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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A (claims 11-15) in the reply filed on 12/31/2025 is acknowledged. Applicant confirmed this election in a telephone call on 3/3/2026, indicating that the Remarks dated 12/31/2025 erroneously stated “Applicant elects Species B. Accordingly, Applicant respectfully submits that this rejection has been traversed.” Claims 1-10 are generic. Accordingly, claims 1-15 will be examined on the merits.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character 106 has been used to designate both the dispensing system and individual sinks in Fig. 1.
The drawings are objected to because Fig. 3 contains reference characters that are overlapping (Examiner suggests removing the boxes around 312 and 313).
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 502 and 514 in Fig. 5.
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.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Paragraph 0019 uses reference character 106 for both a “dispensing system” and “sinks” (see associated drawing objection above).
Paragraph 0034 uses reference character 432 for both an “alignment axis” and an “angle” (it appears from Fig. 4 that the angle should be 472).
In Paragraph 0043, line 7, “circuitry 518” should read --circuitry 519--.
The attempt to incorporate subject matter into this application by reference to provisional application number 63/388,371 is ineffective because the reference document is not clearly identified as required by 37 CFR 1.57(c)(2)). It should refer to non-provisional Application number 18/349,363 or an associated U.S. patent or U.S. patent application publication number for proper identification.
The incorporation by reference will not be effective until correction is made to comply with 37 CFR 1.57(c), (d), or (e). If the incorporated material is relied upon to meet any outstanding objection, rejection, or other requirement imposed by the Office, the correction must be made within any time period set by the Office for responding to the objection, rejection, or other requirement for the incorporation to be effective. Compliance will not be held in abeyance with respect to responding to the objection, rejection, or other requirement for the incorporation to be effective. In no case may the correction be made later than the close of prosecution as defined in 37 CFR 1.114(b), or abandonment of the application, whichever occurs earlier.
Any correction inserting material by amendment that was previously incorporated by reference must be accompanied by a statement that the material being inserted is the material incorporated by reference and the amendment contains no new matter. 37 CFR 1.57(g).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 11 and 13-15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 11: line 17 is capitalized; line 17 contains a misspelling (“center line” instead of “centerline” as in line 16); line 21 contains a misspelling (“senser”); and line 22 contains an extraneous word (“the”).
In claim 13, a comma is missing between “claim 11” and “wherein” in line 1.
In claims 14-15, “receiver” should read --the receiver-- for clarity (likewise with “dispensing nozzle” in claim 15).
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-15 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.
Regarding claims 1-10, the preamble of claim 1 recites “a through-the-wall touch-free dispensers system” in line 1. Claims 1-10 each subsequently recite “the touch-free dispenser” (claim 1, lines 5-6) or “the through-the-wall touch-free dispenser” (claims 2-10 preambles). There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims.
Regarding claims 1, 4, 9, and 10, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the following limitations in the claims: “the liquid inlet” (claim 1, line 14); “the transmitter and receiver” (claim 4, lines 1-2), “the sensor circuit board” (claim 4, line 2) “the emitter and the receiver” (claim 9, line 2), and “the emitter axis and the receiver axis” (claim 10, lines 1-2).
Regarding claim 11, the claim recites “the pump” in line 4 prior to reciting “a pump” in line 5, raising the question of insufficient antecedent basis and/or double inclusion with respect to the pump.
Claims 2-10, and 12-15 inherit the deficiencies of the claims upon which they depend, and thus are similarly rejected.
In light of the indefiniteness issues described above, the claims will be interpreted according to Examiner’s best understanding.
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 1-2 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ophardt (US 2021/0235942, hereinafter “Ophardt ‘942”) in view of Ciavarella et al. (US 11,122,939).
Regarding claim 1, Ophardt ‘942 discloses a through-the-wall touch-free dispensers system (see the embodiment of Figs. 27-33) comprising:
a spout (16); a base housing (114); wherein the spout extends further outward than the base housing (Paragraph 0351); wherein the base housing extends below the spout (see Figs. 28-29); an object sensor (e.g., 141 included as part of 74) located in the base housing below the spout (Paragraph 0357); a liquid inlet conduit (26, 30) that is configured to extend through at least a portion of the wall (see Fig. 27); a pump (21, 23) in fluid communication with the liquid inlet (Paragraphs 0348-0349); a reservoir (220, 222) for holding liquid; the reservoir in fluid communication with the pump (Paragraphs 0348-0349); and control circuitry (102) for causing the touch-free dispenser to dispense fluid (Paragraph 0350).
Ophardt ‘942 does not explicitly disclose an elongated wall mounting base. Instead, Ophardt ‘942 illustrates a round base housing mounted to a wall (at 112; Paragraph 0351) via unspecified means.
