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 1-14 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 1 recites the limitation "the water surface" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the output shaft" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Several instances in the claims positively recite water within the system after previously functionally claiming water, making it unclear if the system and elements of the device positively claim the interaction of the invention with water. For example:
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the water flow" in line 12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. This causes further confusion in claims 12-14.
Claims 2-6, 8-10 depend from rejected claim 1 and are subsequently rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Huang et al TW M649998.
Regarding claim 1, Huang discloses a pet water dispenser, comprising: a bottom base (100) with a mounting cavity; a containment section (200) mounted on said bottom base for containing drinking water (Huang, Figure 7); a water agitation assembly (220) positioned within said containment section and submerged below the water surface (as best understood); wherein the mounting cavity houses a drive assembly (132) for driving the water agitation assembly, and the mounting cavity spatially isolates the drive assembly from the drinking water within the containment section (Huang, Figure 7).
Regarding claim 11, Huang discloses a pet water dispenser, comprising: a bottom base (100) equipped with a drive assembly (132), wherein the drive assembly comprises a magnetic drive component (Huang translation, abstract); a containment section (200) for holding drinking water, mounted on the bottom base; a water agitation assembly (220) immersed in the drinking water to agitate it; wherein the water agitation assembly comprises an agitation base (203) and a water agitation disc (220), with a magnetic driven component mounted on the agitation base (Huang translation: “When the magnetic motor 130 is running, the stirrer 220 rotates accordingly”); the drive assembly drives the agitation base to rotate and agitate the water through magnetic force interaction between the magnetic drive component and the magnetic driven component; the water agitation disc is indirectly driven by the water flow generated by the agitation base (Huang translation: “First, directly add pet drinking water to the mixing cup 200, water cup 300 or water tray 400 of the pet water dispenser 10, turn on the power to drive the magnetic motor 130 to rotate, and then drive the stirring bar 220 to rotate, causing the water in the mixing cup 200 to generate centrifugal force.”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10 and 12-14 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.
Claims 15-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Huang discloses a water agitation base (203) but fails to disclose that base being directly driven by a drive assembly to induce water movement. The base (203) of Huang is stationary. Disc (220) rests in groove base (203) and does not include a central hole, as water is intended to flow around the disc, not through it (Huang translation: “ In one embodiment, a distance D2 between the bottom surface 308 of the water cup 300 and the top surface 221 of the stirrer 220 is set to 2 to 4 mm, so that the centrifugal flow of water to both sides is more concentrated.”). Although (133) could be considered an agitation base with (203) being the magnetic driven component mounted thereon, agitation base 133 is not immersed in the drinking water.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: TW M650615 discloses a pet water dispenser, comprising: a bottom base (1) with a mounting cavity; a containment section (2) mounted on said bottom base for containing drinking water; a water agitation assembly (31) positioned within said containment section and submerged below the water surface (as best understood); wherein the mounting cavity houses a drive assembly (3) for driving the water agitation assembly, and the mounting cavity spatially isolates the drive assembly from the drinking water within the containment section (TW M650615, Figure 1).
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/KRISTEN C HAYES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642
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