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 § 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) 6-12 and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jochnowitz (U.S Pub. No. 20210235762) in view of Yilmaz (WO 2019081571).
Regarding claim 6, Jochnowitz discloses an aerosol generating device comprising: a cartridge comprising:
Since Jochnowitz discloses the cartridge may including a liquid aerosol-forming substrate to be heated [0044-0045], it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that portion (73, fig. 1) can be a liquid portion.
a first heater (32, fig. 1) arranged on one side of the liquid portion to heat the liquid portion;
a medium portion (by reference sign 72, fig. 1); and
a second heater (31, fig. 1) surrounding, in two opposite directions, at least a portion of the medium portion to heat the medium portion; and
a body portion accommodating the cartridge and comprising an induction coil generating an induced magnetic field to heat the first heater and the second heater of the cartridge [0014]; wherein the first heater is porous [0015],
Jochnowitz discloses the first heater and the second heater are induction heating-type heaters [0014-0015],
Jochnowitz discloses the heated aerosol passing through the medium portion is discharged from one end portion of the medium portion (see fig. 1).
Jochnowitz does not expressly discloses the aerosol generated by heating the liquid portion passes through the first heater. Yilmaz discloses an aerosol generated by heating the liquid portion passes through the first heater and flows toward the medium portion (page 9 and fig. 6). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use the heating method of Yilmaz for liquid reservoir.
Regarding claim 7, Jochnowitz discloses the induction coil extends in a lengthwise direction of the body portion ([0018] and fig. 1); it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to combine the coils to apply induced magnetic field to both the first heater and the second heater.
Regarding claim 8, Yilmaz suggests the first heater and the second heater are heated to 100 0C to 300 °C (page 10); therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have the device a preheating mode of the aerosol generating device to be heated to the claimed range.
Regarding claim 9, Yilmaz discloses the first heater can be heated to a higher temperature than of a second heater (page 2) and Fraser also discloses the heaters can be heated to different temperatures as desired [0095]; therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have in a heating mode of the aerosol generating device wherein the first heater is heated to the claimed range of 150 °C to 300 °C higher than a temperature of the second heater.
Regarding claim 10, Yilmaz discloses the liquid portions can have 2 different portions (see fig. 6) to apply different kind of flavors; Jochnowitz discloses different temperatures can be apply to different part type of flavor [0005] and the aerosol generating device includes a through hole around the second medium portion, the through hole configured to discharge the aerosol (see fig. 1); therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have the medium portion comprises a first medium portion surrounded by the second heater and a second medium portion not surrounded by the second heater, and the aerosol generating device further includes a through hole around the second medium portion, the through hole configured to discharge the aerosol as taught by the combination of Yilmaz and Jochnowitz.
Regarding claim 11, Yilmaz discloses the body portion further comprises a mouthpiece portion (50, fig. 1), and the aerosol passing through the through hole and discharged from the cartridge flows to the mouthpiece portion to be delivered to a user.
Regarding claim 12, Yilmaz discloses the mouthpiece portion (50, fig. 1) is located on a side opposite the medium portion with respect to the liquid portion.
Regarding claim 15, Yilmaz suggests the first heater is an electric resistive heater, and comprises a susceptor material to be heated through induction heating (page 16).
Regarding claim 16, Jochnowitz discloses the medium portion is configured to be heated by the second heater to add flavor to the aerosol passing through the medium portion [0045].
Regarding claim 17, Jochnowitz discloses the medium portion is spaced apart from the first heater in a lengthwise direction of the cartridge (see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 18, Yilmaz discloses the liquid portion comprises a storage tank configured to store liquid composition (page 9 and fig. 6).
Regarding claim 19, since Jochnowitz discloses the liquid portion comprises at least one of solid and liquid components [0045], it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have a wrapper (solid) configured to contain a liquid composition.
Regarding claim 20, Yilmaz discloses the first heater contacts the liquid portion at one side of the liquid portion to heat up the liquid portion (page 9).
Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jochnowitz (U.S Pub. No. 20210235762) in view of Yilmaz (WO 2019081571) and further in view of Fraser et al. (U.S Pub. No. 20180184712).
Regarding claim 13, Fraser discloses a partition wall (424 and [0037]) is arranged between the cartridge and the induction coil, and the aerosol flows to the mouthpiece portion through an airflow path between the cartridge and the partition wall.
Regarding claim 14, Fraser discloses the body portion further comprises an air flow sensor [0050] (corresponding to the claimed a puff detection sensor for detecting the user's inhalation).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 8/13/2025 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
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 PHU H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-5931. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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, Michael H Wilson can be reached at 5712703882. 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.
/PHU H NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1747
Prosecution Insights