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 .
Claims 1 and 3-10 are currently pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1 and 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jian et al. (CN 115140874 A), hereafter referred to as “Jian” in view of Blake (US 5407563 A), hereafter referred to as “Blake”.
Regarding claim 1, Jian teaches a pet water dispenser (figs. 1-12), comprising:
a water storage tray (212, 213; figs. 1-2);
a filter rack (22; fig. 1), wherein the filter rack is located below the water storage tray (fig. 1), the filter rack is formed with a filter structure (2216; fig. 3; see also fig. 1), and the filter structure is configured to receive and filter water overflowing from the water storage tray (water flows from 212, 213 through 2121, and through the openings of 2216; figs. 1 and 3);
filter cotton (2223; fig. 6 and machine translation at paragraph [n0053]), wherein a filtration precision of the filter structure is less than a filtration precision of the filter cotton (figs. 1 and 6 showing that the openings of 221 is greater than that of element 2223), and the filter cotton is configured to re-filter water filtered by the filter structure (machine translation, paragraph [n0053]);
a water tank (1, 4; figs. 1, 6, 11-12) located below the filter cotton (figs. 1 and 6, where element 2223 lies within element 222; machine translation, paragraph [n0053]); and
a water pump (31) configured to pump water within the water tank to the water storage tray (machine translation, paragraph [n0005] and fig. 1);
wherein the filter rack is provided with a plurality of through holes (openings of 2216; fig. 3) extending through the filter rack from a side of the water storage tray to a side of the filter cotton (figs. 1 and 3-4), the plurality of through holes form the filter structure (figs. 3-4), each of the plurality of through holes having an inlet end (upper surface shown in fig. 3) adjacent to the water storage tray (fig. 1) and an outlet end (lower surface shown in fig. 4) adjacent to the filter cotton (figs. 1, 4, and 6), but does not explicitly teach that each of the plurality of holes is a tapered hole, and a diameter of the inlet end is smaller than a diameter of the outlet end.
Blake teaches a liquid filtering device (figs. 1-5) including a filter rack (1) with a plurality of tapered holes (2; fig. 2a), where a diameter of an inlet end (D1; fig. 2a) is smaller than a diameter of an outlet end (D2; fig. 2a).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pet water dispenser of Jian, such that each of the plurality of holes is a tapered hole, and a diameter of the inlet end is smaller than a diameter of the outlet end, as taught by Blake, in order to alleviate clogging of the filter (col. 4, lines 39-40 of Blake).
Regarding claim 3, Jian in view of Blake teaches the pet water dispenser according to claim 1, and Jian further teaches that the water storage tray (212, 213) is provided with a water overflow outlet (2121; figs. 1 and 9), and the water overflow outlet is higher than a lowest position of an inner wall of the water storage tray (fig. 9).
Regarding claim 4, Jian in view of Blake teaches the pet water dispenser according to claim 3, and Jian further teaches that the filter rack (22) is inclined with respect to a horizontal direction (fig. 9), and a first end of the filter rack close to the water overflow outlet (2121) is higher than a second end of the filter rack far away from the water overflow outlet (fig. 9 showing that the right side of 22 is closer to 2121 than the left side of 22).
Regarding claim 5, Jian in view of Blake teaches the pet water dispenser according to claim 1, and Jian further teaches that the water storage tray (212, 213) is disposed on a top of the water tank (1, 4; fig. 1 and 9), and the filter rack (22) and the filter cotton (2223) are disposed within the water tank (figs. 1 and 9; note element 2223 is placed within element 222; machine translation, paragraph [n0053]).
Regarding claim 6, Jian in view of Blake teaches the pet water dispenser according to claim 5, and Jian further teaches that the water storage tray (212, 213) is detachably connected to the water tank (1; fig. 5), the filter rack (22) is detachably connected to the water tank (fig. 5), and a handle (221; fig. 5) protrudes from one side of the filter rack facing the water storage tray (fig. 5).
Claims 7 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jian in view of Blake as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Wang (US 20210144964 A1), hereafter referred to as “Wang”.
Regarding claim 7, Jian in view of Blake teaches the pet water dispenser according to claim 5, and Jian further teaches that the water tank (1, 4) comprises a lower housing (4) having a top opening (figs. 11-12 showing 4 with an opening that receives 1) and an upper cover (211) mounted onto the lower housing to seal the top opening (machine translation, paragraph [n0060]), and the water storage tray (212, 213) is mounted onto the upper cover (fig. 1); and
the upper cover is provided with a water inlet channel (2111, 2112; fig. 1), a first end of the water inlet channel horizontally aligned with the water storage tray (2111 is horizontally aligned with 213 of the water storage tray; figs. 1 and 10), a water outlet of the water pump (31; fig. 9 showing outlet of 31) is connected to a water pipe (32; fig. 9), and a water outlet of the water pipe (upper end of 32 that attaches to 2112; fig. 9) communicates with the water inlet channel (fig. 9), but does not explicitly teach that the first end of the water inlet channel horizontally extends into the water storage tray.
