DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 09/24/2025 has been entered and accepted.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 09/24/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that “the device shown by Dubief produces an inhalable aerosol” and “no one would be motivation to use the device of Dubief to produce an inhalable aerosol containing air fresher or insecticide” (Applicant’s remarks filed 09/24/2025). However, it is known in the art at the effective filing date of the invention that some consumers would inhale aerosol containing air fresheners (such as Ylang Ylang essential oil) due to the presence of essential oils which cause strong flavors and personal tastes as evidenced by therabidweasel (Flavoring using Essential Oils for Vaping, 2016-2024, E-liquid Recipes). Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the application would find it obvious to use air fresheners to produce an inhalable aerosol.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. A full rejection can be found below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 4, 6, and 8-14 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.
Regarding claim 1, applicant’s claim amendment of “wherein said body has a membrane over the liquid contained in the body” is not properly supported in the specifications. Page 7 of applicant’s remarks filed 09/24/2025 argues that support is drawn from Figure 2 wherein evaporation from the membrane over the liquid in the container is shown. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would not have found it clear that Figure 2 discloses a membrane covering liquid in a container. Page 3 Lines 26-31 of the applicant’s specifications filed 01/08/2019 does disclose that the evaporation surface can be a membrane which substantially coincides with the area defined by the heating film and that the membrane is not covered, but does not disclose that the membrane covers the liquid within the container.
Regarding claim 11, the applicant’s claim amendment of “wherein said heating element has a geometric shape that is the same as the geometric shape of said pad” is not properly supported in the specifications. Page 10 of applicant’s remarks filed 09/24/2025 argues that support is drawn from Figure 5 and Pages 4 Lines 25-28 of the specification. However, the applicant’s citation from the specification does not seem to provide any support wherein the shape of the heating element is the same as the geometric shape of the pad. In reference to Figure 5, the applicant attempts to argue that both the heating film and the pad are square in shape. However, the heating element of Figure 5 clearly has rounded edges while the pad does not have rounded edges. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would not have found it obvious to consider the heating element and pad to have the same geometric shape.
Claims 4, 6, 8-10, and 12-14 are rejected upon being dependent upon one of the above claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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(s) 1, 4, 8-9, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meyer (US 20050155985 A1) in view of Hammons (US 6085026 A), Gasper (US 20160346418 A1), Monter (US 5015824 A), and Deenen (US 20130168379 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Meyer (US 20050155985 A1) teaches a volatile substance evaporation device (Figure 1) comprising:
a body (porous element 6) containing a liquid that includes a volatile substance (Paragraph 28, porous element is impregnated with fragrance 14), the volatile substance being an air freshener or an insecticide (Paragraph 35, volatile substance includes perfumes, disinfecting compositions, and insecticides); and
a heating element comprising a flexible heating film (Paragraph 18, thin film heater 7; Paragraph 22, heater is flexible) positioned and configured to heat said liquid to evaporate said volatile substance in said liquid (Paragraph 21, thin film heater 7 is able to deliver a precise quantity of heat energy to the porous element 6 which allows for precise volatilization of the fragrance);
said heating film is placed close enough to said body to heat the liquid and cause evaporation of said volatile substance (Paragraph 21, thin film heater 7 is able to delivers heat such that volatilization of the fragrance occurs).
Meyer fails to teach:
a tongue integrated with the heating element at one end and connectable to a connector at another end to enable activating and regulating the heating element without wires or a weld,
said body has a membrane over the liquid contained in the body and defining an evaporation surface having an area from which said volatile substance evaporates
said body has an evaporation surface having an area from which said volatile substance evaporates, said heating film has an area that is the same as said area of said evaporation surface from which said volatile substance evaporates
said heating film is a film made of a plastic material provided with more than one printed circuit to permit partial activation.
