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 of Species A/Figures 1-5 in the reply filed on 2/9/26 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 12-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species B/Figures 6-11, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 2/9/26.
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.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kleinsasser US 5092271.
Regarding claim 18, Kleinsasser teaches a pet toilet comprising:
a base comprising a top surface (20 of figure 3), where animals defecate (young animals inherently have low control of their bowls and would thus defecate here), a bottom surface (21 of figure 3), and a perimeter (figure 1);
a liquid cavity coupled to the bottom surface of the base (30 of figures 2-3), and a liquid reservoir (inherently described in column 3 lines 26-31) coupled to the liquid cavity, wherein the liquid cavity is designed to at least one of heat and cool the top surface of the base, and the liquid reservoir is designed to provide liquid to the liquid cavity (as described in column 3 lines 26-31);
but does not describe the liquid as liquid coolant.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide liquid coolant, in order to enhance efficiency with not needing the heating element in order to provide the same functions as heated water; since the substitution of one known element for another would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the prior art does not disclose or make obvious the combination of limitations recited in claim 1; particularly, the specific arrangement of the base, outer rim, base plate, orientation of the base plate, central void, urination post, nozzle, drain gap, the orientation of the top surface in relation to the ground surface level, etc.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claim 19 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 does not disclose or make obvious the combination of limitations recited in claims 18-19; particularly, the post, nozzle, water line, underground water source, drain gap, liquid coolant cavity, liquid coolant reservoir, etc.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA WONG whose telephone number is (571)272-7889. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm MST.
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/JESSICA B WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3644