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
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 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chai et al. (CN 114027203), hereinafter Chai.
Regarding claim 1, Chai teaches of (fig. 10) an automated cat litter box (p. 2, invention is an automatic cat litter basin), comprising:
a base (base 201);
a cat litter box body (bin 10) located on the base (seen in fig. 10);
wherein the cat litter box body (10) includes a cat compartment (interior of bin 10), a litter collection space located on one side of a bottom of the cat compartment (fig. 2, space at the bottom of the cat compartment by the plate that sifts through the litter), and a waste collection compartment (compartment at opening 12 that has collecting box 20) located above the litter collection space (when the device is at its rest position, the waste collection compartment is located above the litter collection space), wherein cat litter of a certain thickness is laid on a bottom surface of the cat compartment (p. 2, cat litter having a thickness is laid on a bottom surface of the cat compartment);
the cat compartment and the litter collection space are partitioned by a waste filter (waste filter seen in fig. 1),
and a mesh for the cat litter to enter the litter collection space is provided on the waste filter (fig. 1, mesh seen on the plate for sifting through the cat litter), the cat compartment and the waste collection compartment are partitioned by a channel plate (fig. 1, flat plate by the mesh to the opening of the waste compartment on the opposite side. The rear edge of the plate is a straight line and does not follow the curve of the bin, such that the plate is a flat surface.);
a first waste collection port (opening on the channel plate next to gap 40 for moving waste from the interior of the chamber to outside of the chamber) for clumped waste to flow out is hollowed out at one end of the channel plate (seen in fig. 3);
a second waste collection port (excrement collecting port 21) is opened in the waste collection compartment at a position connected to the first waste collection port (seen in fig. 3); and
a waste compartment door is movably connected to and covered on the second waste collection port (fig. 2, bin gate 30 is movably connected to the second waste collection port 21 and is on top of the waste collection port by the edges of opening 12).
Regarding claim 7, Chai teaches of claim 1, and wherein a base pulley (fig. 11, rollers 2011) is provided at each of four corners of a contact surface (located on each corner, the bottom right corner is not seen but would be there to rotate the bin structure 100) between the base (201) and the cat litter box body (10) (seen in fig. 11).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chai et al. (CN 114027203), hereinafter Chai, in view of Neary et al. (US 6009836), hereinafter Neary, and Hu (CN 106305455).
Regarding claim 2, Chai teaches of claim 1, but does not appear to teach of wherein the bottom of the cat compartment is a silicone surface;
the cat litter is laid on the silicone surface; and an Oxford cloth is laid under the silicone surface.
Neary teaches of wherein the bottom of the cat compartment (fig. 1, shell 12) is a silicone surface (fig. 1, col. 2 lines 14-29, panel 28 is coated with silicone);
the cat litter is laid on the silicone surface (col. 1 lines 58-61, litter is laid on top of the silicone surface).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chai to incorporate the teachings of Neary and Hu of wherein the bottom of the cat compartment is a silicone surface; the cat litter is laid on the silicone surface in order to use a non-conducting coating, such as silicone, to not trap heat and electricity in the litter box as motivated by Neary.
Hu is in the field of animal devices and teaches of an Oxford cloth is laid under the surface (p. 3, base of the bed under the nest cover is preferably made of polyester oxford cloth).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chai to incorporate the teachings of Hu of an Oxford cloth is laid under the silicone surface in order to use a material that is durable and breathable for animal use and allow proper ventilation.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chai et al. (CN 114027203), hereinafter Chai, in view of Fan et al. (US 20200060221), hereinafter Fan, and Zhou et al. (CN 113854160), hereinafter Zhou.
Regarding claim 3, Chai teaches of claim 1, and an upper base of the channel plate (fig. 1, upper part of the channel plate near the waste compartment);
Chai does not appear to teach of wherein the channel plate is a plastic plate;
a plurality of pins are provided on both sides of the channel plate; and
two buckles are provided at a bottom edge of a waste compartment lid.
Fan teaches of wherein the channel plate is a plastic plate (fig. 8, ¶0068, partition 20 with non-opening section 22 is made of plastic); and a plurality of pins are provided on both sides of the channel plate (annotated fig. 1 below, tubular fasteners can be seen on the right side of the section 22, which are a plurality of pins to attach the section 22 to the walls of chamber 10. The tubular fasteners would also be on the left side to secure the section 22 to the walls).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chai to incorporate the teachings of Fan of wherein the channel plate is a plastic plate and a plurality of pins are provided on both sides of the channel plate in order to use an affordable and lightweight material and to secure the plate to the walls of the bin such that it will be secured as it rotates with the bin.
