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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The submitted information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/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.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 21 contains the following issues:
The claim recites “the window air conditioner” (in line 4) without proper antecedent basis. It is unclear whether anticipation or infringement require a separate and distinct air conditioner from the one recited in claim 1. For examination purposes, the recitation will be construed as –the air conditioner—.
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.
Claims 12-13 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Chen et al. (CN 212618769 U), herein Chen.
As per claim 12, Chen discloses an air conditioner (100; see at least fig. 11) comprising:
a heat exchanger (2) including a heat exchange member (see fig. 1), the heat exchange member including a first heat exchange segment (21) and a second heat exchange segment (22) arranged lower than the first heat exchange segment (as shown in fig. 1), and the second heat exchange segment (22) extending obliquely downwards towards a leeward side (side where 12b is located) of the heat exchange member (see at least fig. 12);
a first water receiving tray (3) arranged lower than the second heat exchange segment (22) and including a first water receiving groove (231) corresponding to a lower end of the second heat exchange segment (see First Annotated Figure 12 below); and
a second water receiving tray (23) located at a windward side of the second heat exchange segment (22) and arranged lower than the first heat exchange segment (21), the second water receiving tray (23) including a second water receiving groove (231) corresponding to a lower end of the first heat exchange segment (see at least figs. 3-4).
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First Annotated Figure 12 of Chen
As per claim 13, Chen discloses wherein the second water receiving tray (23) is arranged higher than a height midpoint of (i.e., entirely above, as shown in fig. 3) the second heat exchange segment (22).
As per claim 24, Chen discloses a thermal insulator wrapping (e.g., 1 or 7) around an outer wall of at least one of the first water receiving tray (3) or the second water receiving tray (23; see at least figs. 9 and 13).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-20 and 22-23 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all1 of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Claim 21 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
The prior art, when taken as a whole, neither anticipates nor renders prima facie obvious the claimed invention as recited in at least claims 14 and 23. There are no prior art teachings that would otherwise supplement or substitute the teachings of Chen to arrive at the claimed invention.
It should also be noted that the intended purpose and operating principles of Chen require the specific arrangement of components, supports, heat exchangers, side plates, water tray(s), etc., as disclosed and described therein. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that any modifications to Chen to arrive at the claimed invention would be based on improper hindsight, and would render it inoperable for its intended purpose. Assuming arguendo, rearranging said components would change the principles of operation thereof, since it would require completely redesigning the structure of the air conditioner, most likely resulting in unexpected and/or unintended results, which serves as evidence against a prima facie case of obviousness. Thus, a preponderance of evidence supports the allowability of the aforementioned claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MIGUEL A DIAZ whose telephone number is (313)446-6587. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jianying C. Atkisson can be reached at (571) 270-7740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MIGUEL A DIAZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
1 Disclaimer: failure to include all the intervening limitations will result in a different claim scope, which may require a new grounds of rejection prior to a final determination of allowability.
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