DETAILED ACTION
Claim(s) 2-21 are pending for consideration following applicant’s preliminary amendment filed 9/16/2024.
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 Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: “configured to be in fluid with a domestic water tank” (line 2) should be “configured to be in fluid communication with a domestic water tank”. Appropriate correction is required.
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 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.
Claim(s) 2, 3, 10, 11, 18, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Beauseigneur et al. (WO 2016/170247; attached with machine translation).
Regarding Claim 2, Beauseigneur discloses a sink applied to a system for recovering and reusing graywater (as shown in Figure 1), the sink comprising: a sink body 12 (i.e. the body comprising the sink therein in the same manner as achieved by applicant’s device), comprising a water basin 10 located at an upper part of the sink body 12 (as shown in Figure 1) and a cavity located at a lower part of the sink body 12 (cavity below 10 as shown in Figure 1 to accommodate the plumbing arrangement including the deflection member 4), wherein the water basin 10 comprises a water outlet (water outlet at the lower end of 10 as shown in Figure 1 which feeds the pipe leading to deflection member 4) configured to be connected to a sewer (via evacuation network 11); a sink graywater recovery pipeline (the pipeline connecting the deflection member 4 with the tank 3) configured to be connected to the water outlet (connected to the water outlet via the deflection member 4 and pipe between the water outlet of 10 and the deflection member 4); a washing device 62 (hand shower 62 provides a washing device as claimed) configured to be connected to the sink graywater recovery pipeline (62 connected to the sink graywater recover pipeline via the tank 3); and a switching device 4 configured to switch between the sewer (as shown in Figure 2) and the sink graywater recovery pipeline (as shown in Figure 3); wherein when the switching device 4 opens the sewer and closes the sink graywater recovery pipeline (as shown in Figure 2), the graywater is led into the sewer and discarded (via 11), and wherein when the switching device 4 opens the sink graywater recovery pipeline and closes the sewer (as shown in Figure 3), the graywater is led into the washing device 62 (via tank 3).
Regarding Claim 3, Beauseigneur further discloses, wherein the sewer (sewer connected to the outlet of 11) and the sink graywater recovery pipeline (pipeline connected to the inlet of tank 3) are configured to be connected to the water outlet (outlet of basin 10) via a drainage pipeline (drainage pipeline connecting the outlet of 10 with the deflection member 4), wherein the drainage pipeline comprises a first end (upper end of the pipe between 10 and 4) configured to be connected to the water outlet (outlet of 10) and comprises a second end (lower end of the pipe between 10 and 4) configured to be connected to the sewer and the sink graywater recovery pipeline (via the deflection member 4), and wherein the switching device 4 is disposed on the drainage pipeline (as described above).
Regarding Claim 10, Beauseigneur discloses a system for recovering and reusing graywater generated from a sink (as shown in Figure 1), the system comprising: the sink comprising: a sink body 12 (i.e. the body comprising the sink therein in the same manner as achieved by applicant’s device), comprising a water basin 10 located at an upper part of the sink body 12 (as shown in Figure 1) and a cavity disposed at a lower part of the sink body 12 (cavity below 10 as shown in Figure 1 to accommodate the plumbing arrangement including the deflection member 4), wherein the water basin 10 comprises a water outlet (water outlet at the lower end of 10 as shown in Figure 1 which feeds the pipe leading to deflection member 4) configured to be connected to a sewer (via evacuation network 11); a sink graywater recovery pipeline (the pipeline connecting the deflection member 4 with the tank 3) configured to be connected to the water outlet (connected to the water outlet via the deflection member 4 and pipe between the water outlet of 10 and the deflection member 4); a washing device 62 (hand shower 62 provides a washing device as claimed) configured to be connected to the sink graywater recovery pipeline (62 connected to the sink graywater recover pipeline via the tank 3); and a switching device 4 configured to switch between the sewer (as shown in Figure 2) and the sink graywater recovery pipeline (as shown in Figure 3); and a controller (including actuator 5 having foot pedal 50 to control recovery of graywater and/or the valve on device 62 to control reuse of the graywater) configured to control recovery and reuse of the graywater collected from the sink, wherein when the switching device 4 opens the sewer and closes the sink graywater recovery pipeline (as shown in Figure 2), the graywater is led into the sewer and discarded (via 11), and wherein when the switching device 4 opens the sink graywater recovery pipeline and closes the sewer (as shown in Figure 3), the graywater is led into the washing device 62 (via tank 3).
Regarding Claim 11, Beauseigneur further discloses, wherein the sewer (sewer connected to the outlet of 11) and the sink graywater recovery pipeline (pipeline connected to the inlet of tank 3) are configured to be connected to the water outlet (outlet of basin 10) via a drainage pipeline (drainage pipeline connecting the outlet of 10 with the deflection member 4), wherein the drainage pipeline comprises a first end (upper end of the pipe between 10 and 4) configured to be connected to the water outlet (outlet of 10) and comprises a second end (lower end of the pipe between 10 and 4) configured to be connected to the sewer and the sink graywater recovery pipeline (via the deflection member 4), and wherein the switching device 4 is disposed on the drainage pipeline (as described above).
Regarding Claim 18, when making and using the device of Beauseigneur, Beauseigneur necessarily discloses a method for recovering and reusing graywater from a sink applied to a system for recovering and reusing graywater (as shown in Figure 1), the method comprising: delivering graywater from a water outlet of a water basin 10 (water outlet at the lower end of 10 as shown in Figure 1) to a drainage pipeline (drainage pipeline connecting the outlet of 10 with the deflection member 4); supplying, by a switching device 4, the graywater from the water outlet to a sewer (via evacuation network 11) or a sink graywater recovery pipeline (the pipeline connecting the deflection member 4 with the tank 3); and delivering the graywater from the sink graywater recovery pipeline to a washing device 62 (hand shower 62 provides a washing device as claimed) when the switching device 4 supplies the graywater from the water outlet to the sink graywater recovery pipeline (during normal use of the device, the system delivers graywater to the washing device 62 when the switching device 4 supplies graywater to the sink graywater recovery pipeline leading to tank 3).
Regarding Claim 19, Beauseigneur further discloses controlling, by a pedal device 50, the switching device 4 to switch between leading the graywater into the sewer (as shown in Figure 2) and leading the graywater into the washing device (via the tank 3; as shown in Figure 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9, 12-17, 20, and 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Warsowe et al. (US Patent 9,644,354) and Warsowe (US Patent 8,307,851) teach pedal actuated flow control devices. Vennam et al. (US Patent 10,754,357) teaches a diverter of water from a sink between a normal drain and a gray water drain. Borg et al. (US Patent 8,607,377) teaches a reservoir within a vanity to store grey water. Hall et al. (US Patent Application 2018/0020889) teaches a movable enclosure 408 which may be used as a washing device for feet (Figure 4).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN MURPHY whose telephone number is (571)270-5243. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8am-4pm.
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, Craig Schneider can be reached on (571) 272-3607. 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.
/KEVIN F MURPHY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753