have been obvious to modify the shell of Byrne to be soft and flexible, as taught by Rosenblum, in order to provide a suitable material for the shell because flexibility makes the shell more damage resistant.
As to claim 3, wherein the bristle groups extend along an axial direction (The vertical direction) parallel to the C-shaped cavity, and the plurality of bristle groups are arranged at intervals (The bristle groups are spaced apart) along an arcuate structure of the C-shaped cavity (Fig. 11).
As to claim 4, Byrne does not include wherein an outer surface of the shell is convexly configured with anti-slip convex ribs.
Rosenblum includes a cleaning brush (1; Fig. 1) having a shell (11) including anti-slip convex ribs (19) [para 30 and Fig. 2].
It would have been obvious to modify the outer surface of the shell of Byrne to be convexly configured with anti-slip convex ribs, as taught by Rosenblum, in order to assist the user with obtaining a grip around the shell (para 30).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is 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.
Conclusion
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/ANDREW A HORTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723