DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
Acknowledgements
This office action is in response to the communication filed 3/2/2026.
Claims 1-31 are pending, Claims 18-31 are withdrawn, and Claims 1-17 have been examined.
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 with traverse of Group I, Claims 1-17, in the reply filed on 3/2/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the application is a US National Stage application and that Groups I, II and III are drawn to a clothing treating apparatus and thus should be included in the same category of invention and examined together. This is not found persuasive because the Groups I, II and III lack unity of invention and do not share a special technical feature, as shown below.
REQUIREMENT FOR UNITY OF INVENTION
As provided in 37 CFR 1.475(a), a national stage application shall relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept (“requirement of unity of invention”). Where a group of inventions is claimed in a national stage application, the requirement of unity of invention shall be fulfilled only when there is a technical relationship among those inventions involving one or more of the same or corresponding special technical features. The expression “special technical features” shall mean those technical features that define a contribution which each of the claimed inventions, considered as a whole, makes over the prior art.
The determination whether a group of inventions is so linked as to form a single general inventive concept shall be made without regard to whether the inventions are claimed in separate claims or as alternatives within a single claim. See 37 CFR 1.475(e).
When Claims Are Directed to Multiple Categories of Inventions:
As provided in 37 CFR 1.475 (b), a national stage application containing claims to different categories of invention will be considered to have unity of invention if the claims are drawn only to one of the following combinations of categories:
(1) A product and a process specially adapted for the manufacture of said product; or
(2) A product and a process of use of said product; or
(3) A product, a process specially adapted for the manufacture of the said product, and a use of the said product; or
(4) A process and an apparatus or means specifically designed for carrying out the said process; or
(5) A product, a process specially adapted for the manufacture of the said product, and an apparatus or means specifically designed for carrying out the said process.
Otherwise, unity of invention might not be present. See 37 CFR 1.475 (c).
Restriction is required under 35 U.S.C. 121 and 372.
This application contains the following inventions or groups of inventions which are not so linked as to form a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1.
In accordance with 37 CFR 1.499, applicant is required, in reply to this action, to elect a single invention to which the claims must be restricted.
Group I. Claims 10-17, drawn to a clothing treatment apparatus, classified in D06F 39/40.
Group II. Claims 18-21, drawn to a clothing treatment apparatus, classified in D06F 39/40.
Group III. Claims 22-24 drawn to a clothing treatment apparatus, classified in D06F 39/40.
Group IV. Claims 25-27 drawn to a control method, classified in D06F 33/34.
Group V. Claims 28-31 drawn to a control method, classified in D06F 33/34.
The groups of inventions listed above do not relate to a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1 because, under PCT Rule 13.2, they lack the same or corresponding special technical features for the following reasons:
Groups I, II, III, IV and V lack unity of invention because even though the inventions of these groups require the technical feature of a clothing treatment apparatus comprising a cabinet, an accommodation part disposed inside the cabinet and configured to accommodate an object, and a steam generation device disposed outside the object accommodation part and configured to generate steam to be supplied to the object accommodation part, wherein the steam generation device comprises: a housing configured to receive steam water and to form a heating space; a cover configured to cover the heating space; a first heater configured to preheat the steam water at a first water level or to heat the steam water, thereby generating steam; and a second heater configured to heat steam water at a second water level higher than the first water level, thereby generating steam, or to heat the steam generated at the first water level in a space between the first water level and the second water level, thereby generating overheated steam, this technical feature is not a special technical feature as it does not make a contribution over the prior art in view of Kim (KR20090118217A) (cited by Applicant). Kim teaches the shared limitations as shown in the rejection to claim 1 below. As such, Groups I to V lack unity of invention.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 18-31 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 3/2/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (KR 2009/0118217 A) (cited by Applicant) (machine translation attached).
