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 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 09/03/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/03/2026 has been considered by the examiner except for the Non-Patent Literature as there does not appear to be a copy of the material cited.
The information disclosure statement filed 09/03/2026 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 27,30 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
-Regarding claims 27, 30 and 35 the phrase “hair cut by the clipper head is prevented from entering the cavity through the first plurality of pinholes while the fan is activated” is unclear. As currently claimed, it appears that all hair is prevented from entering the device while the fan is active. It is unclear how the fan creates sufficient positive pressure to prevent all hair of all types, shapes, and sizes from being prevented from entering the cavity. For the purposes of examination, the limitation will be treated as preventing most hair from entering the cavity.
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.
Claims 1, 3-6, 11, 15, 20, 22-27, 29,30,32,35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toy (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2015/0367521) in view of Sueyoshi (US 2013/0340260).
Regarding claim 1, Toy teaches an electric hair cutting device (100), comprising:
a housing (102) having a cavity (Figures 1-2 and Paragraph 0022);
a hair cutting module (104) coupled to a first end of the housing and configured for receiving a clipper head, the housing comprising a top surface (114) that is adjacent to and facing the clipper head when the clipper head is attached to a connector extending from the top surface (Figure 3 and Paragraphs 0023-0024);
a first motor positioned within the cavity for driving the clipper head when the clipper head is attached to the connector (Paragraphs 0007-0008); and
a cooling module (180) contained in the cavity (Examiner notes the housing is elongated and capable of being held by a user as a handle to perform the desired shaving functions), the cooling module comprising a fan (200)(Figure 8) driven by second motor within the housing (Paragraph 0032 and 0040; Paragraph 0032 notes the cooling system, including a fan, may be driven by a separate second motor).
Toy does not provide the housing having a first plurality of pinholes in the top surface for delivering air to the clipper head, when the clipper head is attached to the connector and positioned in the top surface so that at least a portion of the air after exiting the first plurality of pinholes directly strikes an interior surface of the clipper head for cooling the clipper head; or
the cooling module having a second plurality of pinholes in a bottom end of the housing to deliver the air to the first plurality of pinholes on the top surface configured for cooling the head when attached to the housing; wherein the cooling module is arranged such that at least the portion of the air (1) passes between the first motor and a wall of the housing for cooling the first motor and (2) passes through the first plurality pinholes in the top surface such that at least the portion of the air is directed toward the clipper head and blades of the clipper head upon exiting the first plurality of pinholes.
Sueyoshi teaches it is known in the art of hair trimmers to incorporate a housing (11,43,51) with a top surface (X1) including a first plurality of pinholes (434) in the top surface (Paragraph 0062; See annotated Figure 12 below; Examiner notes the plurality of pinholes are in a top surface) for delivering air to a clipper head (12,14,15), when the clipper head is attached to a connector (Paragraph 0036; Figure 7) and positioned in the top surface so that at least a portion of the air after exiting the first plurality of pinholes directly strikes an interior surface of the clipper head for cooling the clipper head (Figure 11; Paragraph 0061 noting the fan blows air into the clipper head); and
a cooling module (50) having a second plurality of pinholes (110) in a bottom end of the housing to deliver the air to the first plurality of pinholes on the top surface configured for cooling the head when attached to the housing (Figure 4B; Paragraph 0036 and 0056, 0070); wherein the cooling module is arranged such that at least the portion of the air (1) passes between a first motor (320) and a wall of the housing for cooling the first motor (Paragraph 0046 and Figures 9 and 11) and (2) passes through the first plurality pinholes in the top surface such that at least the portion of the air is directed toward the clipper head and blades of the clipper head upon exiting the first plurality of pinholes (Figures 2, 7 11; Paragraph 0061-0062; Noting the air from fan 50 is directed upwards through the plurality of holes 432 towards the clipper head 12,14,15 and the blades).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of Toy to incorporate the teachings of Sueyoshi to provide the top surface with a plurality of pinholes directing the airflow towards the clipper head and the cooling module to pinholes in the bottom of the housing to deliver the airflow towards and through the top surface. Doing so allows for the fan to cool the device during use.
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Regarding claim 3, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 1, wherein the fan simultaneously cools the clipper head and the motor (Sueyoshi Figure 1 noting the air intake 110 colling the motor and continuing into the slipper head)).
Regarding claim 4, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 3, wherein the fan creates positive pressure in the housing (Sueyoshi Figure 1 and Paragraph 0062).
Regarding claim 5, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 1, wherein the clipper head and the cooling module are modular (Toy Figure 2 and Paragraph 0032; Sueyoshi Figures 1, 5 9 and 11).
Regarding claim 6, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 1, wherein the clipper head and the cooling module are integral (Examiner notes the parts to be integral when connected as shown in Figure 1 of Toy).
