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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/25/2026 has been entered.
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-3, 9, 10, 14, 15 and 121-123 are pending.
Claim 1 has been amended.
Claim 14 remains withdrawn.
Claims 122 and 123 are new.
Claim 120 has been cancelled.
Response to Amendments
The amendments dated 2/25/2026 are acknowledged. The rejection of claims as stated in the Final Rejection dated 10/7/2025 are withdrawn due to the amendments dated 2/25/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 2/25/2026, have been fully considered and are persuasive. The Applicant has amended claim 1 to include limitations that were not previously presented, specifically that the filter has a center axis along the longitudinal direction, and the filter has two cavities located separately on the center axis. The prior art of record does not appear to disclose the new limitations. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly found prior art Ninomiya (WO2016021021) in combination with previously applied prior art.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 9, 10, 15 and 121-123 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shinkawa (WO2018216430A1) in view of Zuber (US 20140305448) and further in view of Ninomiya (WO2016021021).
US20200085098A1 is applied as a translation of WO2018216430A1. All citations to ‘Shinkawa’ refer to US20200085098A1.
EP3178333 is applied as a translation of WO2016021021. All citations to ‘Ninomiya’ refer to EP3178333.
Regarding claims 1 and 122, Shinkawa teaches an aroma cartridge (20) having a longitudinal direction (Fig. 1), the aroma cartridge comprising:
an aroma generator (30) to be heated, the aroma generator including an aroma- generating substrate (320) to be heated by a heating element, the aroma-generating substrate (320) containing an aerosol former, such as shredded tobacco, and a fragrance component, such as menthol ([0085]), the aroma generator having a first end in the longitudinal direction (Fig. 5);
a mouthpiece (34) including a filter (33) for filtering an aerosol smoke and a fragrance component released from the aroma generator due to heating by the heating element ([0075]);
a cover material (32) located on the first end of the aroma generator (Fig. 5), the cover material being a mesh ([0067]); and
a cartridge exterior body (31) that connects the cover material (32), the aroma generator (320), and the mouthpiece (34) in the longitudinal direction, wherein the aroma generator is located between the cover material and the mouthpiece in the longitudinal direction (Fig. 5).
Shinkawa does not expressly teach that the aroma generator further includes an interior material wound on the aroma-generating substrate.
Zuber teaches an aroma cartridge comprising: an aroma generator to be heated (10), the aroma generator including an aroma-generating substrate (20) to be heated by a heating element (120), the aroma-generating substrate containing an aerosol former and a fragrance component ([140] and [180]), the aroma generator further including an interior material wound on the aroma-generating substrate ([0067]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have included an interior material wound on the aroma-generating substrate of Shinkawa, as suggested by Zuber, because the interior material would serve to contain the components of the aroma-generating substrate while being a part of the substrate (Zuber, [0067]).
Modified Shinkawa does not expressly teach that the filter has two cavities located separately on the center axis along the longitudinal direction.
Ninomiya teaches a smoking article with filter ([0001]), wherein the smoking article (1) has a filter (4) which has a center axis along the longitudinal direction (CL). Ninomiya teaches that the filter has two cavities (42s and 43a) located separately on the center axis (Fig. 1) wherein each of the cavities has a cylindrical shape (Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included the two cavities located separately on the center axis of the filter, as disclosed by Ninomiya, in the filter of modified Shinkawa because Ninomiya teaches that the cavities allow for the filter to have a low filtration and high dilution design ([0027]) which increases inhaling satisfaction to improve fragrance inhaling taste ([0003] and [0028]).
Regarding claim 2, Shinkawa teaches the filter (33) is made of fibers ([0075]), and has a cylindrical shape (Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 3, Shinkawa teaches the cartridge exterior body has a void (35A in Fig. 9).
Regarding claim 9, Shinkawa teaches a mouthpiece with a filter (33) (Fig. 6).
Shinkawa does not expressly teach that mouthpiece includes a support member for preventing the aroma generator from moving toward the mouthpiece and a cooling member for cooling that is adjacent the support member.
