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 5-9 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 5 recites the limitation "the inserted plate" in Line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1 and 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kirker US 2005/0023219 (hereinafter Kirker) in view of Gay US 2022/0219177 (hereinafter Gay).
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Re. Cl. 1, Kirker discloses: An environmental facility supporting structure (Fig. 2) of a vertical heat recovery steam generator (see Fig. 2-3, the device is capable of being used in the intended use environment), the environmental facility supporting structure comprising: a plurality of supporting parts (6, 7, Fig. 2); a plurality of fixing parts (3, Fig. 2) into which the plurality of supporting parts is inserted vertically (see Fig. 2), and each having an extending part (see annotated figure 1) on at least one side portion; a seated member (4, Fig. 1) seated on the extending parts provided in the plurality of fixing parts (see Fig. 1); and a plurality of filter members (2, Fig. 1) provided at an upper portion of the seated member (see Fig. 1), wherein the plurality of fixing parts is connected to the plurality of supporting parts (see Fig. 1)
Re. Cl. 4, Kirker discloses: the plurality of supporting parts comprises a plurality of supporting rods (see 6, 7, Fig. 1-3) and an inserted plate (11, Fig. 1) connected to an upper portion of each supporting rod (see Fig. 1).
Re. Cl. 5, Kirker discloses: the plurality of fixing parts comprises a head part and a pair of fixing plates (see annotated figure 1), the pair of fixing plates being arranged below the head part at an interval therebetween (see Fig. 1), and the inserted plate (4, Fig. 1) is inserted into an insertion groove provided by the head part and the pair of fixing plates (see Fig. 1-2).
Re. Cl. 6, Kirker discloses: the extending part is arranged at an outer surface of the inserted plate (see Fig. 1).
Re. Cl. 1, Kirker does not disclose that the fixing parts are to be movable relative to the supporting parts according to vertical displacement. Gay discloses a filter apparatus which includes a plurality of vertical supports (22, 24, Fig. 2a) that support fixing parts (21a, 21b, Fig. 2b) wherein the plurality of fixing parts are connected to the plurality of supporting parts to be movable according to vertical displacement (see Fig. 2a-2b, by having plates vertically loaded/unloaded into/from 22, 24).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the vertical supports of Kirker to be structured as disclosed by Gay with reasonable expectation of success to enable for selective loading of the filter members. For instance, the user would be enabled to select the number of filter members (2) for each particular use and could otherwise add or subtract the filter members depending on how many are necessary.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 and 7-9 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Eyers US 2012/0047855, Nicholas US 2011/0277430, Ayshford US 2010/0229514 and Cairns US 5084076 disclose other known filter supports presented to the Applicant for their consideration.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER E GARFT whose telephone number is (571)270-1171. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m..
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, Terrell McKinnon can be reached at (571)272-4797. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER GARFT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3632
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