Regarding claim 11, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 1, wherein the clipper head is removeable (Toy Figure 2).
Regarding claim 15, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 4, wherein the fan is configured to be active even if the motor is not operating (Toy Paragraphs 0008 and 0032).
-Regarding claim 20, the modified device of Toy teaches the hair cutting device of claim 1, and wherein the top surface is substantially flat (Toy Figures 2 and 3).
-Regarding claim 22, the modified device of Toy teaches the hair cutting device of claim 1, and wherein the top surface (114) is a surface directly between the clipper head and an inner cavity (Toy Figures 2 and 3 and Paragraph 0030).
-Regarding claim 23, the modified device of Toy teaches the hair cutting device of claim 1, and wherein the second plurality of pinholes (110) are on a side of the bottom end (Sueyoshi Figure 1).
-Regarding claim 24, the modified device of Toy teaches the hair cutting device of claim 23, and wherein the second plurality of pinholes on the side of the bottom end are laterally disposed (Sueyoshi Figures 1 and 11)).
-Regarding claim 25, the modified device of Toy teaches the hair cutting device of claim 24, and wherein the second plurality of pinholes are positioned in rectangular-shaped surfaces (Sueyoshi Figure 11), but does not provide wherein the second plurality of pinholes are positioned in trapezoidal-shaped surfaces.
In light of the various air inlets of Toy and Sueyoshi, one of ordinary skill in the art would have good reason to pursue air inlet positioning which are known to be useful for a particular cooling function. There are a finite number of possible surface shapes the air inlets may be arranged and allow for the fan to provide the cooling function. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to try any reasonable surface shape to position the air inlets in an attempt to provide an improved cooling function for the shaving/trimmer device, as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp with a reasonable expectation of success. KSR Int' l Co. V. Teleflex Inc. 550 U.S. _, 82 USPQ 2d 1385 (Supreme Court 2007) (KSR).
-Regarding claim 26, the modified device of Toy teaches the hair cutting device of claim 1, and wherein the top surface is flat and is coupled to the connector for receiving the head (Toy Figures 2 and 3).
-Regarding claim 27, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 1, wherein the fan is configured to create sufficient positive pressure within the cavity by blowing the air such that hair cut by the clipper head is prevented from entering the cavity through the first plurality of pinholes while the fan is activated (Sueyoshi Figure 1 and Paragraphs 0062,0068-0071; Examiner notes the fan provided blows air outward and is capable of preventing most hair from entering the cavity of the hair cutting device through the plurality of pinholes).
Regarding claim 29, Toy teaches an electric hair-cutting device(100), comprising: a housing (102) having a first end and a second end opposite of the first end, including a surface of the first end (114)
a removable clipper head (104) attached to the housing for cutting hair, the removable clipper head positioned adjacent to the surface such that the surface faces the removable clipper head (Figures 2 and 3);
a first motor positioned within the cavity and coupled to the removable clipper head for driving the removable clipper head (paragraph 007-008, 025);
a fan positioned within the cavity and configured to draw air into the cavity through at least one opening in the housing and blow the air past the first motor between the first motor and a wall of the housing, thereby cooling the first motor (Paragraphs 0007-0008, 0032, 0038),
a second motor positioned within the cavity and coupled to the fan for driving the fan (paragraph 0032).
Toy does not provide the surface of the first end has a plurality of pinholes, or wherein through the plurality of pinholes such that at least a portion of the air is directed toward the removable clipper head and blades of the removable clipper head upon exiting the plurality of pinholes and strikes an interior surface of the removable clipper head, thereby cooling the removable clipper head.
Sueyoshi teaches it is known in the art of hair trimmers to incorporate a housing (11,43,51) with a surface (X1) including a plurality of pinholes (434) in a top surface (Paragraph 0062; See annotated Figure 12 above; Examiner notes the plurality of pinholes are in a surface; Figure 11; Paragraph 0061 noting the fan blows air into the clipper head); and
a fan (50) positioned within a cavity and configured to draw air into the cavity through at least one opening (110) in the housing and blow the air (1) past a first motor (320)(Figure 1) between the first motor and a wall of the housing, thereby cooling the first motor (Paragraph 0046 and Figures 9 and 11) and (2) through the plurality of pinholes such that at least a portion of the air is directed toward the removable clipper head and blades of the removable clipper head upon exiting the plurality of pinholes and strikes an interior surface of the removable clipper head, thereby cooling the removable clipper head; and a second motor positioned within the cavity and coupled to the fan for driving the fan (Figures 2, 7 11; Paragraph 0061-0062; Noting the air from fan 50 is directed upwards through the plurality of holes 432 towards the clipper head 12,14,15 and the blades).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the device of Toy to incorporate the teachings of Sueyoshi to provide the surface with a plurality of pinholes directing the airflow towards the clipper head. Doing so allows for the fan to cool the device during use.