Hammons (US 6085026 A) teaches an electrically heated vapor dispensing apparatus, comprising:
a body containing a liquid that includes a volatile substance (Column 7 Line 29-34, volatile substance container comprises a container element which contains a volatile substance in liquid form), the volatile substance being an air freshener or an insecticide (Column 5 Line 67 – Column 6 Line 3, volatile substance container 62 which contains a quantity of volatile substances such as fragrance or perfume or insecticide); and
a heating element comprising a heating film (Column 3 Lines 14-16, radiator means of the heater comprises a film affixed to a top surface of a base portion) positioned and configured to heat said liquid to evaporate said volatile substance in said liquid (Column 4 Lines 14-17, heating means provides sufficient heat such that causes the volatilization of the volatile substance);
said body has a membrane over the liquid contained in the body (Column 7 Lines 64-67 and Lines 1-41, vapor permeable film is provided to cover the volatile substance composition and which allows volatile substances to pass from the container while denying the passage of the volatile substance composition contained therein to physical flow out) and defining an evaporation surface having an area from which said volatile substance evaporates (Figure 7 Column 8 Lines 46-51, contact area between container element 94 and base portion 10)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Meyer with Hammons and have used a volatile substance container element instead of a pad. This would be done as the use of a physical container instead of a pad is taught by Hammons to be substitutable with predictable results (Hammons Column 9 Lines 22-26) and further such as to allow for solid or semi-solid volatile substance compositions to also be contained within the container element and vaporized (Hammons Column 7 Lines 29-34).
Meyer modified with Hammons fails to teach:
a tongue integrated with the heating element at one end and connectable to a connector at another end to enable activating and regulating the heating element without wires or a weld,
said heating film has an area that is the same as said area of said evaporation surface from which said volatile substance evaporates
said heating film is a film made of a plastic material provided with more than one printed circuit to permit partial activation.
Gasper (US 20160346418 A1) teaches a low wattage USB powered wax warmer, wherein:
said body (dish 14 for holding wax melts 18) has an evaporation surface and defining an area from which said volatile substance evaporates (Figure 4, center portion 58 of dish 14 where the wax melt faces contact area 170 and the heating film; Paragraph 26, flat center portion 58 for receiving the wax melt), said heating film has an area that is the same as said area of said surface from which said volatile substance evaporates (Paragraph 33, the contact area 170 is best defined as the surface area of the of the heater 116 and can range from 5% to 125% of the flat center portion 58 of the dish; Paragraph 33, the total contact surface area can be 100% of the bottom surface of the dish),
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Meyer with Gasper and have the heater have area which has the same area as the surface from which the volatile substance evaporates. This would have been done to maximize the surface area of the evaporating body with the thin film heater and maximize the thermal efficiency of the heater, which Meyer teaches is advantageous (Meyer Paragraphs 22 and 32).
Meyer fails to teach:
a tongue integrated with the heating element at one end and connectable to a connector at another end to enable activating and regulating the heating element without wires or a weld,
said heating film is a film made of a plastic material provided with more than one printed circuit to permit partial activation.
Monter (US 5015824 A) teaches an PTC heating apparatus (Figure 3), comprising:
a tongue (Figures 2-3, connector tab 42 projects perpendicular to the remaining portion of the heating assembly) integrated with the heating element at one end (Figure 2, rest of heater assembly is on right end of connector tab 42) and connectable to a connector at another end (Figure 2 Column 3 Lines 16-33, pair of metal strips or terminals 48 are engaged to the other end of the connector tab 42) to enable activating and regulating the heating element without wires or a weld (Column 3 Lines 16-33, power are supplied through terminals 48 such that power is applied across the thickness of the PTC layer 28 without wires or a weld).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Meyer with Monter and use a connector tab to connect the heater assembly to power. This would have been done to provide a simplified means for providing power by attaching electrical conductors and thereby providing simplified assembling (Monter Column 5 Lines 1-8).
Meyer modified with Monter fails to teach:
said heating film is a film made of a plastic material provided with more than one printed circuit to permit partial activation.
Deenen (US 20130168379 A1) teaches a thick film heater for liquid heating appliances, wherein:
said heating film (thick film heating element 3) is a film with more than one track to permit partial activation (Paragraph 102, thick film heater 3 includes a plurality of independently switchable thick film heating tracks; Paragraph 45, thick film material may be printed).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Meyer with Deenen and used a heating film with a plurality of independently switchable thick film heating tracks. This would have been done to achieve the desired heating output and/or profile (Deenen Paragraph 102).
