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) submitted on 07/02/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph [0001] recites “incur[orated” and should be “incorporated”.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-2, 4-13, and 16-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1-2, 4-13, and 16-20 have reference numerals in parenthesis and should be deleted to avoid any ambiguity of anything implied within parenthesis.
Claim 1 recites “a sealing element that acts in both of the hose receptacles at least partially fills” and should be “a sealing element that acts in both of the hose receptacles and at least partially fills”.
Claim 6 recites “the sleeve part comprises two sleeve parts” and should be “the sleeve part comprises two sleeve components” to avoid ambiguity when later limitations reference back to the sleeve part.
Claim 9 recites “the holding part comprises two holding parts” and should be “the holding part comprises two holding components” for similar reasons above for claim 6.
Claim 12 recites “the insert part comprises two insert parts” and should be “the insert part comprises two insert components” for similar reasons above for claim 6.
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 4-10, 12-13, and 17 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 4 recites “an entire course in an axial direction, and/or the fluidic connection, fluidically connecting the hose receptacles, and the connecting channel” which is unclear of what is part of the “and/or” because the use of the commas does not clearly define which limitations are part of which clauses. For examination purposes, the limitation will be interpreted as “an entire course in an axial direction[[,]]; and/or the fluidic connection[[,]] fluidically connecting the hose receptacles[[,]]; and the connecting channel” such that the use of semi-colons would clearly define which parts are part of the “and/or” conditional statement and in this interpretation would only be “the fluidic connection fluidically connecting the hose receptacles”.
Claim 5 recites “the ends of the connecting channel” which lacks antecedent basis and unclear if claims 1 or 5 intended to initially introduce ends of the connecting channel. For examination purposes, the limitation will be interpreted as “
Claim 6 recites “fitted in the hose receptacle” which is unclear of which hose receptacle of the two hose receptacles previously recited in claim 1. For examination purposes, the limitation will be interpreted as “fitted in one of the hose receptacles”.
Claim 8 recites “an appropriately designed receiving opening” which is unclear of what is considered appropriate and inappropriate. For examination purposes, the limitation will be interpreted as “ a receiving opening”.
Claim 12 recites “of the hose receptacle” which is unclear for similar reasons above for claim 6. For examination purposes, the limitation will be interpreted as “of one of the hose receptacles”.
Claim 13 recites “the hose receptacle that is adapted to fix a hose…in the hose receptacle” which is unclear for similar reasons above for claim 6. For examination purposes, the limitation will be interpreted as “one of the hose receptacles that is adapted to fix a hose…in one of the hose receptacles”.
Claim 17 recites “of the fitted hoses” which lacks antecedent basis and unclear if claims 1 or 17 intended to initially introduce fitted hoses. For examination purposes, the limitation will be interpreted as “of
All dependent claims of these claims are rejected under 112th second paragraph by virtue of their dependency. Thus, claims 7 and 9-10 are rejected under 112th second paragraph.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 19 recites “the sleeve part is inserted into the housing”, however, claim 6 from which claim 19 depends from recites “a sleeve part inserted into the housing”. Therefore, claim 19 does not appear to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends from.
Applicant may cancel the claim, amend the claim to place the claim in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim complies with the statutory requirements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 11, 18, and 20 are allowed. It is noted that these claims are objected to for the reasons above under the section Claim Objections.
Claims 4-10, 12-13, and 17 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 of claim 1:
In regard to claim 1, Neoperl GMBH (DE 102020127375 A1) discloses a fluidic deflection unit (Fig. 14 shows a fluidic deflection unit), comprising:
a housing (Fig. 14, housing at 21);
two hose receptacles in the housing (Fig. 11, receptacles at 22 and 23);
a connecting channel in the housing fluidically connecting the hose receptacles (Fig. 14, channel at 24 which connects the hose receptacles 22 and 23), and (), and the hose receptacles and the connecting channel are respectively arranged such that they are separable by a plane (Fig. 14, plane at 29).
Neoperl GMBH does not show or suggest the hose receptacles, beyond the connecting channel, are connected fluidically together by a fluidic connection, and a sealing element that acts in both of the hose receptacles at least partially fills the fluidic connection and/or is formed of two mutually connected rings.
Gramain (US 3,654,965) discloses a sealing element that acts as at least two receptacles which fills a receptacle defined by a housing but does not show or suggest the hose receptacles are connected fluidically together by a fluidic connection.
It would not have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Neoperl GMBH and Gramain, alone or in combination, to include the hose receptacles, beyond the connecting channel, are connected fluidically together by a fluidic connection, and a sealing element that acts in both of the hose receptacles at least partially fills the fluidic connection and/or is formed of two mutually connected rings with a reasonable expectation of success because such a modification would require hindsight reasoning and reconstruction.
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.”
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
The following prior arts made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Huang (US 2021/0108748 A1), Salomon-Bahls et al. (US 6,554,323), Pasbrig (US 5,171,045), Lewis et al. (US 9,388,929), Rademacher (US 2023/0383878), Hu (US 11,933,440), and Hsieh (US 11,788,661) disclose fluidic deflection unit having at least two receptacles, a housing, and a connecting channel similar to applicant’s claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to William S. Choi whose telephone number is (571)272-8223. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:30-5:30.
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, Matthew Troutman can be reached at (571) 270-3654. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM S. CHOI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3679
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