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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/15/2026 has been entered.
By way of this response, claims 1, 3, 7 and 9-10 have been amended, claims 8 and 13 have been cancelled without prejudice to their further prosecution and claim 14 has been added. Claims 1-7, 9-12, and 14 are pending for consideration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-7, filed on 04/15/2026, with respect to the rejection of the amended claims 1 and 7 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn.
However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Svejnoha et al. as indicated in the below rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6-7, 9-10, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Svejnoha et al. (US 2018/0107231).
With regards to claim 1:
Svejnoha et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 1 and 2 below) a pressure independent control valve (10) comprising:
a valve body (18) comprising a fluid inlet (12) having a first pressure and a fluid outlet (12) having a third pressure,
a fluid path (14, 15, 17, 16) between the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet, the fluid path having a second pressure;
a pressure differential control comprising a hollow piston (28), a first chamber (15) in fluid communication with the fluid inlet (12), and a second chamber (16) separate from the first chamber and in fluid communication with the fluid outlet (13);
a fluid path pressure sensor (20) configured to measure the second pressure; and
a sleeve (21) inserted within the valve body comprising a first fluid channel (36) extending between the fluid outlet (13) and the second chamber (16) to transfer fluid between the fluid outlet and the second chamber;
wherein the hollow piston (28) defines a second fluid channel (gap between the hollow piston (28) and the valve seat (33)) which extends through the hollow piston to transfer fluid from the fluid inlet (12) to the first chamber (15).
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Fig. 1
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Fig. 2
With regards to claim 2:
Svejnoha et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 3 below) the pressure independent control valve according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve further comprising a third fluid channel (not shown) extending between the fluid path and the fluid path pressure sensor to guide fluid from the fluid path to the fluid path pressure sensor (20).
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Fig. 3
With regards to claim 3:
Svejnoha et al. discloses (refer to Fig. 3 above and [0033]) the pressure independent control valve according to claim 1,
the sleeve (21) comprising a fourth fluid channel (not shown) extending between the fluid outlet (13) and a fluid outlet pressure sensor (20) to guide fluid from the fluid outlet to the fluid outlet pressure sensor;
the sleeve (21) further comprising a fifth fluid channel (not shown) extending between the fluid inlet (12) and a fluid inlet pressure sensor (20) to guide fluid to flow from the fluid inlet to the fluid inlet pressure sensor.
With regards to claim 6:
Svejnoha et al. discloses a fluid system comprising:
the pressure independent control valve according to claim 1;
a first fluid pipe (not pipe) coupled to the fluid inlet of the pressure independent control valve; and
a second fluid pipe (not shown) coupled to the fluid outlet of the pressure independent control valve.
With regards to claim 7:
In making and/or using the device of Svejnoha et al., one would necessarily perform a method of distributing fluid pressure in a pressure-independent control valve, the method comprising:
guiding fluid to flow from a fluid outlet (13) to the chamber (15, 16) via the first fluid channel (36) of an inserted sleeve (21);
wherein the fluid outlet has a third pressure;
guiding fluid to flow from a fluid inlet (12) to the first chamber (15) via the second fluid channel (35, and the gap between the piston (28) and the valve seat (33) defined by a hollow piston (28) of the pressure independent control valve, wherein the fluid inlet has a first pressure;
guiding fluid to flow from a fluid path to a fluid path pressure sensor (20) via a third fluid channel (not shown) formed in the inserted sleeve (21); and
monitoring the fluid pressure of the fluid path using the fluid path pressure sensor (20).
With regards to claim 9:
Svejnoha et al. discloses the method according to claim 7,
guiding fluid to flow from the fluid outlet (12) to the fluid outlet pressure sensor (20) via the fourth channel of the inserted sleeve (21);
monitoring the fluid pressure of the fluid outlet using the fluid outlet pressure sensor (20);
guiding fluid to flow from the fluid inlet (12) to a fluid inlet pressure sensor (20) via the fifth channel (not shown) of the inserted sleeve (21); and
monitoring the fluid pressure of the fluid inlet using the fluid inlet pressure sensor (20).
With regards to claim 10:
Svejnoha et al. discloses the pressure independent control valve according to claim 2,
the sleeve (21) comprising a fourth fluid channel (not shown) extending between the fluid outlet (13) and a fluid outlet pressure sensor (20) to guide fluid from the fluid outlet to the fluid outlet pressure sensor;
the sleeve (21) further comprising a fifth fluid channel (not shown) extending between the fluid inlet (12) and a fluid inlet pressure sensor (20) to guide fluid to flow from the fluid inlet to the fluid inlet pressure sensor.
With regards to claim 14:
Svejnoha et al. discloses the pressure independent control valve according to claim 1, wherein the first chamber (15) and the second chamber (16) are separated by a diaphragm (30).
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.
Claim(s) 4-5, and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Svejnoha et al..
With regards to claims 4 and 11:
Svejnoha et al. discloses the pressure independent control valve according to claim 1 and 2 (see rejected claims 1 and 2 above), except the sleeve comprises a plastic material. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the sleeve of the pressure independent control valve of Svejnoha et al. from plastic material which is commonly used for valve, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination in Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945).
With regards to claims 5 and 12:
Svejnoha et al., as modified, discloses the pressure independent control valve according to claim 1 and 2 wherein the sleeve comprises a plastic material, except the sleeve is manufactured by an injection moulding technique. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the injection moulding technique to manufacture the sleeve of the pressure independent control valve of Svejnoha et al., since it was known in the art that injection moulding technique is commonly used to manufacturing plastic parts.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Minh Le, whose telephone number is 571-270-3805. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (8:30AM-5:00PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881 or Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MINH Q LE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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