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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show plural blowers or plural blowers arranged in parallel as described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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 under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the fail to show plural blowers or plural blowers arranged in parallel as claimed in claims 7-8 and 14-15 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
Claims 1-3 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0132838, hereafter referred to as ‘Cella Mazzariol.’ Regarding claim 1, Cella Mazzariol teaches an air purifier (figures 1-3b) comprising: a blower 5 which selectively supplies air in a first direction (sucking direction F1, F3, para. #’s 37 and 40) or in a second direction (blowing direction F2, F4, para. #’s 37 and 40) opposite to the first direction based on forward/reverse rotation (as broadly claimed, the blowing of air is the forward direction and the sucking air would be reverse direction); a first air vent 7a located on a first direction side of the blower 5 (see fig. 1 and para. #’s 32-52); a second air vent 7b located on a second direction side of the blower 5 (fig. 1); a purification filter 200 located on an upstream side of the second air vent 7a based on the second direction (F2, F4); a third air vent (15 or 17) located on an upstream side of the blower 5 (fig. 1) based on the first direction (sucking direction F1, F3, para. #’s 37 and 40); and a damper (19, 21) which opens/closes the third air vent (15, 17, see figures 2a-2b and para. #’s 33-45).
Regarding claim 2, Cella Mazzariol teaches the air purifier of claim 1. Cella Mazzariol further teaches a controller configured to selectively drive the blower 5 in the first direction and the second direction (inherently, a controller would be used to electrically drive the blower/fan so that the blower can switch air flow in the first direction and the second direction by dampers 19, 21), respectively, in an air blowing mode and an air purification mode (para. #’s 32-45).
Regarding claim 3, Cella Mazzariol teaches the air purifier of claim 1. Cella Mazzariol further teaches the damper opens the third air vent by a blowing pressure when the blower 5 is driven in the first direction (para. #’s 32-45).
Regarding claim 5, Cella Mazzariol teaches the air purifier of claim 1. Cella Mazzariol further teaches the third air vent is located on a downstream side of the purification filter 200 based
on the first direction (para. #’s 32-45).
Regarding claim 6, Cella Mazzariol teaches the air purifier of claim 1. Cella Mazzariol further teaches wherein the third air vent 15 is located on an upstream side of the blower 5 based on the first direction (para. #’s 32-45).
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.
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cella Mazzariol in view of JP-H01168316. Regarding claims 7-8, Cella Mazzariol teaches the air purifier of claim 1. However, Cella Mazzariol fails to explicitly teach a plurality of blowers and/or the plurality of blowers are arranged parallel to each other.
JP-H01168316 teaches an air purifier comprising a fan provided at both sides of the cylindrical housing 13 and houses a fan block 15 (Fig. 4B; pg. 1, lines 17-23), air is drawn into the inlet 4 of a first fam 20 and divided into two parts inside the housing 13 and discharged from the exhaust port 17 (pg. 1, lines 24-27) (i.e., configured to blow air from the inlet in a first direction). The fan block 15 is provided at both sides of the cylindrical housing 13 and houses a second fan 20 (Fig. 4B; pg. 1, lines 17-23) (i.e., second air blower), air is drawn into the inlet 4 and divided into two parts inside the housing 13 and discharged from the exhaust port 17 (pg. 1, lines 24-27) (i.e., configured to blow air from the inlet in a second direction opposite to the first direction). The plurality of fans or blowers 20 are arranged parallel to each other (see for example, fig. 4b).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention to modify the air purifier of Cella Mazzariol to include a plurality of blowers and/or a plurality of blowers arranged parallel to each other as taught by JP-H01168316 in order to more efficiently control the air flow of the air purifier of Cella Mazzariol.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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.
Claims 9-15 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Takeuchi ‘689, Palmer ‘277 and Chu ‘521 (same assignee and common inventors) all disclose ventilators which are similar to applicant’s invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS M SEMBER whose telephone number is (571)272-2381. The examiner can normally be reached flexing generally from 7 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ABDULMAJEED Aziz can be reached at 571-270-5046. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THOMAS M SEMBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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