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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species 2 from Group 1 and Species A from Group II in the reply filed on 8/25/26 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the applicant believes there would not be an undue burden to examine all species since the difference in discharge paths occurs after the reaction chamber.
This is not found persuasive because per the disclosure and applicant’s response the different species of discharge paths and the different species of water outlets are part of the invention and have different structures, different modes of operation and as indicated by applicant these different structures and functions facilitate additional different features and/or functions. The species are not disclosed by applicant as obvious variants and have not been described by applicant as obvious variants in their response. Instead applicant has described the different species of water outlets as ‘alternative arrangements for accomplishing substantially the same function’.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 2-3 and 6 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 8/25/26.
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:
Rotatable cover plate
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.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Applicant refers to reference “1” of the figures as a “toilet seat” and mentions the “toilet seat” not having a water tank however a toilet seat is a specific part/structure of a toilet and Applicant’s disclosure instead appears to be referencing the general toilet body.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 4-5 and 7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claims 1, 4-5 and 7 it is noted that applicant references a ‘smart’ deodorization device however there does not appear to be any structure or feature which would make the claimed device part of an interconnected, automated or other system which would make it a ‘smart’ device and applicant’s disclosure does not appear to provide a definition for what, if any, limitations or features the term ‘smart’ imparts upon the claimed invention.
Claim 1 states “wherein when working, the air extraction unit extracts the odor into the reaction cavity, and the odor is mixed with the water”. As written, it is unclear if this is achieved by only operating the air extraction unit or if the remainder of the device is required to be operating. The claim language should clarify what is ‘working’ such as ‘wherein when the air extraction unit is working’ or ‘wherein when the deodorization device is working’.
Claim 1 requires that the deodorization device comprise a base ‘fixedly mounted on a toilet seat’. Applicant’s disclosure depicts a deodorization device which is fixed to the rear area of a toilet behind where a user would sit/where a toilet seat would be installed and labels the general toilet body as a toilet ‘seat’. A toilet seat is a specific part/structure of a toilet.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1, 4 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5,493,737 (Chu) in view of CN 105714901 (Wan).
Regarding claim 1, Chu discloses a smart deodorization device with a cover plate (4), comprising:
a reaction chamber having a reaction cavity (33);
an air extraction unit (341/342/2) used for extracting odor in or near a toilet into the reaction cavity; and
a water supply unit (7/61/332) used for supplying water to the reaction cavity;
wherein when working, the air extraction unit extracts the odor into the reaction cavity, and the odor is mixed with the water in the reaction cavity and converted into purified gas before being discharged from the reaction cavity (C2 L19-23; In so much as applicant’s invention achieves this by mixing dispensed water within contaminated gas);
the water in the reaction cavity is discharged to a sewage pipe of the toilet or a water tank of the toilet (C2 L13-16; Fig. 1);
the smart deodorization device further comprises a base (3/5) fixedly mounted on a toilet seat, the cover plate is connected to the base (Fig. 1), and the reaction chamber is mounted in the base (Fig. 1);
the reaction chamber is provided with a water inlet channel (322), the water supply unit has a water supply channel (61) in communication with the water inlet channel, the reaction chamber is further provided with an air intake channel (331 – inlet to reaction chamber for air from extraction channel 2), and the air extraction unit is provided with an air extraction channel (2) in communication with the air intake channel;
a water outlet end of the water inlet channel is provided with a plurality of water outlet holes (Fig. 1, 3A).
Chu, however, does not disclose how the cover couples to the base such as in a rotatable manner or otherwise.
Wan teaches a deodorization system for a toilet comprising a base (1) provided with openings in the top that are selectively covered with rotatable covers to facilitate ease of access for users/maintenance personnel (Fig. 1, Specification).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to configure the cover to be rotatable relative to the base, as taught by Wan, to facilitate opening the cover as needed by a user in a simplified manner that also keeps the cover attached to the base making it less likely to be lost or damaged and not requiring a user to find an area to temporarily store the cover when opening the base.
Regarding claim 4, Chu states that the reaction chamber is further provided with a discharging channel (333/334), and the water and the gas in the reaction cavity are both discharged from the discharging channel (C2 L35-38).
Regarding claim 7, Chu states that the water outlet end of the water inlet channel is provided with a plurality of water outlet holes to form sprinkling water that flows into the reaction cavity (Fig. 3A – in so much as applicant’s invention achieves a ‘sprinkling’ of water by providing a plurality of apertures).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not disclose a deodorization system for a toilet comprising a base fixedly mounted on a toilet body and a cover rotatably connected to the base, a reaction chamber in said base having a gas extraction unit supplying gas from a toilet and a water supply unit having a water outlet at the reaction chamber comprising a plurality of water outlet holes to dispense water onto an oblique mesh drip plate provided with a plurality of meshes inside the reaction cavity wherein the water purifies the gas in the reaction chamber by mixing with it and then is discharged into a sewage pipe or the toilet water tank.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
CN 108343134 (Yuan) teaches a deodorization device for a toilet comprising a base which contains a reaction cavity, a water inlet, a gas inlet, a water outlet in communication with a toilet tank or sewage pipe, a gas outlet and a plurality of atomizers for dispensing the water and mixing it with the gas to sanitize the gas but doesn’t dispense water onto an oblique mesh drip plate.
KR 20160022234 (Tashiro) teaches a toilet deodorization device comprising a base attached to a toilet, a reaction chamber having a gas inlet in communication with the toilet through a gas extraction unit, a water supply communicating with a water outlet in the reaction chamber that sprays water into the chamber, a water discharge channel and a gas discharge channel however the water is sprayed onto a filter assembly in the reaction chamber instead of a mesh drip plate.
US 568,881 (Simmonds) teaches a deodorization device for a toilet comprising a reaction chamber with a gas inlet in communication with the toilet, a water inlet having an outlet with a plurality of openings and wherein the gas and water are mixed in the chamber before the gas is exhausted through one outlet and the water is discharged through another outlet.
US 2,309,925 (Schotthoefer) is a toilet deodorizing device comprising a reaction chamber with a gas inlet, a water inlet with an outlet comprising a plurality of openings and a discharge outlet for the mixture of gas and water to be discharged but doesn’t comprise an oblique mesh drip plate.
US 5,530,971 (Anderson) teaches a deodorization device for a toilet comprising a reaction chamber in which gas from the toilet is mixed with a supply of water and from which the water and gas is discharged.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS A ROS whose telephone number is (571)270-3577. The examiner can normally be reached Mon.-Fri. 9:00-6:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Angwin can be reached at 571-270-3735. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NICHOLAS A ROS/ Examiner, Art Unit 3754
/DAVID P ANGWIN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754
