DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to arguments filed 7/21/2026. It should be noted that the independent claims have not been amended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-2, 4-5, and 10-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bovill 9,121,399.
Bovill discloses, regarding claim 1, a pump 30 comprising: a motor (within 36); an inlet port (see 38); a discharge port (see 40); a fluid sensor 50 configured to detect whether a fluid level has risen above a threshold fluid level; and a controller (see col. 3, lines 46-52) configured to: activate the pump in response to the fluid sensor 50 detecting that the fluid level has risen above the threshold fluid level (see col. 4, lines 60-66), initiate a shutoff delay timer in response to the fluid sensor 50 detecting that the fluid level has receded below the threshold fluid level, the shutoff delay timer having a shutoff delay time (see col. 5, lines 37-41), increase the shutoff delay time if the fluid sensor 50 detects that the fluid level has risen above the threshold fluid level again before the shutoff delay time has elapsed, and maintain the shutoff delay time if the fluid sensor 50 detects that the fluid level stayed below the threshold fluid level until the shutoff delay time has elapsed (see col. 2, lines 47-57, and col. 5, lines 41-60); Re claim 2, wherein the shutoff delay timer has a maximum shutoff delay time (substantially broad, the delay time is set once the deactivation signal is sent, and that can be interpretated as a temporary “maximum” – see col. 5, lines 37-60); Re claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to shut down the pump 30 when the fluid sensor 50 detects that the fluid level remains below the threshold fluid level until the shutoff delay time has elapsed (see col. 5, lines 37-48); Re claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to initiate a reset timer after shutting down the pump 30, the reset timer having a reset time (see col. 5, lines 25-36 – the disclosed delay period after the activation signal can broadly be interpreted as a “reset timer”).
Bovill discloses, regarding claim 10, a pump 30 comprising: an inlet port (see 38); a discharge port (see (40); a fluid sensor 50 configured to detect a fluid; and a controller (see col. 3, lines 46-52) configured to: activate the pump 30 in response to the fluid sensor 50 detecting the fluid (see col. 4, lines 60-66), after activating the pump 30, initiate a shutoff delay timer having a shutoff delay time when the fluid sensor 50 no longer detects the fluid (see col. 5, lines 37-41), increase the shutoff delay time if the fluid sensor 50 detects the fluid before the shutoff delay time has elapsed, and maintain the shutoff delay time if the fluid sensor 50 does not detect the fluid before the shutoff delay time has elapsed (see col. 2, lines 47-57, and col. 5, lines 41-60); Re claim 11, wherein the fluid sensor 50 is a provided in the form of a plurality of electrodes (see recitation of “capacitive” in col. 4, lines 6-10, as well as col. 5, lines 61-67); Re claim 12, wherein the plurality of electrodes is provided as only two electrodes (again, see col. 5, lines 61-67); Re claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to initiate a startup delay timer having a startup delay time when the fluid sensor 50 detects the fluid and delay activation of the pump 30 until after the startup delay time has elapsed (see col. 5, lines 25-36); Re claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to shut down the pump 30 if the fluid sensor 50 does not detect the fluid before the shutoff delay time has elapsed (see col. 5, lines 37-48).
Bovill discloses, regarding claim 15, a method of controlling a level of fluid with a pump 30 having a motor (within 36), an inlet port (see 38), a discharge port (see 40), and a fluid sensor 50 configured to detect a fluid, the method comprising: activating the pump 30 in response to the fluid sensor detecting the fluid (see col. 4, lines 60-66); initiating a shutoff delay timer when the fluid sensor 50 no longer detects the fluid, the shutoff delay timer having a shutoff delay time (see col. 5, lines 37-41); increasing the shutoff delay time if the fluid sensor 50 detects the fluid before the shutoff delay time has elapsed; and maintaining the shutoff delay time if the fluid sensor does not detect the fluid before the shutoff delay time has elapsed (see col. 2, lines 47-57, and col. 5, lines 41-60); Re claim 16, further comprising shutting down the pump if the fluid sensor does not detect the fluid before the shutoff delay time has elapsed (see col. 5, lines 37-48); Re claim 17, further comprising initiating a reset timer after shutting down the pump, the reset timer having a reset time (see col. 5, lines 25-36 – the disclosed delay period after the activation signal can broadly be interpreted as a “reset timer”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6-9, and 18-20 are 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.
Response to Arguments
In response to Applicant’s arguments regarding Bovill: Applicant argues that, “Bovill makes no mention of adjusting and/or increasing the deactivation delay time for the bilge pump if the water level exceeds the threshold while the bilge pump operates during the deactivation delay time. Accordingly, Bovill does not disclose, teach, or suggest at least "increase the shutoff delay time if the fluid sensor detects that the fluid level has risen above the threshold fluid level again before the shutoff delay time has elapsed," as required by claim 1.” The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
In col. 5, lines 54-60, Bovill states that, “the sensor 50 may be arranged to delay sending the deactivation signal, or to delay terminating the activation signal, as appropriate, for a period of time until it has verified that the water threshold level is not exceeded, e.g. by establishing that a plurality of successive measurements indicate that the threshold is not exceeded.” This is a clear disclosure of the shutoff delay time being increased and/or adjusted. Therefore, the Examiner maintains the rejections of independent claims 1, 10, and 15 as being anticipated by Bovill.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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PJB
/PETER J BERTHEAUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
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