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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/23/2024 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 10/23/2024 with respect to claim(s) 1 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 9-11, 12 and 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Alvarez (US 2017/0006917).
Regarding claim 1 and 8, Alvarez teaches a vaporizer system (e-vapor device 100), comprising: a vaporizer assembly, comprising:
a tubular body (fig. 1) comprising an outer surface and an inner surface defining a receptacle cavity in the tubular body (The vaporizer 112 is configured to engage with the mouthpiece 102 so as to enclose the capsule 108 therebetween [0041]);
an atomizer 112 at least partially disposed within the tubular body, wherein the inner surface and the atomizer define an inner volume in the tubular body (the vaporizer 112 may also include a recess that will align with the recess of the mouthpiece 102 to form a chamber that will house the capsule 108 [0041]);
a puncturable seal configured to contain a vaporizable material inside the inner volume (The capsule 208 may be in a form of a pod 210 with a puncture seal 211 [0069]);
a heating element 122 coupled to the atomizer;
a battery connected to the heating element, wherein the vaporizer assembly is configured to be inserted in a housing (one end of the heater structure 122 is connected to an electrical contact 124 which corresponds to a positive terminal of a power source (e.g., battery) [0061]).
Regarding claim 2 and 9, Alvarez teaches wherein the tubular body further comprises an open first end terminating in a first peripheral annular edge and an open second end opposite the open first end and terminating in a second peripheral annular edge, and wherein the puncturable seal is coupled to the open first end (fig. 3).
Regarding claim 3 and 10, Alvarez teaches wherein the atomizer comprises a base and a cylindrical-shaped body coupled to the base, and wherein: the cylindrical-shaped body comprises a circular outer edge; and the circular outer edge is flush with the inner surface of the tubular body and the base abuts the second peripheral annular edge of the tubular body when receivably engaged with the tubular body (fig. 2).
Regarding claim 15-16, Alvarez teaches a locking component configured to constrain a movement of the vaporizer assembly with respect to the battery and configured to disengage the vaporizer assembly from the battery (the opposing second end of the vaporizer 112 may have external threads that are structured to mate with the internal threads of the body section 126. [0042]).
Regarding claim 11 and 17, Alvarez teaches a mouthpiece 202 and a capsule 208 in a form of a pod 210 with a puncture seal 211 configured to be inserted in the mouthpiece. The puncture seal 211 may be pierced with a puncture device. The mouthpiece 202 may be configured to engage with the vaporizer 112 [0067]-[0069].
Regarding claim 18-19, Alvarez teaches the mouth piece 102 is configured to engage with the vaporizer 112 such that the vapor channels 106 of the mouthpiece 102 will align with the vapor channels 116 of the vaporizer 112 to form a continuous channel for conveyance of the vapor [0063]. The puncture device 114 id configured to engage the vapor channels 116 and by extension 106 thereby reading on the limitation of “wherein the mouthpiece comprises an airflow channel configured to puncture the puncturable seal”.
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.
Claims 5-7 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alvarez (US 2017/0006917) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Li et al. (US 20150181943).
Regarding claim 5 and 13, Alvarez teaches that the heating structure 122 may include a ceramic portion but is silent to wherein the atomizer is comprised of ceramic.
However, Li directed to an atomizer and electronic cigarette discloses an atomizer includes a ceramic tube 132 and a heating element 134 [0026]. It is well known in the art that ceramic heaters heat quickly and are energy efficient.
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Alvarez to include a ceramic atomizer for the benefit of an energy efficient atomizer.
Regarding claim 6-7 and 14, Alvarez is silent to tubular body and seal comprised of a material selected from silicone or wax.
However Li discloses the outer cylindrical housing 102 can be formed of a variety of materials including plastics, rubber and combinations thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the outer cylindrical housing 102 is formed of silicone…Preferably, the material is light and non-brittle [0034].
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Alvarez to include a tubular body and seal made of silicone for the benefit of a light non-brittle cost benefits material.
Claims 4 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alarcon et al. (US 2016/0073692) as applied to claim 1 and 8 above, and further in view of Zuber et al. (US 2018/0027884).
Regarding claim 4 and 12, Alverez is silent to wherein the seal is removable.
However Zuber teaches an aerosol-generating system wherein a substrate container may be sealed by one or more frangible barriers [0073]. Alternatively, or in addition, the substrate container may be sealed by one or more removable barriers [0075].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Alverez to include the removable barriers of Zuber because it has been that applying a known technique to a known device ready for improvement to yield predictable results (See MPEP § 2143I (B)).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER KESSIE whose telephone number is (571)272-7739. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:00am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael H Wilson can be reached on (571) 270-3882. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JENNIFER A KESSIE/Examiner, Art Unit 1747
/Christopher M Rodd/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766