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Annotated fig. 1: Fig. 8 of Fan
Zhou teaches of two buckles are provided at a bottom edge of a lid (fig. 20, p. 12, the upper and lower ends of the box cover 82 facing the end face of the box body respectively are provided with a first plug 821 and a second plug 822, wherein the first plug 821 is inserted in the first slot 814, the second plug 822 is inserted in the second slot 815, the box cover 82 is connected to the rear end of the box body 81 by inserting and matching, There are at least two buckles 822 provided at a bottom edge of the lid 82).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chai to incorporate the teachings of Zhou of two buckles are provided at a bottom edge of a waste compartment lid in order to quickly and securely snap fit the lid.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chai et al. (CN 114027203), hereinafter Chai, in view of Matsuo et al. (US 20130098302), hereinafter Matsuo, and Lee (KR 102523903).
Regarding claim 8, Chai teaches of claim 1, but does not appear to teach of wherein the mesh of the waste filter is a polypropylene material;
the mesh has a thickness of 2 mm to 3 mm;
an outer frame of the waste filter is a material made of Polypropylene plastic; and an aperture of the mesh of the waste filter gradually decreases from top to bottom.
Matsuo teaches of wherein the mesh of the waste filter is a polypropylene material (¶0090, plastic draining board is a mesh tray made of polypropylene);
the mesh has a thickness of approximately 2 mm to 3 mm (¶0090, thickness of 3.5 mm, which is approximately close to 3 mm);
an outer frame of the waste filter is a material made of Polypropylene plastic (¶0034, the receptacle 2 and 4 are formed of polypropylene plastic).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chai to incorporate the teachings of Matsuo of wherein the mesh of the waste filter is a polypropylene material; the mesh has a thickness of 2 mm to 3 mm; an outer frame of the waste filter is a material made of Polypropylene plastic in order to use a plastic that has good moisture resistance, durability, and is cost-effective and to have a thickness that imparts good durability while keeping the mesh lightweight.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have a thickness of 2 mm to 3 mm in order to have an amount of durable material on the mesh while keeping it lightweight and space efficient, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Lee teaches of an aperture of the mesh of the waste filter gradually decreases from top to bottom (fig. 3, goes from large filtering unit 360 to medium filtering unit 340 to small filtering unit 320).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chai to incorporate the teachings of Lee of an aperture of the mesh of the waste filter gradually decreases from top to bottom in order to filter out small solids to large solids and the filtered solids roll as the rotating body rotates as motivated by Lee on p. 4.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chai et al. (CN 114027203), hereinafter Chai, in view of Liang (CN 112470951) and Northrop et al. (US 20110297096), hereinafter Northrop.
Regarding claim 9, Chai teaches of claim 1, but does not appear to teach of wherein a base roller is installed at a bottom of the base; and a cord storage compartment is provided at a rear side of the base.
Liang teaches of wherein a base roller is installed at a bottom of the base (fig. 2, wheels on the bottom of the base).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chai to incorporate the teachings of Liang of wherein a base roller is installed at a bottom of the base in order to easily move the litter box around.
Northrop teaches of (fig. 11) a cord storage compartment (¶0061, power source cavity 74 may provide an area for a direct current/alternating current adapter, power cord or the like) is provided at a rear side of the base (fig. 7, power source cavity 74 is on the rear base of the automatic filter 60).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chai to incorporate the teachings of Northrop of a cord storage compartment is provided at a rear side of the base in order to store away the power cord such that it would not be dangerous for animals and humans to trip over.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chai et al. (CN 114027203), hereinafter Chai, in view of Baxter et al. (US 20190364840), hereinafter Baxter.
Regarding claim 10, Chai teaches of claim 1, but does not appear to teach of wherein a front-to-rear length of the cat litter box body is larger than a front-to-rear length of the base; and a position of the cat litter box body protrudes forward when the cat litter box body is mounted on the base.
Baxter teaches of (fig. 1) wherein a front-to-rear length of the cat litter box body (litter device 12) is larger than a front-to-rear length of the base (base 15 not including the waste drawer 16) (fig. 1, the litter device protrudes forward and rearwards past the base 15 such that the front-to-rear length of the cat litter box body is larger than the front-to-rear length of the base); and a position of the cat litter box body protrudes forward when the cat litter box body is mounted on the base (seen in fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chai to incorporate the teachings of Baxter of wherein a front-to-rear length of the cat litter box body is larger than a front-to-rear length of the base; and a position of the cat litter box body protrudes forward when the cat litter box body is mounted on the base in order to reduce the amount of floor space the device takes up and allow space for placing objects in the space below the cat litter box body.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks pp. 1 -2, filed 5/6/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under U.S.C. 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Chai.
Applicant argued that Chai does not teach of a waste compartment door is movably connected to and covered on the second waste collection port and cites that Chai’s door 30 is most closely comparable to the waste compartment lid 44. The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
The claim merely claims for a waste compartment door is movably connected to and covered on the second waste collection port. The bin gate 30 of Chai is movably connected to the second waste collection port, at least indirectly by connecting to the edges of the opening 12, and moving from a closed to open position over the second waste collection port. The bin gate 30 is covered on the second waste collection port by being over on top of the second waste collection port 21.
Conclusion
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/ZOE TAM TRAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3647
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