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 .
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.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 18 August 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 1-6, 9, 10 and 12 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.
Claim 1 recites in part a skin treatment device comprising a dielectric sheet, a cooling apparatus comprising a nozzle for spraying a cooling fluid, an insulator layer between the dielectric sheet and the nozzle of the cooling apparatus, the insulating layer comprising a pair of electrodes on an inner surface of the dielectric sheet opposite an outer surface of the dielectric sheet…wherein the cooling apparatus is configured to cool the dielectric sheet by spraying the cooling fluid via the nozzle onto a portion of the inner surface of the dielectric sheet between the pai or electrodes…wherein the dielectric sheet is replaceably attached to the insulator layer. However, Applicant does not provide support for a skin treatment device that comprises an insulator layer, a cooling apparatus configured to cool the dielectric sheet by spraying the cooling fluid via the nozzle onto a portion of the inner surface of the dielectric sheet between the pair of electrodes, and the dielectric sheet is replaceably attached to the insulator layer. Applicant’s discloses an embodiment, see Fig. 1, where the electrodes are themselves located on an inner surface of the dielectric sheet which are formed integrally and which contacts the to-be-treated skin portion and the cooling apparatus that is configured to cool the dielectric sheet by spraying the cooling fluid via a nozzle onto a portion of the inner surface of the dielectric sheet between the pair or electrodes. The embodiment of Fig. 1 does not include an insulator layer as claimed or a removably attached dielectric layer. Applicant discloses another embodiment, see Figs. 2 and 3, where an insulator layer that includes electrodes on an inner surface of a dielectric sheet configured to cover a to-be-treated skin portion. The embodiment of Figs. 2 and 3 does not include a cooling apparatus comprising a nozzle for spraying a cooling fluid, wherein the cooling apparatus is configured to cool the dielectric sheet by spraying the cooling fluid via the nozzle onto a portion of the inner surface of the dielectric sheet between a pair of electrodes, and there would be no way for such a configuration to work as there would be no way for a cooling fluid spray to reach a portion of the inner surface of the dielectric sheet between the electrodes. These embodiments are presented as alternatives. Therefore, a fair reading of the specification does not provided for the limitations of claim 1.
Claims 2-6, 9, 10 and 12 are necessarily rejected as being dependent on rejected claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAITLYN E SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-5845. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joanne M Rodden can be reached at (303) 297-4726. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KAITLYN E SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3794
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