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 with traverse of Species I (Figs. 1-3; claims 1-16) in the reply filed on 5/28/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Hester does not teach two curved surfaces as claimed. This is found not persuasive, the walls of the interaction chamber 398 has curved regions extending from the two opposing side of the flat surface (lateral regions adjacent the outlet 400), the curved regions converging inward toward each other in direction of the annotated upper side. Additional evidence of the shared technical features are not special technical feature can be seen in the rejections below.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Pending claims 1-16 are addressed below.
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 1-16 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.
Regarding claims 1, 7, 9, 14-16, the phrase "in particular" in limitations “a sensor, in particular a sensor of a motor vehicle”, “the outlet, in particular through the center of the outlet”, “a lower side, in particular the lower side opposing the upper side”, “a sensor, in particular a camera”, “A vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle” render the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 1 recites “the inner surface” in line 5, which lacks proper antecedent basis in the claim.
Claims 2-3 recite “the two curved surfaces are connected via a center plane” and “the center plane consists of at least two partial planes”. A “plane” is understood via its plain meaning as “a flat surface on which a straight line joining any two points on it would wholly lie”. It is not understood how a center plane, shown as a curved surface 16, and consisting of two partial planes 18 (in figs. 2-3) would still be considered a plane, since it is no longer flat. The claims are indefinite. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 6 recites “wherein in each case one point of each of the two curved surfaces is at spaced apart a maximum of 0.5 mm from the outlet”. It is not understood to which is the language “in each case” refers to.
Claim 8 recites “the outer surface” and “the area”, which lacks proper antecedent basis in the claim.
Claims 9 and 12 recite “the radial distance”, which lacks proper antecedent basis in the claim.
Claim 11 recites “the diameter” ”, which lacks proper antecedent basis in the claim.
Other claim(s) listed in the rejection title is/are indefinite due to its/their dependency upon the rejected base claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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, 2, 5, 7, 8, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hasday (US 20190143345).
Regarding claim 1, Hasday discloses a nozzle (180) for the automatic cleaning of a sensor, in particular a sensor of a motor vehicle (“for automatic cleaning…” is a limitation of intended use; as the claimed structure(s), defined in the claim body, required to be used for cleaning is structural details of the nozzle and Hasday reference teaches all the claimed structures as presented below, the prior art would appear to be fully capable of being used as a nozzle for automatic cleaning), the nozzle comprising:
an outlet (190, 194) for dispensing the fluid, and
a flat surface (187, see fig. 2), wherein the flat surface is arranged on the inner surface of the nozzle (187 is on the inner side of 180, see fig. 2),
wherein the outlet is arranged in the flat surface (187; see fig. 2),
wherein the flat surface comprises two opposing sides (sides of the flat surface adjacent 318 and 319 as shown in fig. 2),
wherein the flat surface comprises an upper side (side of the flat surface adjacent 320 as shown in fig. 2),
wherein the upper side is arranged between the two opposing sides,
wherein the nozzle comprises two curved surfaces on the inner surface,
wherein each of the curved surfaces is arranged on one of the two opposing sides) of the flat surface,
wherein the curved surfaces are configured to converge towards one another in the direction of the upper side.
PNG
media_image1.png
635
1143
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 2, Hasday discloses the two curved surfaces are connected via a center plane (plane of the annotated upper side, see above),
wherein the center plane (plane of the annotated upper side, see above) is arranged on the upper side.
Regarding claim 5, Hasday discloses the outlet is rectangular (the outlet opening defined by straight edges at 318, 319, 320, 321 form a rectangular shaped opening), oval or crescent-shaped.
Regarding claim 7, Hasday discloses the nozzle extends along a center axis (fig. 3: central axis 210),
wherein the two curved surfaces (see annotation above) are arranged in a mirror-symmetrical manner with respect to a mirror plane (plane extending along the central axis 210, shown in fig. 3, directly in between the two annotated curved surface),
wherein the mirror plane contains the center axis (210) and the mirror plane runs through the outlet, in particular through the center of the outlet.
