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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I, claims 1-18 in the reply filed on 6/23/2026 is acknowledged.
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) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hagenbuch (US 2002/0179611).
As to claim 1, Hagenbuch discloses a tank that is capable of holding foam content and mounted to a vehicular robot comprising:
A set of metal partitions (20, 22, 24) to define a chamber to hold content
A set of baffles (72, 82) disposed in the chamber and coupled with the metal partitions
A set of mounting members (30) external to the chamber and coupled with metal partitions, and wherein the mounting members being constructed and arranged to be secured to the vehicular robot.
As to claim 2, an output port (100) coupled to the metal partition.
As to claims 3, the metal partitions include a front, rear, bottom partition with a slope (figure 1).
As to claim 4, Hagenbuch discloses mounting members as shown in figure 1 to connect the front and the rear partition to the robot, and the output port (100) in the front partition (figure 4).
As to claim 5, the bottom partition includes a sump section (figure 4), which is interpreted as the sloped portion.
As to claims 6 and 7, the metal partition includes side portions to define the sides of the tank and the baffles coupled with the side partition (figure 3).
As to claims 8, the baffles can reduce foam concentrate movement within the chamber and provide strength to the set of partitions while also allowing foam concentrate to drain evenly within the chamber.
As to claim 9, the baffles are metallic.
As to claim 10, figure 13 discloses side partitions and top partition coupled with the front partition, rear, and side partition. An input partition disposed on the top to input the foam concentrate.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 11-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hagenbuch (US 2002/0179611).
As to claim 11, Hagenbuch discloses input and output port, but fails to teach the differences in diameter. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have different diameters, since it merely a design choice.
As to claim 12, Hagenbuch fails to teach vent at the top portion. However, it would have been obvious and conventional to include a vent in a pressurized tank in order to control pressurization.
As to claims 13-15, Hagenbuch discloses a control valve (paragraph 35) to control the spraying of the distributing fluid.
As to claim 16, Hagenbuch fails to teach a flush port. However, it would have been obvious and conventional to include a flush port in order to drain the tank for any residue buildup at the bottom.
As to claim 17, Hagenbuch disclose a suction hose for spraying connected at the outlet port.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 18 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Len Tran whose telephone number is (571)272-1184. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am - 4pm.
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/LEN TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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