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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 12/01/2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the 202323282152.9 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted on 10/01/20205, has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters "111" (elastic wrapping portion) and "311" (electrode through hole) have both been used to designate the same structure (as shown in Figure 3). 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. 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.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters "310" (partition wall) and "313" (“wall” of the electrode through hole) have both been used to designate the same structure (as shown in Figure 7). 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. 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.
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 “wall abuts against a peripheral wall of the elastic sealing ring” (as recited in claim 1), 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 1-17 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] The claim recites the limitation of “the electrode through hole comprises a wall” in the 8th and 9th lines of the claim. The examiner is unable to determine the metes and bounds of the claim, since it is unclear how a “hole” can comprise a “wall.” Specifically, it’s unclear if the limitation is describing the physical structure which creates the hole itself, or if another structure is being recited in addition to the boundaries of the “hole.” For purposes of examination, it is interpreted that either scenario meets the limitations of the claim.
[Claims 2-17] The claims are rejected based upon their dependency from independent claim 1.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 8, 11, and 18-20, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chen (PGPub 2026/0284281).
[Claims 1 and 18-20] Chen teaches a breast pump (figure 1; paragraph [0057]), comprising:
a cover (figure 7, items 3/4/12) comprising a cover body (figure 6, item 12), a heating device (figure 2, item 3), and a first connector (figure 7, item 4), wherein the heating device (figure 2, item 3) and the first connector (figure 7, item 4) are arranged on the cover body (figure 6, item 12) (figures 2 and 7), and the first connector (figure 7, item 4) is electrically connected to the heating device (figure 2, item 3) (paragraph [0066]);
a milk bin (figure 6, item 211) connected to the cover (figure 7, items 3/4/12) (figure 6; paragraph [0059]); and
a controller (figure 4, item 21) (“the power supply device and the controller are arranged inside the casing 21 of the principal unit 2”), configured to control the heating device (figure 2, item 3) to heat the cover (figure 7, items 3/4/12) (paragraphs [0011], [0024]-[0027], [0063]), comprising a main body (see annotated figure below) and a second connector (figure 6, item 5) arranged on the main body (see annotated figure below), wherein:
the milk bin (figure 6, item 211) comprises an electrode through hole (see annotated figure below), and the electrode through hole (see annotated figure below) comprises a wall (see annotated figure below),
the first connector (figure 7, item 4) is in electrical contact with the second connector (figure 6, item 5) via the electrode through hole (see annotated figure below) (figures 6 and 7; paragraphs [0015]-[0019], [0066], [0067], [0071]),
the cover body (figure 6, item 12) comprises an elastic sealing ring (paragraphs [0066], [0067]) that wraps around a periphery of the first connector (figure 7, item 4) and the second connector (figure 6, item 5), and
the wall (see annotated figure below) abuts against a peripheral wall (see annotated figure below) of the elastic sealing ring (paragraphs [0066], [0067]).
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[Claims 2 and 8] Chen teaches the limitations of claim 1, upon which claims 2 and 8 depend. In addition, Chen discloses the milk bin (figure 6, item 211) comprises a partition wall (see annotated figure below) sandwiched between (as best shown in figure 4) the cover body (figure 6, item 12) and the main body (see annotated figure below), and
the partition wall (see annotated figure below) comprises the electrode through hole (see annotated figure below);
wherein the partition wall (see annotated figure below) comprises a milk outlet (figures 6 and 7, items 212/213), and
the milk outlet (figures 6 and 7, items 212/213) is spaced apart from the electrode through hole (see annotated figure below) along a centerline of the milk bin (figure 6, item 211).
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[Claim 11] Chen teaches the limitations of claim 1, upon which claim 11 depends. Chen also teaches the elastic sealing ring (paragraphs [0066], [0067]) comprises a through hole (see annotated figure below), and
the first connector (figure 7, item 4) is inserted into the through hole (see annotated figure below).
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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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (PGPub 2026/0284281), in view of Hu (PGPub 2017/0312410).
[Claim 3] Chen teaches the limitations of claim 1, upon which claim 3 depends. Chen does not specifically disclose the first connector comprises a copper column.
However, Hu teaches a breast pump (figure 1; paragraph [0028]) comprising copper column electrical connectors (figures 4 and 5, items 15 and 21) (figures 4 and 5; paragraph [0040]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to have modified the first connector of Chen, to have utilized a copper column, as taught by Hu, in order to provide improved functionality and effectiveness, by allowing for a material which provides for excellent electrical conductivity (Hu; paragraph [0040]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7, 9-10, and 12-17, 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON E FLICK whose telephone number is (571)270-7024. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Eastern Time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bhisma Mehta can be reached at 571-272-3383. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON E FLICK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783 09/29/2026
