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 .
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 12 and 16 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.
The term “about the same” in claim 12 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “about the same” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The term is a relative term without objective boundaries. The specification does not provide operating ranges and explain what constitutes substantially equal fan speeds.
Claim 16 recites the limitation "said second fan" in line 16. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It appears the limitation is antecedent to “second axial fan”, so it is suggested to amend the limitation to -said second axial fan-.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11, 13-15, and 17-20 are allowed.
Claims 12 and 16 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claims 1, 16, and 17, the closest prior art references Caccaviello (WO 2017/015708 A1), Korean (KR 20060009522), and Glen (WO 01/01772 A1) disclose the features of: a system and method for dispersing a fluid comprising an engine, a tank, a dispersion chamber, a first axial fan, and a second axial fan. However, the combination of these references fails to teach the remaining elements recited in the claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOEL ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)270-1163. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM.
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JOEL . ZHOU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3752
/QINGZHANG ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
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