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 .
Status
This Office Action is in response to the remarks and amendments filed on 4/27/2026. The 35 USC 112 rejections have been withdrawn. Claims 2-7, 9-17, 19-23 remain pending for consideration on the merits.
Drawings
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 “a fixing part at a surface of the water supply part, the fixing part being configured to couple to the casing” and “the fixing part comprises a fixing protrusion” 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.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required: “a fixing part at a surface of the water supply part, the fixing part being configured to couple to the casing” and “the fixing part comprises a fixing protrusion”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 2-7, 9-13, 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
In claims 2, 4, and 10, applicant has added the limitation ““a fixing part at a surface of the water supply part, the fixing part being configured to couple to the casing” in claim 2 and “the fixing part comprises a fixing protrusion” in claim 4 and “the fixing part comprises a fixing hook” in claim 10. Paragraphs 0151-0173 of the published application described the fixing protrusion 191 and fixing hook 194 but there is nothing in the originally filed claims, specification or drawings to support this newly added limitation of “a fixing part”. Thus, the newly added limitation is deemed to be NEW MATTER.
Claims 3, 5-7, 9, 11-13, 20-21are rejected based on dependency from a rejected claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7, 9-13, 20-21 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.
Claims 14-17, 19, 22-23 are allowed.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 2, the subject matter which is considered to distinguish from the closest prior art of record, Ishimizu et al (US 20200003470) in view of Son (US 20130081412). The prior art of record teaches a water supply part and an extension part in contrast to the claimed features of the water supply part provides a fixing part at a surface of the water supply part, the fixing part being configured to couple to the casing.
Regarding claim 14, the subject matter which is considered to distinguish from the closest prior art of record, Ishimizu et al (US 20200003470) in view of Son (US 20130081412). The prior art of record teaches a water supply part and an extension part in contrast to the claimed features of an extension part extending from the plate in a direction away from a surface of the plate, and wherein the extension part comprises a first cavity recessed from a side where the water supply part is disposed.
Regarding claim 19, the subject matter which is considered to distinguish from the closest prior art of record, Ishimizu et al (US 20200003470) in view of Son (US 20130081412). The prior art of record teaches an extension part in contrast to the claimed features of wherein a vertical extension part vertically extending from the plate, and wherein the water supply part is coupled to the vertical extension part.
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 ELIZABETH J MARTIN whose telephone number is (571)270-3840. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-3:00 CT pm M-F.
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, Jerry-Daryl Fletcher can be reached at (571) 270-5054. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ELIZABETH J MARTIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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