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 .
Response to Arguments/Amendments
This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed 2/17/2026. Claims 1-7 are pending. Claims 1, 3, and 6 have been amended.
The rejection of claims 1 and 6 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pollett (US 2021/0292961), in view of Albert et al. (US 2020/0337518), in view of Corches et al. (WO 2018/086931) and Lv et al. (US 2018/0266037) is withdrawn in response to Applicant’s amendments. Accordingly, the rejections of claims 3-5, and 7 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over combinations of Pollett, Albert, Corches, Lv, Zarcone et al. (US 2020/0270795), Mishina et al. (US 2009/0071912), Nomura (JP 2009-899247), Uz et al. (US 2007/0181156), and Heidel et al. (US 2012/0006355) are also withdrawn.
In response to Applicant’s amendments, new ground(s) of rejection are applied below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 6 recites “controlling the valve so that the discharged water flows to the outside of the washing machine through the bypass hose based on the user input received through the user interface not including a setting to use the first filter or the second filter” (emphasis added). However, there is no apparent original support for the user input not including a setting to use the first filter. At most there appears to be support for setting or not setting the second filter to be used (paragraphs 192-192; Figure 19: S150).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art does not disclose, or render obvious, a method of controlling a washing machine as recited in claim 1. There is no apparent teaching, suggestion, or motivation to modify the closest prior art, Pollett (US 2021/0292961), to further include the filter arrangement, valve, bypass hose, and steps of operating the washing machine as claimed. Also see Applicant’s Remarks filed 2/17/2026.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID G CORMIER whose telephone number is (571)270-7386. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30 - 6:00.
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DAVID G. CORMIER
Examiner
Art Unit 1711
/DAVID G CORMIER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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