DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Amendment
Claim 1 is amended. Claims 4 and 10-15 are cancelled. Claims 1-3, 5-9 and 16-18 are presently examined.
Applicant’s arguments regarding the rejections under 35 USC 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of 11/25/2025 are overcome.
Applicant’s arguments regarding the rejections under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of 11/25/2025 are overcome.
Applicant’s arguments regarding the non-statutory double patenting rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of 11/25/2025 are overcome.
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 1-3, 5-9 and 16-18 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 specification does not provide support for a core extrusion that is surrounded by a sheet, wherein the term “sheet” is interpreted in accordance with applicant’s special definition. The special definition of sheet provided in the specification is “a laminar element having a width and length greater than the thickness thereof” (page 9, lines 28-29), and applicant’s amendment filed 2/4/2026 explicitly states that “an elongated cylinder… is not a sheet or laminar element having a width and length greater than the thickness thereof.” Applicant’s specification does disclose the aerosol permeable core (figure 2, reference numeral 2) being surrounded by a sleeve a linear, axially oriented fibers (page 12, lines 7-14, figure 2, reference numeral 3). However, the sleeve is shown as being a cylindrical element (figure 2). Moreover, at no point does applicant’s specification describe the sleeve as being a sheet. There is therefore no implicit or explicitly disclosure of the aerosol permeable core being surrounded by a laminar element having a width and length greater than the thickness thereof, as required by the claim in light applicant’s special definition of the term “sheet.”
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.
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/RUSSELL E SPARKS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1755