DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I Species D in the reply filed on 6/10/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 21 recites the limitation “moving a diverter disposed within a housing of the inline dispensing device to a first position to fluidly couple;”. It is unclear which two components are being fluidly coupled by the first position of the diverter because the limitations are not recited, rendering the claim vague and indefinite.
Claim 22 is rejected based upon its dependency upon claim 21.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 6, 21 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Boubsi WO 2020043498 A1.
In regards to Independent Claim 1, Boubsi teaches an inline dispensing device (figure 3, where it is not claimed where the device terminates along a line or what type of fluid line the device is located within), comprising: a housing (1 as well as hoses and dispenser extending to 20 in figure 3); a pump (8) disposed within the housing (as shown in figure 3) and configured to dispense an ingredient (soap 9) into a flow passing through the housing (flow from 4); and a diverter assembly (16 in figure 4) disposed within the housing (16 is part of the housing, defined as the entirety of system in figure 3), the diverter assembly including a diverter (23.4) that is movable between a first position at which activation of the pump draws the ingredient into the housing (closed position blocking 23.8, where soap is drawn from soap container 10 into body of housing with pump 8), and a second position at which activation of the pump delivers the ingredient into the flow passing through the housing (position where 23.8 is open allowing flow of soap 9 from container 10 to mix with flow of water from opening 23.7 in chamber 23.6 before exiting 20).
Regarding Dependent Claim 3, Boubsi teaches the pump is configured to operate in a suction mode when the diverter is in the first position (pump 8 will act as both a suction pump drawing fluid from tank 10, and a discharge pump discharging flow from the pump 8 through line 15.2 regardless of the position of diverter 23.4), and the pump is configured to operate in a discharge mode when the diverter is in the second position (pump 8 will act as both a suction pump drawing fluid from tank 10, and a discharge pump discharging flow from the pump 8 through line 15.2 regardless of the position of diverter 23.4).
Regarding Dependent Claim 6, Boubsi teaches a battery pack (6) disposed within the housing (as shown in figure 3) and coupled to the pump (lines extending from 6 to 11, and 11 to pump 8 in figure 3), wherein the battery pack is removable from the housing (6 is capable of being removed from casing 1 surrounding 6 is casing 1 is taken apart, where the type or ease of removal of the battery pack is not claimed).
In regards to Independent Claim 21, Boubsi teaches a method of introducing an ingredient (soap 9) into flow passing through a housing of an inline dispensing device (flow of water 4 passing through 16 of housing, where housing extends from casing 1 to the outlets 20 shown in figure 3), the method comprising: moving a diverter (23.4) disposed within a housing of the inline dispensing device (potion 16 of housing) to a first position to fluidly couple (closed position blocking 23.8, where soap is drawn from soap container 10 into body of housing with pump 8); activating a pump (pump 8) disposed within the housing to draw the ingredient into the housing when the diverter is in the first position (closed position blocking 23.8, where soap is drawn from soap container 10 into body of housing with pump 8); moving the diverter to a second position (23.4 slid with 17 in figure 4); and activating the pump to deliver the ingredient into the flow passing through the housing when the diverter is in the second position (position where 23.8 is open allowing flow of soap 9 from container 10 to mix with flow of water from opening 23.7 in chamber 23.6 before exiting 20).
Regarding Dependent Claim 22, Boubsi teaches activating the pump to draw ingredient into the housing comprises operating the pump in a suction mode (pump 8 will act as both a suction pump drawing fluid from tank 10, and a discharge pump discharging flow from the pump 8 through line 15.2 regardless of the position of diverter 23.4), and activating the pump to deliver the ingredient into the flow passing through the housing comprises operating the pump in a discharge mode (pump 8 will act as both a suction pump drawing fluid from tank 10, and a discharge pump discharging flow from the pump 8 through line 15.2 regardless of the position of diverter 23.4).
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.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boubsi as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Borod 5,409,167.
Regarding Dependent Claim 5, Boubsi teaches the invention as claimed and discussed above. However, Boubsi does not teach that the housing comprises two sections coupled to each other by a bulkhead. Borod teaches a dispensing device (10) with two housing sections (22 and 12) coupled through a bulkhead (base of 12 included threaded fastener 24 in figure 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the invention to connect the water container of Boubsi outside of the casing of Boubsi connected with threading, as taught by Borod, in order to allow visual indication of the fluid levels of the water container (Col. 3, ll. 51-57).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boubsi as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Farley 2020/0270146.
Regarding Dependent Claim 9, Boubsi teaches the invention as claimed and discussed above. However, Boubsi does not teach a filter assembly detachably coupled to the housing. Farley teaches detachably coupling a filter cartridge (21) within a housing (10) of a dispensing device (figure 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing date of the invention to couple the removable filter of Farley to the water line within the housing of Boubsi, in order to filter water passing through the device with an easily replaceable cartridge (paragraph [0012]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 ,4, 7-8 and 10-16 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: prior art fails to teach, in combination with the other limitations of dependent claim 2, the diverter is configured to move from the second position to the first position in response to engagement of a refill apparatus with the refill port; prior art fails to teach, in combination with the other limitations of dependent claim 4, a controller communicably coupled to the user interface and configured to control operation of the pump between a suction mode and a discharge mode based on inputs to the user interface; prior art fails to teach, in combination with the other limitations of dependent claim 7, the diverted disposed within the diverter housing being rotatably coupled to the diverter housing; prior art fails to teach, in combination with the other limitations of dependent claim 10, the control circuit configured to control operation of the pump between a discharge mode and a suction mode based on actuation of the single actuator; and prior art fails to teach, in combination with the other limitations of dependent claim 12, the diverter interface including a keyed interface that is engageable with the diverter assembly to actuate the diverter to change a flow direction of a liquid through the inline dispensing device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN M SUTHERLAND whose telephone number is (571)270-1902. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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/STEVEN M SUTHERLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
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