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 .
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 15-34 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.
Claim 15 recites “ wherein the locker is configured to maintain an unlocked state of the door until the drum rotates and stops”. Claim 15 also recites “wherein the locker is configured to lock the door to the cabinet based on that the executing portion is input even before the drum rotates and stops”. It is unclear how the locker maintains an unlocked state of the door until the drum rotates and stops and at the same time locks the door before the drum rotates and stops. Claim 32 recites “maintaining the locker in an unlocked state until the drum rotates and stops”. Claim 32 also recites “before the drum stops, controlling the locker to lock the door to the cabinet”. It is unclear before the drum stops, the locker is locked or unlocked.
Claim 15 recites “the power portion is input” and “the executing portion is input”. It is unclear how the power portion and the executing portion can be input because the power portion and executing portion are hardware components.
Since claims 15-31, 33-34 depend upon an indefinite claim, those claims are construed to be indefinite by dependency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ito et al. (US 6,539,753 B1) discloses a laundry treating apparatus and a method for controlling a laundry treating apparatus comprising: a cabinet 1 that defines an opening 2a (Fig. 1); a drum 10 disposed inside the cabinet 1 and configured to accommodate laundry (Fig. 1); a motor 17 connected to the drum 10 and configured to rotate the drum 10 (Fig. 1); a door 9 coupled to the cabinet 1 and configured to open and close the opening 2a (Fig. 1); a locker 28 configured to lock the door 9 to the cabinet 1 and to unlock the door 9 from the cabinet 1 (Figs. 2-6); and a power portion disposed on the cabinet to receive a command to supply power (Fig. 15); an execution portion 49 disposed on the cabinet 1 to receive an execution command to execute any one of courses (Figs. 14-15), wherein the motor 17 is configured to rotate the drum based on that the power portion is input (Fig. 7).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA J YUEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4878. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MICHAEL G HOANG can be reached at (571) 272-6460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jessica Yuen/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3762
JY
