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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 21 May 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claim 1, Applicant argues that Kitayama and Kim fail to teach or suggest the clothes care apparatus of amended claim 1. This is not persuasive because Kitayama discloses the newly added features of amended claim 1, as shown in the prior art rejection below.
Applicant further argues that “[t]he features of the clothes care apparatus allow for a self-contained spot cleaning device that greatly increases the use by a user, as well as the efficiency of the apparatus space. Applicant respectfully submits that the recited features of claim 1 are not disclosed or suggested by any of the cited references, taken either alone or in combination.” In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., a self-contained spot cleaning device… recited above) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 8-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2023-066643 A to Kitayama et al. (“Kitayama”) in view of USPGPUB 2020/0385916 to Kim et al. (“Kim”).
Regarding independent claim 1, Kitayama (in Figs. 1-5 and associated text) discloses a clothes care apparatus comprising:
a cabinet (housing 2);
a care room (clothes storage room 4) inside the cabinet and configured to accommodate clothes;
a clothes supporting member (hanger 8) detachably couplable to an upper side of the care room, and configured to support clothes;
a door (doors 2b) configured to open and close the care room; and
a spot cleaning device (cleaning head 20) on a side wall of the care room, and configured to be movable relative to the side wall (note head moving device 30) to, when the clothes supporting member is coupled to the upper side of the care room and clothes are supported by the clothes supporting member, spot clean the clothes supported by the clothes supporting member,
wherein the spot cleaning device includes:
a housing (3), and
a water supply container (40) that is detachably couplable to the housing and configured so that the water supply container is movable along with the spot cleaning device when coupled to the housing to supply water used to spot clean the clothes (see Figs. 3-4 and associated text).
Kitayama discloses the claimed clothes care apparatus with the exception of a fixing portion on a side wall of the care room and configured to fix a lower part of the clothes. Kim teaches an art-related clothes care apparatus with a cabinet and clothes treating device on a side wall of the care room, and use of a fixing portion (fixing member 243) on a side wall of the care room and configured to fix the bottom part of the clothes for the purpose of maintaining tension on the clothes to keep them flat during treatment.
Therefore, the position is taken that it would have been obvious at the time of effective filing to provide the clothes care apparatus of Kitayama with a fixing portion such as that taught in Kim to yield the same and predictable results of fixing articles of clothing during treatment.
Regarding claim 2, Kitayama further discloses wherein the clothes supporting member is configured to spray air toward the clothes supported by the clothes supporting member (note the spray head 20 of Kitayama has a configuration fully capable of the intended use of spraying air toward the clothes).
Regarding claims 3-4, Kim further discloses wherein the fixing portion includes: a bar (see Fig. 12) crossing the side wall of the care room in a horizontal direction, and a fixing member (clip 243a) configured to be movable along the bar in the horizontal direction, and to hold a portion of the clothes supported by the clothes supporting member so as to fix the portion of the clothes held by the fixing member in place (see Kim at Fig. 12), wherein the fixing member includes: a moving member (243b) configured to be movable along the bar in the horizontal direction, and a rotating member (clips 243a) coupled to the moving member (via a horizontal bar) so as to be rotatable toward and away from the moving member, and the rotating member is configured to be elastically biased in a direction toward the moving member to fix the portion of the clothes between the rotating member and the moving member (note the clips are elastically biased).
Regarding claim 5, Kitayama discloses both horizontal and vertical guides (see Fig. 4), and the combination of Kim would read on the invention as claimed.
Regarding claims 6 and 8, Kitayama further discloses wherein the spot cleaning device includes: a water sprayer configured to spray water (water is sprayed out of an opening in mesh 23b), a cleaning liquid sprayer configured to spray a cleaning liquid (cleaning liquid, e.g. water, is sprayed out of another of the openings in mesh 23b), and a suction portion (note suction space 21c) configured to intake water sprayed from the water sprayer, cleaning liquid sprayed from the cleaning liquid sprayer, and foreign material from the clothes supported by the clothes supporting member, wherein the spot cleaning device includes: a drain container (42) configured to store water, cleaning liquid, and foreign material taken in through the suction portion, and the drain container is detachably couplable to the spot cleaning device (see description of Fig. 3 disclosing the tanks being capable of being taken in and out).
Regarding claims 9-11, Kitayama further discloses a moving device (Y-axis slider 31, X-axis slider 32, and Z-axis slider 33 at p. 5, para. 6 of translation) configured to move the spot cleaning device along at least one of a first direction and a second direction intersecting the first direction on the side wall of the care room, wherein the moving device includes: a first motor configured to provide a driving force to move the spot cleaning device along the first direction, and a second motor configured to provide a driving force to move the spot cleaning device along the second direction (each slider includes a servomotor, see p. 5, para. 6 of translation), wherein the moving device includes: a frame supporting the spot cleaning device (shown in Fig. 4), a first shaft provided in the frame, the first shaft coupled to the spot cleaning device and extending longitudinally in the first direction, and a second shaft coupled to the frame and extending longitudinally in the second direction, and the spot cleaning device is configured to be movable along the first direction within the frame (see configuration in Fig. 4 showing each slider comprising shafts for guiding the sliders; also note the bracket coupling the cleaning head 20 to the slider shafts, which also reads on a “shaft”).
Regarding claim 12, Kitayama discloses plural motors to move the cleaning head in different direction but Kitayama does not expressly disclose rotating the cleaning head. However, the position is taken that it would have been obvious at the time of effective filing to modify the motors as desired to achieve the desired movement of the cleaning heads in order to clean the article of clothing.
Regarding claim 13, the spot cleaning device of Kitayama has a configuration that is fully capable of the intended use of mixing water and detergent.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitayama view of Kim, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of CN 114452417 A to Zhang et al. (“Zhang”).
Kitayama and Kim, supra, disclose the claimed invention including use of a spot cleaning head. Neither discloses use of a vibrating portion and rolling portion for cleaning. Zhang teaches an art-related clothes care cabinet utilizing a roller (27) and vibration force to press the laundry and remove impurities (see translation at p. 7, para. 2). Therefore, the position is taken that it would have been obvious at the time of effective filing to provide the clothes care apparatus in the combination of Kitayama and Kim with vibration and rollers, such as that taught in Zhang, to yield the same and predictable result of pressing and cleaning clothing.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH L PERRIN whose telephone number is (571)272-1305. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:00.
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Joseph L. Perrin, Ph.D.
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1711
/Joseph L. Perrin/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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