Regarding claim 4, Meyer as modified teaches the volatile substance evaporation device according to claim 1.
Gasper further teaches:
said heating film (heater 116) comprises at least one electronic component (Paragraph 32, comprises a resistive component 118 stamped in a film 120).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 8, Meyer as modified teaches the volatile substance evaporation device according to claim 1.
Hammons further teaches:
said body is a container comprising one or more housings for containing one or more liquids (Figure 7 Column 7 Line 29-34, volatile substance container comprises a container element which contains a volatile substance in liquid form).
It would have been obvious for the same motivation as claim 1.
Regarding claim 9, Meyer as modified teaches the volatile substance evaporation device according to claim 1.
Gasper further teaches:
said heating film comprises an adhesive layer on at least one of its faces (Paragraph 32, heater 116 includes a film 120 which is a self-adhesive polyester film which fixes the heater to the bottom surface of the dish).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Meyer with Gasper and have the heating film comprise an adhesive layer. This would have been done to affix the heater to the body with the evaporation surface.
Regarding claim 12, Meyer as modified teaches the volatile substance evaporation device according to claim 1, wherein:
the heating film is a PTC (Paragraph 19, resistive material preferably has PTC characteristics).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meyer (US 20050155985 A1) in view of Hammons (US 6085026 A), Gasper (US 20160346418 A1), Monter (US 5015824 A), and Deenen (US 20130168379 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of BEAUFEREY (EP 0295351 A1).
Regarding claim 10, Meyer as modified teaches the volatile substance evaporation device according to claim 1.
Meyer as modified fails to teach:
said heating film comprises an electronic component including a thermistor.
BEAUFEREY (EP 0295351 A1) teaches a flexible heating element and its method of manufacture, wherein:
flexible heating elements are known to consist of two electrically insulting films of polyester type (Paragraph 9)
thermistors are integrated into either the loops of the heating track or glued to the outer surface of the heating element (Paragraph 56)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to modified Meyer with Beauferey and have the film of the NiChrome stamped polyester heater comprise a thermistor. This would be done for the purpose of controlling the temperature at the heart of the element and/or to control the skin temperature of the heating element (BEAUFEREY Paragraph 56).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dubief (US 20140346689 A1) in view of Meyer (US 20050155985 A1), Monter (US 5015824 A), and Deenen (US 20130168379 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Dubief (US 20140346689 A1) teaches a volatile substance evaporation device (Figures 2-4) comprising:
a wick (capillary body 117) containing a liquid that includes a volatile substance (Paragraph 48, liquids include aqueous solutions as well as artificial flavors), the volatile substance being an air freshener or an insecticide (Paragraph 48, liquids include ethanol, plant extracts, nicotine, natural or artificial flavors or any combination of these), said wick having an end that extends out of a container (Paragraphs 2-4 Paragraph 72-73, capillary body 117 protrudes out of liquid storage portion 113); and
a heating element positioned and configured to heat said liquid to evaporate said volatile substance in said liquid (Paragraph 66, battery 107 supplies electrical energy to the heater 119 to heat the end of the capillary body 117 surrounded by the heater wherein the liquid at that end of the capillary body is vaporized);
wherein said wick has a surface defining an area from which said volatile substance evaporates (Paragraph 70-72, porous sleeve surrounding the end of the capillary body 117), said heating film is positioned around but spaced from said end that extends out of said container (Figure 1 Paragraph 70-73, porous sleeve surrounding the end of the capillary body 117 extends out of the liquid storage portion 113), said heating element is placed close enough to the end that extends out of the container to heat the liquid and cause evaporation of said volatile substance (Paragraph 66, battery 107 supplies electrical energy to the heater 119 to heat the end of the capillary body 117 surrounded by the heater wherein the liquid at that end of the capillary body is vaporized).
