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 .
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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 16 Jan 2026 has been entered.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lan (US 2021/0088287) in view of Jang (US 20140116541).
Regarding Claim 1, Lan discloses a fluid machine (water-cooling pump structure of Figure 1A and ¶ 1). The machine comprising:
a flow path (shown by arrows in Figure 3C) including an outflow port (see Annotated Figure A) of a fluid (water as disclosed in ¶ 28),
a first portion (see Annotated Figure A) through which the fluid flows from another side to one side in a first direction (see Annotated Figure A), and
a second portion (see Annotated Figure A) through which the fluid flows (to the one side of the first direction as seen in Annotated Figure A), the second portion being located between one end of the first portion in the first direction and the outflow port (see Annotated Figure A); and
a check valve portion (2144) movable along the first direction in the first portion (see Annotated Figure A), the check valve portion (2144) being located at a first position at which the one end is closed (Figure 3D where the one end is closed from flow in the first direction by the seat of 2144),
a second position (Figure 3C) that is located on the one side in the first direction with respect to the first position and through which the fluid circulates between the first portion and the second portion (Figure 3C), and
but fails to expressly disclose a third position at which the one end is closed and that is located on the another side in the first direction with respect to the first position; wherein an entirety of the check valve portion is located within the first portion when the check valve portion is in the third position.
Jang teaches a check valve (Figure 4) with a check valve portion (see Annotated Figure B) movable along the first direction (to the left as seen in the orientation of Annotated Figure B) in the first portion (see Annotated Figure B), the check valve portion (see Annotated Figure B) being located at a first position at which the one end is closed (see Annotated Figure B),
a second position (see Annotated Figure B) that is located on the one side in the first direction with respect to the first position and through which the fluid circulates between the first portion and the second portion (see Annotated Figure B), and
a third position (where slanted portion 24 contacts the inclined portion 13 as taught at ¶ 31) at which the one end is closed (¶ 31) and that is located on the another side in the first direction with respect to the first position (to the right as seen in the orientation of Annotated Figure B); wherein an entirety of the check valve portion (the head of the valve as seen in Annotated Figure B) is located within the first portion when the check valve portion is in the third position (where slanted portion 24 contacts the inclined portion 13 as taught at ¶ 31).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the check valve portion of Lan with the check valve portion as taught by Jang for the advantage of providing a third position so that the valve can provide a smaller surface area to initially increase the pressure needed to offset the spring bias, and subsequently provide the first position which increases the surface area of the valve portion to quickly open the valve, as taught by Jang (¶ 37).
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Annotated Figure A – Lan
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Annotated Figure B - Jang
Regarding Claim 2, Lan discloses a socket (24 attached via pipes 26 and 28) wherein an internal pressure of the second portion increases in response to connection of a plug (either 26 and 28) of the socket (24) to the socket (Figure 1B), and the check valve portion moves to the third position (taught by Parker to close the valve in the presence of back pressure as seen in Figure 1).
Regarding Claim 8, Lan discloses a cooling device (Figure 1A). The device comprising: a pipe (at least pipe 26) through which a refrigerant flows (water as disclosed in ¶ 3) and a fluid machine according to claim 1 (as discussed above).
Claim(s) 3-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lan (US 2021/0088287) in view of Jang (US 20140116541) in further view of Ramirez et al (US 11,680,621).
Regarding Claim 3, Lan discloses a second biasing portion (215) that biases the check valve portion (together 214 and 2144 shown in Figure 2C) from one side (see Annotated Figure A) to another side (see Annotated Figure A) in the first direction (see Annotated Figure A),
But fails to expressly disclose a first biasing portion that biases the check valve portion from another side to one side in the first direction.
Ramirez et al teaches a valve portion (310 in Figure 3) with a first biasing portion (324/326) that biases the valve portion (310) from another side (118) to one side (116) in the first direction (along 122); and a second biasing portion (320/322) that biases the valve portion (310) from one side (116) to another side (118) in the first direction (along 122).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the check valve portion of Lan, as modified by Jang, with the biasing portions as taught by Ramirez et al for the advantage of providing slower movement between the open and closed positions to allow for a smoother, more controlled valve movement, as taught by Ramirez et al (Col 8, lines 58-63).
Regarding Claim 4, Lan discloses where the check valve portion (together 214 and 2144 shown in Figure 2C) includes:
a valve body (214 in Figure 2C) biased by the second biasing portion (215);
a sealing portion (2144) provided on the valve body (Figure 2C); and
an abutting portion (the portion of 2141 that rests against 2144) that abuts on the sealing portion (Figure 2C about the center cutout) from another side (see Annotated Figure A) in the first direction (see Annotated Figure A) and is biased by the first biasing portion (taught by Ramirez et al at 324).
Regarding Claim 5, Ramirez et al teach where the first biasing portion (324) includes a first spring (Figure 3);
the second biasing portion (320) includes a second spring (Figure 3); and
a spring constant of the second spring (320 in Figure 3) is smaller than a spring constant of the first spring (324 in Figure 3; Col 9, line 65-Col 10, line 5).
Regarding Claim 6, Lan discloses where the check valve portion (together 214 and 2144 shown in Figure 2C) further includes a protruding portion (2141) that protrudes from another end portion in the first direction of the valve body (see Annotated Figure A) to another side in the first direction (see Annotated Figure A), and has a smaller dimension (Figure 2C) in a second direction (up and down in the orientation as seen in the Annotated Figure A) intersecting the first direction than the valve body (Annotated Figure A), and
the protruding portion (2141) includes an outer peripheral surface having a smaller dimension in the second direction toward another side in the first direction (see Annotated Figure A).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable as obvious over Lan (US 2021/0088287) in view of Jang (US 20140116541).
Regarding Claim 7, Lan, as modified by Jang, teach all essential elements of the current invention as discussed above but fails to expressly disclose where the outflow port is separated from the first portion in the second direction; and the second portion extends in the second direction between the one end and the outflow port.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the arrangement of the outflow port to be separated from the first portion in the second direction; and the second portion extends in the second direction between the one end and the outflow port since rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for doing so would be to provide an optimal arrangement of the outflow port and the second portion based on user defined criteria.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendment has overcome the rejection of record. However, a new ground of rejection is applied to the amended claims.
Conclusion
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/NICOLE GARDNER/
Examiner, Art Unit 3753