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 .
This Office Action acknowledges the applicant’s amendment filed on 2/13/2026. Claims 21-40 are pending in the application. Claims 1-20 are cancelled.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
Claim Objections
Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 21 has the claim status “Previously Presented”. However, as highlighted in the claims and indicated in the Applicant remarks, the claims have been amended. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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Claim(s) 21-29, 32-36 and 39-40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Michaelson US 6,050,401, cited in Applicant’s IDS.
With regards to claim 21, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses a storage assembly 100 for storing a cleaning apparatus and an object having a mounting aperture, the storage assembly comprising:
a mounting sleeve 110 for storing the object, the mounting sleeve comprising a wall 112 and having an at least partially open first end (at 120), an at least partially open second end (at 114), an internal cavity spanning from the at least partially open first end to the at least partially open second end, and an external perimeter shaped and sized to be received within the mounting aperture of the object (depending on the object to be held);
a stop (shown above) located at a limit point along the assembly, the stop configured to restrict movement of the object when received on the mounting sleeve beyond the limit point;
a detachable housing 14 having an internal cavity configured to retain liquid or solid particles shed from the cleaning apparatus when stored in the assembly; and
a surface mount (at 32) connected to the mounting sleeve to allow the storage assembly to be mounted to a surface, wherein, when the storage assembly is mounted to a surface, the detachable housing is removable from the storage assembly, wherein, when in a storage position, at least a portion of the cleaning apparatus is positioned in the internal cavity of the mounting sleeve, and the portion of the cleaning apparatus is moveable into and out of the internal cavity of the mounting sleeve (depending on the cleaning apparatus to be held), wherein, the mounting sleeve internal cavity and the detachable housing internal cavity are in fluid communication, and wherein the assembly is configured to retain the object when received on the mounting sleeve during detachment and attachment of the detachable housing. (Col 7:32-8:49)
With regards to claim 22, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses further comprising a cleaning apparatus 12, wherein the cleaning apparatus comprises a handle 20, and a head 26, wherein the head is configured to fit within the internal cavity of the mounting sleeve 110.
With regards to claim 23, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the cleaning apparatus 12 is stored in the assembly in the storage position, the head 26 is at least partially housed in the detachable housing 14 and/or the mounting sleeve 110 and at least a portion of the handle 20 is accessible from, or extends out of, the at least partially open first end (at 120) of the mounting sleeve to permit removal of the cleaning apparatus from the storage assembly.
With regards to claim 24, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the handle 20 of the cleaning apparatus 12 and the mounting sleeve 110 are configured to cooperatively retain the cleaning apparatus with the assembly 100 during detachment and attachment of the housing when the cleaning apparatus is in the storage position.
With regards to claim 25, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the cleaning apparatus head 26 is at least partially housed in the detachable housing 14 when the cleaning apparatus 12 is in the storage position.
With regards to claim 26, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the cleaning apparatus handle (with structure 106) comprises at least a portion having an outer width (at 104) exceeding an internal opening width of the at least partially open first end (at 120) to prevent the handle from moving through the at least partially open first end of the mounting sleeve 110.
With regards to claim 27, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the maximum handle width is smaller than an internal width of the mounting aperture of the object to be mounted so as to allow the object to be mounted and/or removed from the mounting sleeve 110 when the cleaning apparatus is in the storage position (depending on the object to be held).
With regards to claim 28, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the cleaning apparatus head 26 is a brush head or comprises one or more bristles.(Col 5:16-20)
With regards to claim 29, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the mounting sleeve 110 is attachable to and detachable from the assembly 100.
With regards to claim 32, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the mounting sleeve 114 and the detachable housing 14 are releasably fastenable directly to each other.
With regards to claim 33, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses a junction (shown above) to which the detachable housing 14 and/or the mounting sleeve 114 are releasably attachable.
With regards to claim 34, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the junction (shown above) has an internal aperture in fluid communication with the mounting sleeve 110 and the detachable housing 14 and sufficiently sized to allow the cleaning apparatus head to pass through.
