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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/16/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 03/20/2026 and 06/16/2026 are being considered by the examiner.
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 1, 9, and 11 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 1 recites “the central part of the closing part that is kept open” in line 15, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Only a central part of the opening has been recited previously.
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.
Claims 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (KR 200453375 Y1, as cited on previous 892), in view of Gao (CN 113615656 A, as cited on previous 892) and Knipker (US 1561171 A), hereinafter referred to as Choi, Gao, and Knipker, respectively, as best understood in light of the 112(b) rejections addressed above.
Regarding claim 1:
Choi discloses an insect trap (abstract) comprising:
a collecting part (formed from light reflecting means 20, which acts as a cover of sorts, and Body B, Fig 3) for collecting an insect to be captured (see Fig 3);
an attracting part (first light emitting means 10, Fig 3) for generating an attracting medium for attracting the insect into the collecting part (Pg 3, ¶1); and
a capturing part (lower space S2 with adhesive means 42, Fig 3) for capturing the insect inside the collecting part (see Fig 2);
wherein the collecting part has an inlet through which the insect passes into the collecting part (see annotated Fig 3 below), and
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the collecting part has an opening for communication with inside of the collecting part (see Fig 3);
wherein the collecting part has a space formed around the attracting part, the space starting from the inlet and allowing the insect to keep flying in the space (an insect could fly in a circle in a space in the upper collecting part, starting from the inlet, around the first light emitting means 10, see Fig 2),
the capturing part is disposed below the space formed around the attracting part (see Fig 3),
the attracting medium is configured to be discharged from the inside to an outside of the collecting part through the inlet (Pg 2, first 2 ¶s).
the collecting part has a tubular shape (see Figs 2-3),
the opening is formed in a tubular surface of the collecting part (see Figs 2-3).
Choi fails to disclose that:
An imaging unit for capturing an image the insect captured by the capturing part, the imaging unit comprising an imaging apparatus disposed closer to a central part of the collecting part than the attracting part;
the collecting part has a closing part that partially closes the opening;
the closing part at least partially closes an outer peripheral area of the opening to keep open a central part of the opening;
the inlet is defined by an area in the central part of the closing part that is kept open;
the attracting medium is configured to be discharged from the inside to an outside of the collecting part through the closing part;
the closing part is curved along a peripheral direction of the collecting part.
Gao discloses an insect attracting device with a collecting part (see annotated Fig 1 below); an attracting part (insect trapping light source 3, Fig 1); an insect receiving funnel (insect receiving funnel 10, Fig 1) leading to a capturing part (bottom door 14, Fig 1); and an imaging unit (camera 11 and camera protective cover 12, Fig 2) for capturing an image of the insect captured by the capturing part (abstract; Fig 1), the imaging unit mounted at a top of the insect receiving funnel (see Fig 2; Pg 5, second to last ¶), the imaging unit comprising an imaging apparatus (camera 11, Fig 2) disposed closer to a central part of the collecting part than the attracting part (see annotated Fig 1 below).
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It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided an imaging unit mounted at the top of the funnel of Choi, as in Gao, the result having a reasonable expectation of success. One would have been motivated to make this modification because, as disclosed in Gao, the imaging unit allows for monitoring of the pests in the area that the trap is placed (abstract), which could be useful in providing an early warning of an infestation or for verification of trap functionality.
Knipker discloses a similar insect trap comprising:
a tubular collecting part (see trap shape in Fig 2);
an opening formed in a tubular surface of the collecting part (opening in which funnel 16 is mounted, Fig 2);
a closing part that is curved along a peripheral direction of the collecting part (see Fig 3), partially closes an outer peripheral area of the opening to keep open a central part of the opening (see Fig 2; Pg 1, lines 40-60), and allows attracting medium inside the collecting part to be discharged to an outside therethrough (see Fig 2; claim 1: “screens”); and
an inlet defined by an area in the central part of the closing part that is kept open (see Fig 3; small end of the screened funnel that allows passage of insects into the collecting part).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided openings closed partially by a screen closing part in the sidewall of the collecting part, as in Knipker, in place of the openings of Choi, the result having a reasonable expectation of success. One would have been motivated to make such a modification because, as disclosed in Knipker, the closing part helps prevent insects from returning to the outside of the trap, once inside, without preventing attractive aromas or light from coming out to perform their attracting function (Pg 1, lines 40-60).
Regarding claim 11:
Choi as modified discloses the limitations of claim 1 above and further discloses wherein the attracting part is configured to emit light as the attracting medium (“first light emitting means”), and the closing part is configured to be light transmissive (see Figs 2-3 of Knipker; claim 1).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi, Gao, and Knipker, as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Smith (US 20030000127 A1), hereinafter referred to as Smith, as best understood in light of the 112(b) rejections addressed above.
Regarding claim 9
Choi as modified discloses the limitations of claim 1 above and further discloses a guide part disposed around the capturing part inside the collecting part (pest oil tool 43, Fig 3) for guiding the insect to the capturing part (functional language: capable of guiding as such), wherein the capturing part comprises a thin replaceable adhesive insect trapping sheet (‘adhesive means 42’, Fig 3; Pg 4, ¶1) disposed below the imaging apparatus, the imaging apparatus is configured to take an image of the insect trapping sheet from above (the addition of imaging apparatus in claim 1, as suggested by Gao, would result in insect trapping sheet being below the imaging apparatus, the imaging apparatus configured to take an image of the insect trapping sheet from above), and the guide part has an inclined surface inclined from above to below as the inclined surface becomes closer to the insect trapping sheet (see Fig 3).
Choi fails to specifically disclose that the adhesive means of the capturing part is specifically an insect trapping paper (it isn’t disclosed what, other than adhesive, the means is formed of).
Smith discloses a flying insect trap which uses an insect trapping paper formed with adhesive as an adhesive insect trapping means (¶0014).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the adhesive means of Choi as an adhesive covered paper, as in Smith, the result having a reasonable expectation of success. One would have been motivated to make this modification because paper is a relatively inexpensive, readily available material, that would serve as a good base for adhesive, in order to allow for cleaner/easier removability when exchange of adhesive is necessary.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to all pending claims have been considered but 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Shigemoto (US-10458437-B2), Zhang (US-20210153493-A1), Taylor (US-4856226-A), Ge (CN-113331149-A), and Guo (CN-111296377-A), also exhibit similarities to the newly amended claim limitation regarding the closing part.
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/B.V.S./Examiner, Art Unit 3642
/JOSHUA D HUSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3642
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