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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A in the reply filed on 6/4/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 16-20 are withdrawn as being directed to non-elected species. Additionally, claims 9-11 and 14-15 are withdrawn as being directed to a non-elected species. The elected species requires the interface for instructions being located on the fixture (FIGs 18-20), of which is mutually exclusive to claims 9-11 and 14-15.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by applicant’s cited Rosko et al (US 20140352799).
Regarding claim 1, Rosko (FIGs 7-18b) discloses “A faucet system (FIG 8) comprising:
a water treatment system comprising:
a treatment device (50’, 58’) configured to selectively provide a treatment to a flow of water (paragraph 111), and
a system controller (136) in communication with the treatment device (see FIG 7);
a fixture (12-15, 35) fluidly coupled to the water treatment system and configured to receive the flow of water from the water treatment system; and
a user interface controller (34, 138, paragraphs 136-140) communicatively coupled to the system controller (see FIG 7) and configured to:
send a first input (one touch) to the system controller (via 138), the first input comprising instructions for operating the treatment device (222, paragraph 137, instructions being activating 58’ with the dbl touch after 222; also seen to be a necessary prerequisite to arrive at 232, 234); and
send a second input (dbl touch, in this case at 232) to the system controller, the second input causing:
initiation of the flow of water through the fixture (through 60), and
operation of the treatment device according to the instructions of the first input (turning on 58’) (paragraph 138) (FIG 18A is seen to show “according to the instructions of the first input” as 232 is downstream of the flowchart relative to 220).”
Regarding claim 2, Rosko (FIGs 7-18b) discloses “wherein the first input (one touch) includes instructions to activate the treatment device in response to receiving the second input (dbl touch) (at 234).”
Regarding claim 3, Rosko (FIGs 7-18b) discloses “wherein the first input (one touch) includes instructions to activate the treatment device after a time delay in response to receiving the second input (paragraph 127: one second between the first and second tap read on “activate after a time delay”).”
Regarding claim 4, Rosko (FIGs 7-18b) discloses “wherein:
the treatment device includes a flow sensor (124) in communication with the system controller (136) and configured to detect a flow of water through the treatment device, and
the system controller is configured to prevent activation of the treatment device if the flow sensor detects no water is flowing through the treatment device (paragraph 140, criteria for activating device seen to include desired operating range, where it is understood that no flow is outside of that range).”
Regarding claim 5, Rosko (FIGs 7-18b) discloses “wherein the fixture is a faucet having a base (14), a neck (12), and a pull-out spray head (analogously described in paragraph 46).”
Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by applicant’s cited Mu et al (US 20210047213).
Regarding claim 12, Mu (FIGs 1-10) discloses “A faucet system comprising:
a fixture (10) comprising:
a handle controller (20); and
a spray head (11) having an outlet and configured to discharge a flow of water;
a treatment device (30, 32) in fluid communication with the spray head and configured to selectively output a treatment to a flow of water (paragraphs 46-50);
a user interface controller (40); and
a system controller (60) in communication with the handle controller, the treatment device, and the user interface controller (see paragraphs 46 and 48);
wherein the system controller is configured to:
receive a first signal from the user interface controller (60 from 40, paragraph 50);
in response to receiving the first signal, determine whether to activate the treatment device in response to receipt of a second signal (from 22, paragraph 50);
receive the second signal from the handle controller (is receiving 40 and 22 at the same time); and
in response to receiving the second signal, operate the faucet system to do at least one of the following:
discharge an untreated flow of water from the fixture (paragraph 50: the ordinary water from the outlet of the water processing passage 31 flows through the water outlet hose 12 to the faucet outlet 11 to discharge the ordinary water);
activate the treatment device and discharge a treated flow of water from the fixture; or discharge an untreated flow of water from the fixture for a first time interval, activate the treatment device at an end of the first time interval, and discharge a flow of treated water from the fixture for a second time interval.
Regarding claim 13, Mu (FIGs 1-10) discloses “wherein the user interface controller is positioned on the fixture (see FIG 3).”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 6, Rosko (FIGs 7-18b) discloses “further comprising a handle controller (34) operably coupled to the base of the faucet and positionable between a first position and a second position…”
Rosko is silent regarding “the handle controller including a handle sensor in communication with the system controller, wherein the handle sensor sends the second input to the system controller when the handle controller is moved out of the first position.”
It would not be obvious to modify Rosko without undue hindsight reasoning.
Regarding claim 7, Rosko is silent regarding “wherein in the user interface controller includes a first interface and a second interface, the first interface configured to send the first input and the second interface configured to send the second input.”
It would not be obvious to modify Rosko without undue hindsight reasoning.
Claim 8 is allowable by virtue of its dependency on claim 7.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Devices similar to the application are disclosed by Lutz et al (US 20130206654), Booth et al (US 20130193079), Gibson (US 20120124737), and Yeh (US 20020146357).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK C WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)431-0767. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PATRICK C WILLIAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
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