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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) was/were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) was/were considered by the examiner.
Foreign Patent Documents were considered to the extent that the Documents were in English and/or the Office understood the subject matter illustrated by the Figures.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the:
Claim 13: clean-water floating ball base, clean-water floating ball, cleansing-liquid floating ball base and cleaning-liquid floating ball;
Claim 15: sewage floating ball;
Claim 16: the water tank assembly comprising a water tank top shell and a clean water tank, the water tank top shell covering the clean water tank, and the clean water tank comprising a clean-water tank body and a cleansing-liquid tank body; wherein the clean-water tank body comprises a water amount detection assembly;
Claim 18: the clean-water tank top cover comprises a groove, and a peristaltic pump is arranged inside the groove;
Claim 20: the cleansing-liquid tank body comprises a cleansing liquid channel, the cleansing liquid channel extends upwards from an interior of the cleansing-liquid tank body to the clean-water tank top cover along an exterior of the clean-water tank body;
Claim 21: a cleansing-liquid floating ball base, a cleansing-liquid floating ball, clean-water floating ball base, clean-water floating ball;
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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, 11, 13, 15 and 25 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 necessitates that, “the control apparatus is configured to realize automatic replenishment of clean water to, automatic discharge of sewage from or automatic replenishment of a cleansing liquid to the water tank assembly” (emphasis added). It is unclear and indefinite whether applicant intends the control apparatus to realize one, two, and/or three of these recited functions.
The claim language is further muddied because claim 1 necessitates a sewage tank and a clean water tank, but does not necessitate a cleaning liquid tank. Accordingly, it is unclear and indefinite how the cleansing liquid is managed within applicant’s assembly.
Claim 2 necessitates that, “the sewage tank and the clean water tank are arranged below the water tank top shell with a space of a preset distance.” (emphasis added). It is unclear and indefinite if applicant intends the emphasized phrase.
In regards to claim 3, it is unclear and indefinite if both the sewage tank and the clean water tank both include a sewage port and a clean water port.
In regards to claim 13, it is unclear and indefinite how applicant distinguishes between “the clean water tank” and “a clean water tank body”.
Claim 25 is unclear and indefinite as each paragraph of the claim appears to necessitate the same functionality twice.
Claims not specifically recited are rejected as being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 27 and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xu et al. (CN 202210413959.2), hereinafter “Xu”, as evidenced by U.S. Publication 2023/0329513.
The office notes that claims 27 and 28 recite that the water storage chamber is “configured to”. Accordingly, it is the office’s position that claim 27 and 28 do not actually positively recite any of the features after the phrase “configured to”. Stated differently, it is the office’s position that claims 27 and 28 merely necessitate a water storage chamber.
In regards to claims 27 and 28, Xu discloses a self-cleaning maintenance station, comprising a water storage chamber (10).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 2-9, 11, 13, 15 and 25 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 16-18, 20-23 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to R.K. Arundale whose telephone number is 571-270-3453. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (9:30AM-6:00PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors can be reached by phone. Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881, and Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT K ARUNDALE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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