Wang teaches a pet water dispenser (figs. 1-6) including an upper cover (4; figs. 2-4) provided with a water inlet channel (1), in which a first end of the water inlet channel (19, 21) horizontally extends into a water storage tray (42; figs. 2-4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pet water dispenser of Jian in view of Blake, such that the first end of the water inlet channel horizontally extends into the water storage tray, as taught by Wang, in order to provide a greater water flowing effect as it is well known in the art that flowing water increases a pet’s desire to drink water (see, for example, US 8770147 B2 at col. 1, lines 28-44).
Regarding claim 9, Jian in view of Blake teaches the pet water dispenser according to claim 7, and Jian further teaches a filter element rack (2217; fig. 5), wherein the filter element rack is located under the filter cotton (2223, which is placed within 222; fig. 1), a placement cavity (cavity formed between 222 and 2214 in fig. 1; see also fig. 9 showing the cavity between elements 22 and 2213 in fig. 9) is formed between the filter element rack and the filter cotton (figs. 1 and 9), and the placement cavity is configured to place a charcoal pack (figs. 1 and 9 showing a cavity that would be capable of receiving a charcoal pack).
Regarding claim 10, Jian in view of Black and Wang teaches the pet water dispenser according to claim 9, and Jian further teaches that element 2216 further comprises a support rack (fig. 2 showing extended walls from the bottom of element 21), the support rack is connected to the lower housing (1; fig. 1), a circumferential edge of the filter element rack (side walls of 2217; fig. 5) is provided with a support flange (301; fig. 5), an inner wall of the support rack is provided with a support surface (fig. 2), the support surface is configured to support the support flange (machine translation, paragraph [n0049]), and a circumferential edge of the filter rack presses a circumferential edge of the filter cotton against an upper surface of the support flange (machine translation, paragraph [n0049], where elements 2216 and 2217 are set in place by their attachment to element 21, but does not explicitly teach that the water tank further comprises a support rack, the support rack is connected to the lower housing, a circumferential edge of the filter element rack is provided with a support flange, an inner wall of the support rack is provided with a support surface, the support surface is configured to support the support flange, and a circumferential edge of the filter rack presses a circumferential edge of the filter cotton against an upper surface of the support flange.
Wang further teaches that a water tank (4, 7) further comprises a support rack (41 and protruding elements as described in paragraph [0047]; fig. 2), the support rack is connected to a lower housing (paragraph [0039]), a circumferential edge of the filter element rack (5) is provided with a support flange (fig. 5 showing 51 provided along the perimeter), an inner wall of the support rack is provided with a support surface (inner surface of protruding element of 4 as described in paragraph [0047]), the support surface is configured to support the support flange (paragraph [0047]), and a circumferential edge of the filter rack presses (5) a circumferential edge of the filter cotton against an upper surface of the support flange (figs. 4 and 6)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pet water dispenser of Jian in view of Blake and Wang, such that the water tank further comprises a support rack, the support rack is connected to the lower housing, a circumferential edge of the filter element rack is provided with a support flange, an inner wall of the support rack is provided with a support surface, the support surface is configured to support the support flange, and a circumferential edge of the filter rack presses a circumferential edge of the filter cotton against an upper surface of the support flange, as further taught by Wang, in order to securely fasten the various filter elements, as securing the filter elements to the water tank rather than the upper cover/water storage tray would mitigate the chance of the filter elements disengaging due to the weight of the water flowing through the filter elements.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jian in view of Blake and Wang as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Xue (US 20230157259 A1), hereafter referred to as “Xue”.
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings of Jian in view of Blake and Wang teaches the pet water dispenser according to claim 7, and further teaches that a second end of the water inlet channel forms a water supply mouth (16, 18 as relied on Wang), the water supply mouth passes through the upper cover (element 15 as relied on Wang would pass through element 211 of Jian) along a vertical direction (fig. 1 of Jian and fig. 4 as relied on Wang), and an upper end of the water pipe (32 of Jain) communicates with the water supply mouth (16, 18 and fig. 4 as relied on Wang), but does not explicitly teach that the upper cover is provided with a dust cover, and the dust cover covers an end surface of a top opening of the water supply mouth.
Xue teaches a pet water dispenser (figs. 1-5) including an upper cover (9) is provided with a dust cover (13; fig. 4), and the dust cover covers an end surface of a top opening of a water supply mouth (12; fig. 4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pet water dispenser of Jian in view of Blake and Wang, such that the upper cover is provided with a dust cover, and the dust cover covers an end surface of a top opening of the water supply mouth, as taught by Xue, in order to mitigate debris from contaminating the water supply mouth (paragraph [0069] of Xue).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/15/26 have been fully considered but they are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
As shown in the rejection above, Jian in view of Blake teaches each and every limitation of independent claim 1, with Blake relied upon for the teaching of tapered openings.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
The cited prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure. The references have many of the elements in the applicant’s disclosure and claims. For example, US 10780378 B2 and US 20150189856 A1 teach similar filtering elements with a tapered opening.
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/H.J.B./Examiner, Art Unit 3643
/MARISA V CONLON/Examiner, Art Unit 3643
