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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “30” has been used to designate both warm water container and mixing section (SEE [0123]). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “20” has been used to designate both hot water pump and cold water path pump (SEE [0123]). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 (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.
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) 9 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Laging (DE 102018009377). Laging discloses an arrangement for heating a liquid (Figure 1), including an energy unit (20); a heat exchanger (21); a container (3); and a pump (42), wherein the energy unit is configured to supply the heat exchanger with thermal energy, wherein the heat exchanger is configured to transfer the thermal energy to the liquid, wherein the container is configured to receive the liquid (10), wherein the container has an opening (from mouth 41 into the container), wherein the pump is connected to the opening of the container and to the heat exchanger (from entrance 40 into pump), wherein the pump is configured to deliver liquid from the opening and/or from the heat exchanger. In re claim 16, Laging further discloses a mixing section (80); a cold water path (8) open onto the mixing section; a mixed temperature sensor (T3) configured to measure a temperature of the liquid in the mixing section (SEE Figure 3); and a control device (5) configured to control the pump (42) and/or a cold water path pump for delivering the liquid in the cold water path based on measured values of the mixed temperature sensor and a predetermined temperature range, wherein the pump (42) is configured to deliver heated liquid to the mixing section.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Deivasigamani et al (8,971,694). Deivasigamani et al discloses an arrangement (2) for heating a liquid, including an energy unit (9); a heat exchanger (8); a container (15); and a pump (28), wherein the energy unit is configured to supply the heat exchanger with thermal energy (column 8, lines 59-67), wherein the heat exchanger is configured to transfer the thermal energy to the liquid (column 8, lines 59-67), wherein the container is configured to receive the liquid, wherein the container has an opening (inherent, Figure 1, SEE line leading to the topo of container 15), wherein the pump (28) is connected to the opening of the container and to the heat exchanger (8), wherein the pump is configured to deliver liquid from the opening and/or from the heat exchanger.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laging (DE 102018009377). Laging discloses the applicants primary inventive concept as stated above including an arrangement for heating a liquid including a pump (42) for pumping liquid between a heat exchanger and a container and being controlled by a control device (5), but does not provide a teaching for an additional pump, however depending on the operating conditions it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add an additional pump using the existing control device to ensure increased operational reliability of the assembly. It has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re claim 11, Laging further teaches a temperature sensor (T2) configured to measure a temperature of the liquid heated by the heat exchanger (SEE Figure 3); and a control device (5) capable of receiving measured values of the temperature sensor and use the measured values for controlling the additional pump.
Claim(s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deivasigamani et al (8,971,694). Deivasigamani et al discloses the applicants primary inventive concept as stated above including an arrangement for heating a liquid including a pump (28) for pumping liquid between a heat exchanger (8) and a container (15) and being controlled by a control device (38), but does not provide a teaching for an additional pump, however depending on the operating conditions it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add an additional pump using the existing control device to ensure increased operational reliability of the assembly. It has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re claim 11, Deivasigamani et al teaches a temperature sensor (22) configured to measure a temperature of the liquid heated by the heat exchanger (8); and a control device (38) such that the readings from the temperature sensors would be capable of controlling the additional pump.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY A WILSON whose telephone number is (571)272-4882. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 7:00am-4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at 571-272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY A WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762 July 25, 2026
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