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 .
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.
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, 2, 13-14, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Matsushima et al [4356965].
With respect to claim 1, Matsushima discloses: An air treatment device, comprising a housing [see FIG 1], wherein the housing is provided with an air inlet (at 1), a top of the housing is provided with a first air outlet (at 8) connected with the air inlet, and a side part of the housing is provided with a second air outlet (at 5) connected with the air inlet [see FIGs 3-4]; and the housing is provided with a sealing structure (6, 16), and the sealing structure moves relative to the housing to adjust opening and closing states of at least one of the first air outlet and the second air outlet [col 7, line 65-col 9, line 26].
Matsushima further discloses:
{cl. 2} The air treatment device according to claim 1, wherein the sealing structure moves upward and downward relative to the housing to adjust the opening and closing states of at least one of the first air outlet and the second air outlet [see FIG 1 with regard to the solid and dottle lines of dampers 6, 16].
{cl. 13} The air treatment device according to claim 1, wherein the housing is internally provided with a heating member (5), and the heating member is located in an air flow channel formed between the air inlet and the first air outlet and/or the second air outlet; and the air treatment device is a heater [see FIG 1, col 8, line 12-43].
With respect to claim 14, Matsushima discloses: An air treatment device, comprising a housing, wherein the housing is provided with an air inlet (at 1), a top of the housing is provided with an first air outlet (at 8) communicated with the air inlet, and a side part of the housing is provided with a second air outlet (at 5) communicated with the air inlet [see FIGs 3-4]; and the housing is provided with a rotary sealing member (6, 16), and the rotary sealing member moves relative to the housing to adjust opening and closing states of at least one of the first air outlet and the second air outlet [col 7, line 65-col 9, line 26].
Matsushima further discloses:
{cl. 20} The air treatment device according to claim 14, wherein the housing is internally provided with a heating member (5), and the heating member is located in an air flow channel formed between the air inlet and the first air outlet and/or the second air outlet; and the air treatment device is a heater [see FIG 1, col 8, line 12-43].
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 3, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsushima et al [4356965], further in view of Robinson [6178985].
With respect to claims 3 and 5, Matsushima discloses the invention as substantially claimed, however does not show the use of the elastic member as claimed.
Robinson makes up for these deficiencies by teaching:
{cl. 3} The air treatment device according to claim 2, wherein an elastic member (15) is arranged between the housing and the sealing structure (14, 21, 22); and a first end of the elastic member is fixed relative to the housing, and a second end of the elastic member is fixed relative to the sealing structure, which make the sealing structure move upward under an elastic force of the elastic member to open at least part of the first air outlet [see FIG 4, col 4, line 46-col 5, line 4].
{cl. 5} The air treatment device according to claim 2, wherein the sealing structure comprises a top sealing (21) member and a side sealing member (22); the top sealing member is located outside the top of the housing and moves upward and downward relative to the housing to adjust the opening and closing states of the first air outlet; and the side sealing member is located inside the housing and moves upward and downward relative to the housing to adjust the opening and closing states of the second air outlet [see FIGs 3-4, col 4, line 46-col 5, line 4].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention of Matsushima with the teachings of Robinson because Robinson provides a known sealing structure capable of controlling an outlet in order to allow proper flow of a fluid.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6-12, 15-19 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. The claims are allowed through dependency; the prior art of Matsushima or Robinson do not show the other features of the air treatment device, and modifying to incorporate the features would require impermissible hindsight reasoning. For example, Robinson shows a modification to Matsushima that would provide a sealing structure having multiple members, however having a lock is not seen in Robinson, and adding the feature would not allow the combination to work as intended.
Conclusion
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/AVINASH A SAVANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
10/4/2026
