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 .
35 USC 112(a) rejections
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The specification fails to disclose any sensor as cited in claims 6, 15-16. Thus, it is unclear how the system can be automatically actuated as claimed in claims 6, 15-16. Since the disclosure of this application does not disclose any controller, control unit, it is unclear how that can be combined with the claimed invention in claims 1-20. Please explain and point out where the sensor in combination with the automatic control can be found in this application (paragraph 34 briefly describes the automatic control without connection to any sensor).
Note: if applicant amends the disclosure of include the sensor and the automatic control, please make sure not to add new matter to this application.
35 USC 112(b) rejections
Claims 1-6, 14-20 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.
Claims 1-6, 14-20 are rejected because the metes and bounds of the claim cannot be ascertained because of the following reasons.
1) In claim 1, line 8, the term “body” appears to recite the same element as “a plunger housing” on line 2 of claim 9, note paragraph 22 of this application. This is improper in claim language to cite one element with two different terms. Plus, after first appearance, “said” or “the” must be used to refer back to the same claimed element to avoid multiple inclusion of the same claimed element. Please correct and recheck all claims for similar errors.
2) In claim 3, the term “such as” is vague/indefinite and should be avoided in claim language.
3) In claim 14, line 9, the term “a plunger” is multiple inclusion of the same element, “elongated plunger” on line 4 of claim 14. Please use “said” or “the” to refer to same claimed element to correct the error.
For examination purposes, the offending limitations above will be interpreted to be as follows.
1) and 3) will be treated as no errors.
2) The claimed elements after “such as” will be treated as not parts of the claims.
Prior Art of Record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Holman, Olson, Watanabe, Stockner, and Bullock disclose pumps having clean weep holes.
Conclusions
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Examiner Nguyen whose telephone number is (571) 272-4861. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday--Thursday from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Laurenzi, can be reached on (571) 270-7878.
The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HOANG M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
HOANG NGUYEN
PRIMARY EXAMINER
ART UNIT 3746
Hoang Minh Nguyen
6/5/2026
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