With regards to claim 35, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the junction (shown above) is integral with the surface mount.
With regards to claim 36, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the surface mount is a floor surface mount.
With regards to claim 39, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the cleaning apparatus 12 is a toilet brush. (Col 5:16-20)
With regards to claim 40, Michaelson (Fig. 8-11) discloses the mounting sleeve 110 is configured to mountably receive and store a paper roll having a mounting aperture (depending on the paper roll to be held).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 30-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michaelson US 6,050,401 in view of Chavez US 4,570,652, both cited in Applicant’s IDS.
With regards to claim 30, Michaelson discloses the claimed invention (mounting sleeve) as stated above but it does not specifically disclose the mounting sleeve is attachable to and detachable from the assembly by a thread fitting arrangement or a snap fit arrangement, or a bayonet-fit arrangement.
However, Chavez teaches that it was known in the art to have a storage assembly 10 for storing a cleaning apparatus have a mounting sleeve 14 attachable to and detachable from the assembly by a thread fitting arrangement 24 or a snap fit arrangement 22. (Col 2:31-44)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the mounting sleeve in Michaelson by having the mounting sleeve attachable to and detachable from the assembly by a thread fitting arrangement or a snap fit arrangement as taught by Chavez for the purposes of preventing the mounting sleeve from being unintentionally removed from the assembly.
With regards to claim 31, Michaelson discloses the claimed invention (detachable housing) as stated above but it does not specifically disclose the detachable housing is attachable to and detachable from the assembly by a thread fitting arrangement or a snap fit arrangement, or a bayonet-fit arrangement.
However, Chavez teaches that it was known in the art to have a storage assembly 10 for storing a cleaning apparatus have a detachable housing 16 attachable to and detachable from the assembly by a thread fitting arrangement 36. (Col 2:45-47)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the detachable housing in Michaelson by having the detachable housing attachable to and detachable from the assembly by a thread fitting arrangement as taught by Chavez for the purposes of preventing the detachable housing from being unintentionally removed from the assembly.
Claim(s) 37-38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Michaelson US 6,050,401, cited in Applicant’s IDS, in view of Bokmiller US 4,638,910.
With regards to claim 37, Michaelson discloses the claimed invention (surface mount) as stated above but it does not specifically disclose the surface mount is a wall mount.
However, Bokmiller teaches that it was known in the art to have a storage assembly 10 for storing a cleaning apparatus, have a surface mount 92, be a wall mount. (Col 3:27-37)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the surface mount in Michaelson by having the surface mount be a wall mount as taught by Bokmiller for the purposes of providing an alternative way of mounting and displaying the assembly.
With regards to claim 38, Bokmiller further teaches the surface mount 92 comprises a mounting plate. (Col 3:27-37)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant argues recites remarks “In contrast to Michaelson, the surface mount recited in Claim 21 is separate from the detachable housing. And the surface mount may be connected to the mounting sleeve, or the detachable housing, or both. When the storage assembly is mounted to a surface such as a wall, the detachable housing is removable from the rest of the storage assembly which remains mounted or attached to the wall via the surface mount.” The Examiner respectfully disagrees with this assessment. As claim 21 is currently presented, there is an option to have the surface mount connected to the mounting sleeve, or to both the mounting sleeve and the detachable housing to allow the storage assembly to be mounted to a surface. The Examiner is electing the option of having the surface mount connected to the mounting sleeve, to allow the storage assembly to be mounted to a surface. When the storage assembly is mounted to a surface, the detachable housing can be removed from the storage assembly, simply by removing the structure from the rest of the components of the assembly.
The Applicant has inquired information relating to claim 32. It appears claim 32 was mistakenly missed in the previous rejection and is not considered allowable and has been rejected above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENINE SPICER whose telephone number is (313)446-4924. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am-5:00pm, Monday-Thursday.
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/JENINE SPICER/Examiner, Art Unit 3736
/ORLANDO E AVILES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3736
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