Dubief fails to teach:
a heating element comprising a flexible heating film positioned and configured to heat said liquid to evaporate said volatile substance in said liquid;
a tongue integrated with the heating element at one end and connectable to a connector at another end to enable activating and regulating the heating element without wires or a weld,
said heating film is a film made of a plastic material provided with more than one printed circuit to permit partial activation.
Meyer (US 20050155985 A1) teaches an electrically heated vapor dispensing apparatus, wherein:
a heating element comprising a flexible heating film positioned and configured to heat said liquid to evaporate said volatile substance in said liquid (Figure 4 Paragraph 32, thin film 7 held in contact with the upper end 41 of the wick 40 in a spiral arrangement that serves the maximize the surface area of the wick 40);
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Dubief with Meyer and have a heater be made of a flexible heating film. This would have been done to maximize the surface area of the wick in proximity to the thin film heater whilst minimizing the quantity of resistive material in the heater and hence minimize the power requirements of the apparatus (Meyer Paragraph 32).
Dubief modified with Meyer fails to teach:
a tongue integrated with the heating element at one end and connectable to a connector at another end to enable activating and regulating the heating element without wires or a weld,
said heating film is a film made of a plastic material provided with more than one printed circuit to permit partial activation.
Monter (US 5015824 A) teaches an PTC heating apparatus (Figure 3), comprising:
a tongue (Figures 2-3, connector tab 42 projects perpendicular to the remaining portion of the heating assembly) integrated with the heating element at one end (Figure 2, rest of heater assembly is on right end of connector tab 42) and connectable to a connector at another end (Figure 2 Column 3 Lines 16-33, pair of metal strips or terminals 48 are engaged to the other end of the connector tab 42) to enable activating and regulating the heating element without wires or a weld (Column 3 Lines 16-33, power are supplied through terminals 48 such that power is applied across the thickness of the PTC layer 28 without wires or a weld).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Dubief with Monter and use a connector tab to connect the heater assembly to power. This would have been done to provide a simplified means for providing power by attaching electrical conductors and thereby providing simplified assembling (Monter Column 5 Lines 1-8).
Dubief modified with Monter fails to teach:
said heating film is a film made of a plastic material provided with more than one printed circuit to permit partial activation.
Deenen (US 20130168379 A1) teaches a thick film heater for liquid heating appliances, wherein:
said heating film (thick film heating element 3) is a film with more than one track to permit partial activation (Paragraph 102, thick film heater 3 includes a plurality of independently switchable thick film heating tracks; Paragraph 45, thick film material may be printed).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Dubief with Deenen and used a heating film with a plurality of independently switchable thick film heating tracks. This would have been done to achieve the desired heating output and/or profile (Deenen Paragraph 102).
Claim(s) 11 and 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meyer (US 20050155985 A1) in view of Hammons (US 6085026 A), Gasper (US 20160346418 A1), and Deenen (US 20130168379 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Meyer (US 20050155985 A1) teaches a volatile substance evaporation device (Figure 1) comprising:
a pad (porous element 6) impregnated with a liquid that includes a volatile substance (Paragraph 28, porous element is impregnated with fragrance 14), the volatile substance being an air freshener or an insecticide (Paragraph 35, volatile substance includes perfumes, disinfecting compositions, and insecticides), the pad having a geometric shape (Figure 1, pad 6 has a rectangular cross section); and
a heating element comprising a flexible heating film (Paragraph 18, thin film heater 7; Paragraph 22, heater is flexible), said film having an area, and being positioned and configured to heat said liquid to evaporate said volatile substance in said liquid (Paragraph 21, thin film heater 7 is able to deliver a precise quantity of heat energy to the porous element 6 which allows for precise volatilization of the fragrance), wherein said pad has surfaces from which said volatile substance evaporates (Paragraph 21, thin film heater 7 is able to deliver a precise quantity of heat energy to the porous element 6 which allows for precise volatilization of the fragrance), wherein said pad has another surface that rests on said heating film (Paragraph 18, heating means 6 is located underneath the porous element 6 and in register therewith) and wherein said surfaces from which said volatile substance evaporates are in contact with air (Figure 1, opposite surface from the porous element 6 are in open to the interior of the apparatus 1).