Ciavarella et al. teach a similar system (see Figs. 1-2) in which a base housing (e.g., 636 in Figs. 17-20) is mounted to a wall (which may be a countertop or a vertical wall; Col. 5, line 53 - Col. 6, line 7) via an elongated wall mounting base (e.g., 634 in Figs. 17-20); the elongated wall mounting base having a length and a width, the length is greater than the width (Figs. 17-20 show that the base housing is elongated in the direction of the spout in order to accommodate additional features such as a sensor 48, shown in Fig. 3, and a refill port 652). Ciavarella et al. teach this configuration as enabling the dispenser to be slidably mounted to the wall for access to the features contained in the base housing (slidable along axis A11 in Fig. 18; see Col. 12, lines 20-39).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the system of Ophardt ‘942 with an elongated wall mounting base, as taught by Ciavarella et al., as a means for mounting the dispenser to a wall while accommodating additional features such as the sensor and a refill port). Elongation of the round base housing shown by Ophardt ‘942 would be an obvious result of incorporating the additional features onto the elongated wall mounting base. Considering that the sensor disclosed by Ophardt ‘942 is located below the spout, one having ordinary skill in the art would further recognize that a vertically elongated shape provides sufficient space for the sensor in a manner that may be aesthetically preferable to covering a larger circular area of wall space. When configured as described, the combined invention of Ophardt ‘942 and Ciavarella et al. would disclose a wall mounting base configured such that the length is in the vertical direction when the touch-free dispenser is mounted on a wall, thus arriving at the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 2, Ophardt ‘942 further discloses a cable for providing power to the object sensor and for providing signals from the object sensor, wherein the cable is configured to pass through at least a portion of the wall (Paragraph 0350; Fig. 27).
Regarding claims 5-6, the wall mounting base taught by Ciavarella et al. is a mounting plate, according to Examiner’s best understanding, and the base housing is mounted on the wall mounting base in a slidable manner, as described above regarding claim 1. Since the base housing slides on and off of the mounting plate only in a direction perpendicular to the wall, the mounting plate is configured to be recessed in the wall (i.e., normal operation of the dispenser would not be inhibited by the mounting plate being recessed in the wall).
Regarding claim 7, Ophardt ‘942 further discloses that the spout is devoid of electronic components (sensors are only contained in the base housing; see Figs. 28-29).
Regarding claim 8, the base housing of the combined invention of Ophardt ‘942 and Ciavarella et al., as described above regarding claim 1, would have an oval shape corresponding with the elongated wall mounting base, as illustrated by Ciavarella et al. (e.g., see Figs. 17-20).
Claims 3-4 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ophardt ‘942 in view of Ciavarella et al., as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, and further in view of Woo et al. (US 2009/0308887).
Regarding claims 3-4, the combined invention of Ophardt ‘942 and Ciavarella et al. discloses the inventions of claims 1 and 2, but neither reference explicitly discloses a sensor circuit board or details of a transmitter and receiver. Ophardt ‘942 discloses that the sensor may be infrared or “any other suitable detection method” (Paragraph 0321) and Ciavarella et al. teach a similarly generic sensor (Col. 6, lines 62-64).
Woo et al. teaches a wall-mounted fluid dispenser (see Figs. 1-3) having an infrared sensor (see Paragraph 0049; Figs. 2-3) with a transmitter (172) and a receiver (174) mounted to a sensor circuit board (150) located in a base housing (102). Woo et al. teaches this arrangement as part of a system that detects an object for initiating dispensing of a fluid (Paragraph 0006).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the combined invention of Ophardt ‘942 and Ciavarella et al. with the sensor arrangement taught by Woo et al., since Woo et al. teaches that this configuration is appropriate for the intended use of detecting an object for dispensing a fluid. Since both Ophardt ‘942 and Ciavarella et al. are silent as to the details of the sensor, one having ordinary skill in the art would look to the prior art for solutions, of which Woo et al. provides a suitable example. One having ordinary skill in the art would be capable of incorporating the sensor arrangement of Woo et al. into the base housing of the combined invention with predictable results. Such a modification would meet the limitations of the instant claims as best understood by Examiner.
Regarding claims 9-10, the combined invention of Ophardt ‘942 and Ciavarella et al. discloses the invention of claim 1, but neither reference explicitly discloses an emitter and a receiver, as described above regarding claims 3-4 (as best understood by the Examiner, the “emitter” of the instant claims would be equivalent to the “transmitter” of claim 4).
As described above, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the combined invention of Ophardt ‘942 and Ciavarella et al. with the sensor configuration taught by Woo et al. since both Ophardt ‘942 and Ciavarella et al. contemplate the use of such a sensor and Woo et al. is taught as being suitable for such a use. Woo et al. further teach that one of the emitter and the receiver is angled upward and the other of the emitter and the receiver is angled downward (Paragraph 0049), and that the emitter axis and the receiver axis converge toward one another (see B and C in Fig. 1, where B represents an emission from the emitter and C represents a reflection that is detectable by the receiver; Paragraph 0049 also describes adjustment of the angle of 172 to modify the zone of detection). According to Examiner’s best understanding of the instant claims, the combined invention of Ophardt ‘942 and Ciavarella et al., modified as described in view of Woo et al., meets the limitations of the instant claims.
Claims 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ophardt (US 2008/0121660, hereinafter “Ophardt ‘660”) in view of Ciavarella et al.
