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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I (Claims 1-9) and Species A (Figs 1-2 and 10-21) in the reply filed on 03/18/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 10-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention and/or species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/18/2026.
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 1-9 are 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.
Regarding claim 1, how does the “a dishwasher rack” claimed in line 2 of claim 1 relate to the “A rotatable dishwasher rack” previously claimed in line 1 of claim 1? Are they the same or is the applicant claiming 2 different racks? Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2-9 are rejected as being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
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.
Claims 1, 3-4, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bogdanski DE102018109699.
Regarding claim 1, as best understood, Bogdanski discloses a rotatable dishwasher rack (Fig 1), comprising:
a dishwasher rack (Fig 1, #2) having a housing (Fig 1, #2) with a plurality of openings (as shown in Fig 1);
a mounting frame (Fig 1, #9) with a front edge, a rear edge, and side edges;
a guideway (Fig 1, #6) coupled to said mounting frame;
a spin arm (annotated Fig 1 below) (handle) coupled to said housing (Fig 1, #2) of said dishwasher rack (Fig 1, #2), said spin arm (annotated Fig 1 below) (handle) positioned on said guideway (Fig 1, #6); and
a first plurality of wheels (Fig 1, #10) coupled to said mounting frame (Fig 1, #9).
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Regarding claim 3, Bogdanski discloses the rotatable dishwasher rack including a second plurality of wheels (Fig 1, #8) positioned on said guideway (Fig 1, #6).
Regarding claim 4, Bogdanski discloses the rotatable dishwasher rack wherein said second plurality of wheels (Fig 1, #8) are coupled to said spin arm (annotated Fig 1 above).
Regarding claim 6, Bogdanski discloses the rotatable dishwasher rack wherein said guideway (Fig 1, #6) has a flange (Fig 1, #8).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Bogdanski DE102018109699 in view of Bonar 5,546,771.
Regarding claim 2, Bogdanski has been discussed above but does not explicitly teach the rotatable dishwasher rack including a center post coupled to said mounting frame inside said guideway and a snap post coupled to said center post and said housing of said dishwasher rack.
Bonar discloses rotatable dishwasher rack (Fig 2) including a center post (Fig 2, #22) coupled to a mounting frame (annotated Fig 2 below) inside a guideway (Fig 2, #26) and a snap post (Fig 2, #16) coupled to said center post (Fig 2, #22) and a housing (Fig 2, #14) of a dishwasher rack (Fig 2, #14).
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It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to couple a center post (Bonar, Fig 2, #22) coupled to the mounting frame (Bogdanski, Fig 1, #9) inside the guideway (Bogdanski, Fig 1, #6) and couple a snap post (Bonar, Fig 2, #16) to said center post (Bonar, Fig 2, #22) and the housing (Bogdanski, Fig 1, #2) of the dishwasher rack (Bogdanski, Fig 1, #2) in order to further secure the dishwasher rack (Bogdanski, Fig 1, #2) to the mounting frame (Bogdanski, Fig 1, #9) and allow the dishwasher rack (Bogdanski, Fig 1, #2) to rotate faster or more securely.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Bogdanski DE102018109699 in view of Beck 6,571,965.
Regarding claim 8, Bogdanski has been discussed above but does not explicitly teach the rotatable dishwasher rack wherein said first plurality of wheels are positioned in a wheel housing that couples to said side edges of said mounting frame.
Beck discloses a dishwasher rack (Fig 1) comprising a first plurality of wheels (annotated Fig 1 below) are positioned in a wheel housing (Fig 1, #26) that couples to side edges (Fig 1, #27) of a frame (Fig 1, #10).
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It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the wheels (Bogdanski, Fig 1, #10) with wheels (Beck, annotated Fig 1 above) that are positioned in a wheel housing (Beck, Fig 1, #26) as taught by Beck because the substitution of one known wheel type for another would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 7, and 9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEVIN K BARNETT whose telephone number is (571)270-1159. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached at 571-272-8227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEVIN K BARNETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631