Regarding claim 8, Hasday discloses the nozzle comprises a protrusion (220) on the outer surface (206; see fig. 3),
wherein the protrusion is arranged on the area of the outlet facing the upper side.
Regarding claim 13, Hasday discloses the outlet is arranged at one end (right end when view as shown in fig. 3) of the nozzle.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 7, 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhao (US20230010574).
Regarding claim 1, Zhao discloses a nozzle (24) for the automatic cleaning (intended use) of a sensor, in particular a sensor of a motor vehicle (par. 37: “for use in exterior surface cleaning systems, especially in vehicles…found to clean camera lenses efficiently”), the nozzle (24) comprising:
an outlet (upstream opening of 50; see annotation) for dispensing the fluid, and
a flat surface (see annotation below), wherein the flat surface is arranged on the inner surface of the nozzle (inner surface defines the interaction region 60; see fig. 2),
wherein the outlet is arranged in the flat surface (upstream opening of 50 is in the flat surface),
wherein the flat surface comprises two opposing sides (left and right sides of the annotated flat surface),
wherein the flat surface comprises an upper side (upper flat side of the annotated flat surface; see annotation),
wherein the upper side is arranged between the two opposing sides (see annotation below),
wherein the nozzle comprises two curved surfaces (curve surfaces on the left and right side of the annotated upper side) on the inner surface,
wherein each of the curved surfaces is arranged on one of the two opposing sides of the flat surface (see annotation below),
wherein the curved surfaces are configured to converge towards one another in the direction of the upper side (see curved arrows as annotated below).
PNG
media_image2.png
827
1098
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 2, Zhao discloses the two curved surfaces are connected via a center plane (plane of the annotated upper side, see above),
Regarding claim 4, Zhao discloses the curved surfaces (see curved arrows annotated above) start at the flat surface in the area where the outlet is arranged in the flat surface (see annotated outlet and flat surface area at annotated upper side).
Regarding claim 7, Zhao discloses the nozzle extends along a center axis (axis through the center of the interaction region 60),
wherein the two curved surfaces are arranged in a mirror-symmetrical manner with respect to a mirror plane (see fig. 2 and annotated fig. 3 below),
wherein the mirror plane contains the center axis and the mirror plane runs through the outlet, in particular through the center of the outlet.
PNG
media_image3.png
499
438
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 13, Zhao discloses the outlet (upstream opening of 50) is arranged at one end (front end) of the nozzle.
Regarding claim 14, Zhao discloses a device comprising a sensor, in particular a camera (par. 37: “camera”), and a nozzle (24; fig. 2, par. 39) according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle is configured for cleaning the sensor (par. 3, 8-9, 37).
Regarding claim 15, Zhao discloses a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle (par. 2: “automotive system”; par. 6; see Hester (US20170036650) incorporated into Zhao by reference, figs. 1-2), having a nozzle according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 16, Zhao discloses a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle (par. 2: “automotive system”; par. 6; see Hester (US20170036650) incorporated into Zhao by reference, figs. 1-2), having a device according to claim 14.
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 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 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao (US20230010574).
Regarding claim 6, Zhao discloses the Nozzle according to claim 1, but is silent regarding in each case one point of each of the two curved surfaces is at spaced apart a maximum of 0.5 mm from the outlet (par. 52 describes various dimensions of other regions in the range between 0.6mm to 7.5mm, but there is no mention of the claimed spacing specifically. Paragraph 52 does indicate that the nozzle is intended to have a smaller size).
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the filing date of the invention to utilize any spacing from above 0 to 0.5mm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. See MPEP 2144.05.II. The Examiner notes that a particular parameter must be recognized as a result effective variable, in this case, that parameter is the micro sizing of the nozzle assembly (par. 3) which achieves the recognized result of providing a compact nozzle (par. 52), therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art at the filing date of the invention would have found the claimed range through routine experimentation. In re Antonie, 559 F.2d 618, 195 USPQ 6 (CCPA 1977). See also In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 9-12 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TUONGMINH NGUYEN PHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-0158. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 5PM M-F.
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, Arthur Hall can be reached at 571-270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TUONGMINH N PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
Prosecution Insights