Regarding claims 11-12, Ophardt ‘660 discloses a through-the-wall touch-free soap dispenser (Figs. 2-3) comprising: a liquid reservoir (27; Paragraph 0036; Fig. 5); a liquid feed conduit (63) in fluid communication with the liquid reservoir and the pump (see Fig. 5); a pump (28); a liquid conduit (29); an air conduit (33); a spout (forward extending portion of 16; see Fig. 3); a base housing (lower portion of 16; see Fig. 3); the spout extending outward from the base housing (see Fig. 3); a dispensing nozzle (46) located near an end of the spout (Fig. 4); the base housing having a lower portion (see 37 in Fig. 3); an object sensor (60) located in the lower portion; a mixing chamber (43) located in the spout (see Fig. 4); the mixing chamber having an air inlet (47) and a liquid inlet (48); the mixing chamber is in fluid communication with the liquid conduit, the air conduit and the dispensing nozzle (see Fig. 4); and control circuitry (included in 24) for receiving a signal from the object sensor and causing the pump to dispense a dose of fluid when an object is detected by the object sensor (Paragraph 0049).
Ophardt ‘660 does not explicitly disclose a base plate as claimed, or an axially extending centerline of the spout.
Ciavarella et al. teaches a similar dispenser (see Figs. 1-2) having: a base housing (436 in Fig. 15) and a base plate (434); the base plate having an opening therethrough (see hole around 452 in Fig. 15); the opening having a height and a width, wherein the height is greater than the width (Fig. 15 shows that the hole is oblong); the base housing configured to mount to the base plate (Col. 11, lines 30-56). Ciavarella et al. teach this configuration as a means to mount the dispenser to a surface (Col. 6, lines 14-18).
Ciavarella et al. further teach a spout having a curved shape similar to that shown by Ophardt ‘660 (see 422 in Fig. 15) that may also be embodied as a spout having an axially extending centerline (e.g., see the embodiment of annotated Fig. 26 below); wherein the axially extending center line is at an angle of between 80 degrees and 100 degrees to a surface of the base housing (annotated Fig. 26 below shows that the centerline would be approximately 90 degrees to the front surface of the base housing). Ciavarella et al. teach this as one of many spout embodiments that would work equally well (Col. 13, lines 4-8; see also Figs. 22, 24, 28).
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Fig. 26 of Ciavarella et al., annotated by Examiner
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the dispenser of Ophardt ‘660 with a base plate, as taught by Ciavarella et al., in order effectively and removably mount the dispenser to a surface. It would have been further obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the dispenser of Ophardt ‘660 with a spout having an axial centerline at approximately 90 degrees to a front surface of the base housing, as taught by Ciavarella et al., since Ciavarella et al. teach this type of spout as being essentially equivalent to a rounded spout for the stated purpose of dispensing a liquid. One having ordinary skill in the art would be capable of making both modifications with predictable results.
Regarding claim 13, Ophardt ‘660 further discloses that the object sensor comprises an emitter and a receiver (Paragraph 0046).
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ophardt ‘660 in view of Ciavarella et al., as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Woo et al.
The combined invention of Ophardt ‘660 and Ciavarella et al. discloses the dispenser of claim 13, but is silent regarding the particular arrangement of the emitter and receiver.
Woo et al. teaches a wall-mounted fluid dispenser (see Figs. 1-3) having an infrared sensor (see Paragraph 0049; Figs. 2-3) with an emitter (172) and a receiver (174) located along an axis (see Fig. 3), and wherein the emitter, receiver and dispensing nozzle (32) are located in a plane (see Figs. 2-3). Woo et al. teaches this arrangement as part of a system that detects an object for initiating dispensing of a fluid (Paragraph 0006).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to provide the combined invention of Ophardt ‘660 and Ciavarella et al. with the sensor arrangement taught by Woo et al., since Woo et al. teaches that this configuration is appropriate for the intended use of detecting an object for dispensing a fluid. Since both Ophardt ‘660 and Ciavarella et al. are silent as to the details of the sensor, one having ordinary skill in the art would look to the prior art for solutions, of which Woo et al. provides a suitable example. One having ordinary skill in the art would be capable of incorporating the sensor arrangement of Woo et al. into the base housing of the combined invention with predictable results. When placing the sensor arrangement of Woo et al. at the sensor location of the combined invention (i.e., on the vertical front surface of the base housing, as shown in annotated Fig. 26 of Ciavarella et al. above), the axis along which the emitter and receiver are located would be vertical, thus arriving at the claimed invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form. In particular: Limbert (US 2022/0257068), Rutter et al. (US 2015/0157754), and Pillola et al. (US 4,938,384) disclose dispensers relevant to at least the independent claims of the instant application; Albert et al. (US 4,946,070), Mok et al. (US 8,224,480), and Yang et al. (US 2008/0185399) teach sensor arrangements relevant to the dependent claims of the instant application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL C PATTERSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5558. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:00 CST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paul Durand can be reached at 571-272-4459. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL C PATTERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3754
/PAUL R DURAND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754 March 18, 2026