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 .
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 5-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mantes et al. (US Pub No 2019/0030554 A1).
Re claim 1, Mantes et al. show a backpack fluid dispenser (Fig. 1) comprising: a fluid container (6); a base (4) coupled to the fluid container, the base comprising: a housing body (26), a battery compartment (Fig. 17, 124) in the housing body for receiving a battery (32), and a motor compartment (Fig. 4, under 30 and inside 30) housing a motor (30), the motor compartment (under 30 and housing of 30) extending outside (Fig. 10) the housing body (26); a pump assembly (16) fluidly coupled with the fluid container; a support assembly (42) configured to support the fluid container, base, and pump assembly; and a dispensing assembly (10) for dispensing fluid from the container; the pump assembly being configured to pump the fluid from the fluid container to the dispensing assembly (paragraph 0066); and the battery compartment (124) is disposed below the pump assembly (16) in a vertical direction.
Re claim 2, Mantes et al. show the battery compartment (124) is disposed below the fluid container (6) in the vertical direction.
Re claim 3, Mantes et al. show the pump assembly (16) comprises a pump (16) configured to be driven by the motor (30), the motor (30) being disposed below the pump (16) in the first direction.
Re claim 5, Mantes et al. show the support assembly (42) is disposed at an inner side of the fluid container (6) and an inner side of the housing body (26).
Re claim 6, Mantes et al. show the battery compartment (124) comprising a door (76) at an outer side of the housing body (26) opposite the inner side of the housing body.
Re claim 7, Mantes et al. show the pump assembly (16) being disposed at an outer side (18) of the fluid container (6) opposite the inner side (8) of the fluid container.
Re claim 8, Mantes et al. show at least a portion of the pump assembly (16) and the fluid container (6) are adjacent each other in the vertical direction.
Re claim 9, Mantes et al. show the fluid container (6) is positioned between the support assembly (42) and the pump assembly (16).
Re claim 10, Mantes et al. show the pump assembly (16) and the dispensing assembly (10) being coupled by a hose (14) the hose extending from the pump assembly (16) at a location above the motor (30).
Re claim 11, Mantes et al. show the housing body (26) comprising an upper surface (66) configured to receive a lower surface (64) of the fluid container (6) thereon.
Re claim 12, Mantes et al. show the motor (30) extends outside (88) the housing body (26) of the base (4).
Re claim 13, Mantes et al. show a cover panel (92) configured to cover the pump assembly (16) such that the pump assembly (16) is enclosed between the housing body (26), the cover panel (92), and the fluid container (6).
Re claim 14, Mantes et al. show the base (4) comprising one or more coupling elements (see annotated figure) on an upper side of the housing body (26) and the cover panel (92) comprising one or more complementary receiving elements (98), the coupling (see annotated figure) elements being configured to couple with the receiving elements (98) to secure the cover panel (92) in place relative to the housing body (26).
PNG
media_image1.png
547
592
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Re claim 15, Mantes et al. show the motor compartment (under 30 and housing of 30) is disposed above the upper surface (66) of the housing body (26).
Re claim 16, Mantes et al. show the pump (16) is disposed in or on the motor compartment (under 30 and housing of 30).
Re claim 17, Mantes et al. show the fluid container (6) comprises an indented section (Fig. 5, above 16) configured to receive the pump assembly (16) and the motor compartment (under 30 and housing of 30).
Re claim 18, Mantes et al. show the pump assembly (16) and the motor compartment (under 30 and housing of 30) are enclosed between the fluid container (6) and the housing body (26) by an outer cover panel (92).
Re claim 19, Mantes et al. show the motor compartment (under 30 and housing of 30) and the support assembly (42) are disposed on opposite sides of the fluid container (6).
Re claim 20, Mantes et al. show at least a portion of the motor (30) is disposed adjacent to the fluid container (6) in a horizontal direction.
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mantes et al. (US Pub No 2019/0030554 A1) in view of Fontaine (US Pub No 2016/0038960 A1).
Re claim 4, Mantes et al. show the pump (16) and the motor (30) are arranged top to bottom along a common axis but do not teach the pump, the motor, and the battery compartment are arranged top to bottom along a common axis.
However, Fontaine shows a battery operated backpack sprayer (Fig. 1) with a pump (38), a motor (40), and a battery compartment (54) all arranged top to bottom along a common axis (Figs. 2 & 3).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to arrange from top to bottom, the pump, the motor, and the battery compartment along a common axis, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japiske, 86 USPQ 70. Further, no criticality is apparent for the claimed arrangement.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding applicant’s argument directed toward the Mantes reference and the newly amended language of claim 1 stipulating that the motor compartment extends outside of the housing body, as explained above and readily seen in the Mantes reference, the motor compartment is most easily seen in figure 4 as a space below element 30 but also as the housing of element 30 itself as the motor resides inside that housing. From there, a number of figures including figure 10 demonstrate the housing of element 30 extending to outside of the housing body, element 26.
In light of these remarks, all prior art rejections shall be maintained.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 STEVEN MICHAEL CERNOCH whose telephone number is (571)270-3540. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri; 8am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur Hall can be reached at (571)270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
STEVEN MICHAEL CERNOCH
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3752
/STEVEN M CERNOCH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
Prosecution Insights