Re claim 1, Kim discloses a clothing treatment apparatus (abstract) comprising a cabinet (ref. 100, see fig. 1), an accommodation part (ref. 400) disposed inside the cabinet and configured to accommodate an object, and a steam generation device (ref. 600) disposed outside the object accommodation part and configured to generate steam to be supplied to the object accommodation part (see fig. 1), wherein the steam generation device comprises:
a housing (ref. 612 see fig. 2; see also fig. 12 ref. 720, 740, 730, 710) configured to receive steam water and to form a heating space (via ref. 630 heater);
a cover (ref. 710) configured to cover the heating space;
a first heater (ref. 630 or 754) configured to preheat the steam water at a first water level or to heat the steam water, thereby generating steam; and
a second heater (ref. 631 see fig. 9; see also fig. 1 ref. 650 reheating device; see also fig. 12 ref. 730 heat exchanger) configured to heat steam water at a second water level higher than the first water level (see fig. 9 overheated steam chamber 645 may be part of the upper portion of the steam chamber; see also fig. 12 level of ref. 720, 754 lower than heat exchanger 730), thereby generating steam, or to heat the steam generated at the first water level in a space between the first water level and the second water level, thereby generating overheated steam.
Re claims 2-4, wherein the steam generation device further comprises a water level sensing unit (ref. 620) configured to sense the first water level and the second water level of steam water supplied to the heating space. wherein the water level sensing unit comprises a first water level electrode configured to sense the first water level, and a second water level electrode configured to sense the second water level (see fig. 2 refs. 622, 624 or 626). wherein the first heater preheats and heats the steam water of the first water level in accordance with water level sensing of the first water level electrode and the second heater heats the steam water of the second water level in accordance with water level sensing of the second water level electrode, thereby generating steam (p. 3 ¶ 4, 11 low water level electrode and high water level electrode ).
Re claim 5, wherein: the steam generation device further comprises a temperature sensor (ref. 614) configured to sense an internal temperature of the heating space, thereby sensing generation of steam (the water is heated as described above by measuring the temperature inside the steam generator 610 by the temperature sensor 614); and the second heater heats steam over the first water level in accordance with steam sensing of the temperature sensor, thereby generating overheated steam (a temperature of 120 ℃ or more as described above is sprayed into the drum).
Re claims 6-9¸ wherein the steam generation device further comprises: a lower barrier wall (body housing of ref. 610 see fig. 2) configured to form a movement path of the steam generated at the first water level; and an upper barrier wall disposed over the second heater and configured to form a movement path of the steam together with the lower barrier wall (see fig. 9 upper barrier wall formed at upper portion of ref. 612) (also consider lower barrier wall of 720 and upper barrier wall 740 see fig. 12). wherein the second heater is disposed between the lower barrier wall and the upper barrier wall and heats the steam moving between the lower barrier wall and the upper barrier wall, thereby generating overheated steam (see fig. 9 and fig. 12). wherein each of the lower barrier wall and the upper barrier wall is formed with a plurality of through holes configured to diffuse the steam and the overheated steam (see fig. 9 hole at 616, and 634)(see also fig. 12 holes 755, 741, 743, 731). wherein the lower barrier wall is provided at the housing such that one side thereof is opened, and the upper barrier wall is provided at the housing such that another side thereof is opened, to form the movement path of the steam generated at the first water level (see fig. 9 left to right steam movement; see fig. 12 bottom to top steam movement).
Re claims 10-17, Independent claim 10 defines over the above rejections only in the recitation of a water level sensing unit configured to sense a first water level and a second water level of steam water supplied to the heating space, the second water level being higher than the first water level, and the first heater configured to heat steam water below the first water level. Kim further discloses the water level sensing unit (ref. 620) and the first water level and the second water level of steam water (see fig. 2 refs. 622, 624 or 626); and the first heater below the water level (see fig. 2 ref. 630 below refs. 622, 624). Re claims 11-17, Dependent claims 11-17 recite limitations rejected above over Kim and are therefore fully satisfied by Kim.
Conclusion
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KEVIN G. LEE
Examiner
Art Unit 1711
/KEVIN G LEE/Examiner, Art Unit 1711