Meyer fails to teach:
wherein said pad has an area that is the same as said area of heating film, wherein said heating film is a film made of a plastic material provided with more than one printed circuit to permit partial activation
wherein said heating element has a geometric shape that is the same as the geometric shape of said pad
Hammons (US 6085026 A) teaches an electrically heated vapor dispensing apparatus, comprising:
a pad impregnated with a liquid that includes a volatile substance (Column 6 Lines 15-19, porous container 63 which includes within a quantity of vaporized material), the volatile substance being an air freshener or an insecticide (Column 5 Line 67 – Column 6 Line 3, volatile substance container 62 which contains a quantity of volatile substances such as fragrance or perfume or insecticide), the pad having a geometric shape (Figure 6, pad is clearly rectangular); and
a heating element comprising a heating film (Column 3 Lines 14-16, radiator means of the heater comprises a film affixed to a top surface of a base portion), said film having an area (Figure 2, film has an area), and being positioned and configured to heat said liquid to evaporate said volatile substance in said liquid (Column 4 Lines 14-17, heating means provides sufficient heat such that causes the volatilization of the volatile substance), wherein said pad has surfaces from which said volatile substance evaporates (Figure 9, pad 63 has other surfaces from which the volatile substances evaporate), wherein said surfaces from which said volatile substance evaporates are in contact with air (Column 6 Lines 41-67, block is made of a porous material which would allow to contact air; would also reasonably be contacting air such as to allow the volatile substances to escape into the air), and wherein said heating element has a geometric shape that is the same as the geometric shape of said pad (Figure 6, pad 63 and radiator means 14 both have rectangular shape)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Meyer with Hammons and placed the flexible heater film on a base such as to heat a pad having the same geometric shape as the pad. This would have been done to provide a device for electrically heated vapor dispensing within an ambient environment which is simple in construction (Hammons Column 1 Line 54 – Column 2 Line 6).
Meyer fails to teach:
wherein said pad has an area that is the same as said area of heating film, wherein said heating film is a film made of a plastic material provided with more than one printed circuit to permit partial activation
Gasper (US 20160346418 A1) teaches a low wattage USB powered wax warmer, wherein:
wherein said pad has an area that is the same as said area of heating film (Paragraph 33, the contact area 170 is best defined as the surface area of the of the heater 116 and can range from 5% to 125% of the flat center portion 58 of the dish; Paragraph 33, the total contact surface area can be 100% of the bottom surface of the dish)
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Meyer with Gasper and have the heater have area which has the same area as the surface from which the volatile substance evaporates. This would have been done to maximize the surface area of the evaporating body with the thin film heater and maximize the thermal efficiency of the heater, which Meyer teaches is advantageous (Meyer Paragraphs 22 and 32).
Meyer modified with Gasper fails to teach:
wherein said heating film is a film made of a plastic material provided with more than one printed circuit to permit partial activation
Deenen (US 20130168379 A1) teaches a thick film heater for liquid heating appliances, wherein:
said heating film (thick film heating element 3) is a film with more than one track to permit partial activation (Paragraph 102, thick film heater 3 includes a plurality of independently switchable thick film heating tracks; Paragraph 45, thick film material may be printed).
It would have thus been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Meyer with Deenen and used a heating film with a plurality of independently switchable thick film heating tracks. This would have been done to achieve the desired heating output and/or profile (Deenen Paragraph 102).
Regarding claim 13, Meyer as modified teaches the volatile substance evaporation device according to claim 11, wherein:
the heating film is a PTC type (Paragraph 19, resistive material preferably has PTC characteristics).
Regarding claim 14, Meyer as modified teaches the volatile substance evaporation device according to claim 11.
Hammons further teaches:
wherein the pad comprises cellulose (Column 7 Lines 1-21, pad of fibrous material made of cellulose).
It would have been obvious for the motivation as claim 11.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRANKLIN JEFFERSON WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7782. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6PM (E.S.T).
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, Ibrahime Abraham can be reached at (571) 270-5569. 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.
/F.J.W./Examiner, Art Unit 3761
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761