This document is a response letter to a client regarding a patent application for a shower head. It summarizes the amendments made to the claims in response to a written opinion, including adding a limitation that the liquid soap is drawn from the reservoir by negative pressure created by water. It explains the arguments made regarding novelty and inventive step over the cited prior arts, which do not disclose this limitation. The letter also addresses some of the client's concerns and suggests the invention can be differentiated based on this negative pressure feature rather than other design aspects.

1. Question 1
Response to Written Opinion
We refer to Written Opinion for Singapore Patent Application.
Amendment
Claim 1 is amended to include the feature that the liquid soap is sucked or drawn out of
the reservoir by a negative pressure created by the water. Support for this amendment can
be found in page 3 of present application, i.e. “As the water 28 flows into the second
chamber 26, this creates a negative pressure between the reservoir 18 and the second
chamber 26 that causes the liquid soap 12 to be sucked or drawn out of the reservoir 18
via the perforations 44 and into the second chamber 26.”
Also the feature of claim 5 has been introduced to claim 1 and claim 5 has been deleted.
Furthermore, we noted clerical errors in claim 1. The errors has been corrected as follows:
a flow selector for selectively directing the water from the inlet to the first second
chamber for mixing with the liquid soap prior to discharging the mixed water and
liquid soap from the outlet, or to a second first chamber in which only the water is
discharged from the outlet,
We believe no additional matters have been introduced in these amendments.
Novelty
D1 discloses apparatus for dispensing a detergent into the flow of water to a shower.
However, D1 does not disclose that the liquid soap is sucked or drawn out of the reservoir
by a negative pressure created by the water.
D2 discloses device for generating foam in a shower. However, D2 does not disclose that
the reservoir is integrally formed with the shower head.
Therefore, new claim 1 is novel over D1 and D2.
Inventive Step
According to Written Opinion, it would be obvious to modify the spout of D2 to include a
water outlet similar to the shower head (42).
However, even if the spout of D2 is modified to include a water outlet similar to the shower
head (42), it will not reach the subject matter of new claim 1 because the feature that the
liquid soap is sucked or drawn out of the reservoir by a negative pressure created by the
water is not obvious.
In D2, the foaming liquid from the containers (1, 1a) flows by gravity. Therefore the
containers must be located at higher place.
However, the shower head proposed by present invention is simple to use and creates a
neat package. The feature that the liquid soap is sucked or drawn out of the reservoir by a
negative pressure created by the water enables to create the neat package. Without this

2. feature, an efficient an automatic way of drawing out the liquid soap which prevents
wastage of the liquid soap will not be achieved.
Other observations
According to Written Opinion, claim 1 is not supported by the description, at least when
claim 5 is read together with claim 1. The description does not teach an embodiment in
which the reservoir is not integrally formed with the shower head.
Therefore Claim 1 is amended to include the subject matter of original claim 5. Therefore,
new claim 1 will be supported by the description.
Also, according to Written Opinion, claim 1 is unclear at least with regard to the first and
second chambers, which does not correspond with the description.
In response to this remark, Applicant corrected the parts in claim 1. It is a clerical error,
therefore no new matter is introduced by this amendment.

3. Claims:
1. A shower head for selectively adding liquid soap to shower water, comprising
an inlet for channeling the water into the shower head;
an outlet for discharging the water from the shower head;
a reservoir for storing the liquid soap;
a first and a second chamber;
a flow selector for selectively directing the water from the inlet to the first second
chamber for mixing with the liquid soap prior to discharging the mixed water and
liquid soap from the outlet, or to a second first chamber in which only the water is
discharged from the outlet,
wherein the reservoir is integrally formed with the shower head, and the liquid soap
is sucked or drawn out of the reservoir by a negative pressure created by the water.
2. A shower head according to claim 1, wherein the first and second chambers are
arranged above the outlet.
3. A shower head according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the outlet includes a multiplicity of
water outlet ports.
4. A shower head according to claim 3, wherein the multiplicity of water outlet ports is
divided into a first and a second section, the first section being configured to discharge the
mixed water and liquid soap from the first chamber, and the second section is configured
to discharge the water from the second chamber.
5. A shower head according to any preceding claim, wherein the reservoir is integrally
formed with the shower head.
6. A shower head according to any preceding claim, further comprising an aperture for
refilling the reservoir with the liquid soap.
7. A shower head according to claim 6, further comprising a plug for sealing the
aperture.
8. A shower head according to any preceding claim, wherein the liquid soap is
selected from the group consisting of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel.
9. A shower head according to any preceding claim, wherein the flow selector includes
a pivotable door for directing the water to the first chamber or the second chamber.
10. A shower head according to claim 9, wherein the pivotable door is pivotably attached
to a pivot pin, and the shower head further comprises a knob operable by a user for
moving the pivotable door.

4. Question 2
Dear Alex,
Thank you for your letter. I prepared response to Written Opinion and submitted before the
due date as requested.
I understand your design is much more compact than US70002000(D1) because the
reservoir is inside the shower head. However, the size is usually considered as minor
design variation in the context of patent prosecution. Also, including the reservoir inside
the shower head will be considered as obvious for the person skilled in the art.
I also understand in your product, the reservoir is integrally formed as described in claim 5.
What the examinar is saying is that you cannot protect beyond what you have disclosed.
Since claim 1 does not include the feature that the reservoir is integrally formed, claim 1 is
also including the design in which the reservoir is not integrally formed. To address this
issue, I introduced the feature of claim 5 into new claim 1.
As you noticed the reservoir for WO 03/01000 (D2) is in the handle and this is different
from your product. However, the examiner noted that it would be obvious to modify the
spout of D2 to include a water outlet similar to the shower head (42). Therefore it would be
advisable to prepare different argument.
According to your letter, one really important feature is that your shower heads are made
of titanium which looks very elegant. If I understand correctly, it is important for marketing
reason. However it is unclear how technically important the titanium shower heads are.
Therefore I did not include the feature in this response to Written Opinion.
I reviewed all documents and noted that the feature that the liquid soap is sucked or drawn
out of the reservoir by a negative pressure created by the water was disclosed by none of
prior arts. Therefore I included this feature in new claim 1 and prepared the corresponding
argument. I agree with you regarding that your products provide an efficient an automatic
way of drawing out the liquid soap which prevents wastage of the liquid soap, therefore I
included the part into the argument.
Also, I noted that there is a possibility for you to go back to the conventional valve instead
of the flow selector. However, I believe your invention can be differentiated from prior arts
by the above feature, i.e. he liquid soap is sucked or drawn out of the reservoir by a
negative pressure created by the water.
Please find the enclosed amendment and arguments as filed. Should you have any
queries, please feel free to contact me. I hope you enjoy safe trip.
Best regards,
Yosuke Tanaka