Zuber teaches an aroma cartridge wherein the mouthpiece includes: a support member (30) for preventing the aroma generator (20) from moving toward the mouthpiece (70), the support member being adjacent in the longitudinal direction to the aroma generator (Fig. 1); a cooling member (40) for cooling a component that is volatilized upon heating of the aroma generator, the cooling member being adjacent to the support member in the longitudinal direction (Fig. 1); and the filter (50) adjacent to the cooling member in the longitudinal direction (Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have included the support element and the cooling element of Zuber adjacent the filter of Shinkawa in the aroma cartridge of Shinkawa because the support element is configured to resist downstream movement of the aerosol-forming substrate (Zuber, [0097]) and the cooling element may act to cool the temperature of a stream of aerosol drawn through the cooling element by means of thermal transfer (Zuber, [0124]).
Regarding claims 10 and 15, Shinkawa teaches a filter made of fibers ([0075]), and has a cylindrical shape (Fig. 6).
Shinkawa does not expressly teach that the mouthpiece includes the claimed support member and the claimed cooling member, wherein the cooling member is adjacent to the support member in the longitudinal direction and the filter is adjacent to the cooling member in the longitudinal direction.
Zuber teaches an aroma cartridge wherein the mouthpiece includes: a support member (30) preventing the aroma generator (20) from moving toward the mouthpiece (70), the support member being adjacent in the longitudinal direction to the aroma generator and having a through hole and center axes of the support member and a cylinder of the through hole are substantially the same (Fig. 1); a cooling member (40) for cooling a component that is volatilized upon heating of the aroma generator, the cooling member being adjacent to the support member in the longitudinal direction (Fig. 1); and the filter made of fibers, specifically cellulose acetate tow ([0149]), the filter having a cylindrical shape and being adjacent to the cooling member (40) in the longitudinal direction (Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have included the support element and the cooling element of Zuber adjacent the filter of Shinkawa in the aroma cartridge of Shinkawa because the support element is configured to resist downstream movement of the aerosol-forming substrate (Zuber, [0097]) and the cooling element may act to cool the temperature of a stream of aerosol drawn through the cooling element by means of thermal transfer (Zuber, [0124]).
Regarding claim 121, Shinkawa further teaches comprising:
a partition wall material (33X), the partition wall material being made of a mesh ([0112] and Fig. 17). Shinkawa teaches that the aroma generator (30) has a second end opposite to the first end, wherein the partition wall material (33X) is located on the second end of the aroma generator (Fig. 17).
While Fig. 17 shows the aroma generator (30) on its side, incorporating the partition wall material (33X) into the aroma generator (30) shown in Fig. 9, would result in the partition wall located between the aroma generator (30) and the mouthpiece (34) in the longitudinal direction and the cartridge exterior body (31) connecting the cover material (32), the aroma generator (320), the partition wall material (33X) and the mouthpiece (34) in the longitudinal direction (([0111]-[0112]) and Fig. 9). Alternatively, the courts have held that changes in shape are a matter of design choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious in the absence of new or unexpected results that the particular configuration of the claimed product was significant. See MPEP 2144.04. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have changed the orientation of the aroma generator of Fig. 17 so that it is upright with a reasonable expectation of success and predictable results.
Regarding claim 123, modified Shinkawa teaches that the length of the first cavity (42a) is 7mm and the length of the second cavity (43a) is 5 mm to 10 mm (Ninomiya, [0043]). Modified Shinkawa further teaches the diameter of the first cavity (42a) is 2mm to 3mm (Ninomiya, [0041]) and the diameter of the second cavity (43a) is 3mm to 6mm (Ninomiya, [0042]). Thus, the surface area of the first cavity (assuming diameter of 2 mm and length of 7 mm) is 43.96 mm2 (=π*2*7) and the surface area of the second cavity (assuming diameter of 3 mm and length of 5 mm) is 47.1 mm2 (=π*3*5) for a total surface area of the two cavities of 91.06 mm2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YANA B KRINKER whose telephone number is (571)270-7662. The examiner can normally be reached Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Philip Louie can be reached at 571-270-1241. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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YANA B. KRINKER
Examiner
Art Unit 1755
/YANA B KRINKER/Examiner, Art Unit 1755 /PHILIP Y LOUIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1755
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