Regarding claim 30, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 29, and wherein the fan is configured to create sufficient positive pressure within the cavity by blowing the air such that hair cut by the removable clipper head is prevented from entering the cavity through the plurality of pinholes while the fan is activated (Sueyoshi Figure 1 and Paragraphs 0062,0068-0071; Examiner notes the fan provided blows air outward and is capable of preventing most hair from entering the cavity of the hair cutting device through the plurality of pinholes)
Regarding claim 32, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 29, further comprising a controller configured to activate the fan when the head is activated Toy Paragraphs 0022 and 0032).
Regarding claim 35, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 29, wherein the fan is configured to create sufficient positive pressure within the cavity by blowing the air such that hair cut by the removable clipper head is prevented from entering the cavity through the plurality of pinholes while the fan is activated (Sueyoshi Figure 1 and Paragraphs 0062,0068-0071; Examiner notes the fan provided blows air outward and is capable of preventing most hair from entering the cavity of the hair cutting device through the plurality of pinholes).
Claims 7, 28 and 31, 33-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toy (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2015/0367521) in view of Sueyoshi (US 2013/0340260) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Morris (U.S. Patent No. 3,604,915).
Regarding claim 7, the modified device of Toy teaches the modular electric hair-cutting device 1, except comprising a processor configured for receiving data indicative of a temperature from at least one sensor contained in the housing and comparing the temperature to a threshold temperature, the processor further configured to increase or decrease a speed of the fan depending upon a comparison of the data indicative of the temperature and the threshold temperature to cool the motor and/or an interior of the housing.
Regarding claim 7, Morris teaches a hair-cutting device including a processor (Paragraph 0018) configured for receiving data indicative of a temperature from at least one sensor (120) contained in the housing and comparing the temperature to a threshold temperature (Paragraph 0026), the processor further configured to increase or decrease the fan speed depending upon a comparison of the data indicative of the temperature and the threshold temperature to cool the motor and/or an interior of the housing (Paragraphs 0027, 0029, 0032-0033).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have further modified the device of Toy to incorporate the teachings of Morris to provide the shaving device with a processing unit for controlling temperature. In doing so, it allows for more accurate and precise temperature control during use.
-Regarding claims 28 and 31, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claims 1 and 29 respectively, further comprising: a heat pipe extending from the removable clipper head into the cavity (Toy Paragraph 0041-0042);
Morris teaches a hair-cutting device including a controller (Paragraph 0018) and a temperature sensor (120) contained in the housing and comparing the temperature to a threshold temperature (Paragraph 0026), the controller configured to increase or decrease the fan speed depending upon a comparison of the data indicative of the temperature and the threshold temperature to cool the motor and/or an interior of the housing (Paragraphs 0027, 0029, 0032-0033).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have further modified the device of Toy to incorporate the teachings of Morris to provide the controller with a temperature sensor for controlling internal temperature. In doing so, it allows for more accurate and precise temperature control during use.
Thus, the modified device of Toy in view of Morris provides a heat pipe extending from the clipper head into the cavity (Toy (Paragraph 0041-0042); a temperature sensor positioned within the cavity (Morris Paragraph 0026) and configured to sense a temperature of the heat pipe (Morris Paragraph 0026 and Toy Paragraph 0041); and a controller (Toy Paragraph 0022 and Morris Paragraph 0018 and 0027) configured to control the second motor based on the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor (Toy Paragraph 0041-0042 and Morris Paragraphs 0027-0029 and 0032).
Regarding claim 33, the modified device of Toy provides the electric hair-cutting device of claim 32, but does not provide further comprising a first temperature sensor for sensing a temperature within the cavity, wherein the controller is configured to control the fan based on the first temperature sensor.
Morris teaches a hair-cutting device including a controller (Paragraph 0018) and a first temperature sensor (120) for sensing a temperature within the cavity (Paragraph 0026), wherein the controller is configured to control the fan based on the first temperature sensor (Paragraph 0027 and 0033).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have further modified the device of Toy to incorporate the teachings of Morris to provide the shaving device with a processing unit for controlling temperature. In doing so, it allows for more accurate and precise temperature control during use.
Regarding claim 34, the modified device of Toy teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 33, does not provide further comprising a second temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of the removable clipper head, wherein the controller is configured to control the fan based on the second temperature sensor.
In light of Morris, modifying Toy with any reasonable number of temperature sensors for sensing a temperature of the clipper head, would be a mere duplication of the essential working parts of the device and involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have further modified the device of Toy to incorporate multiple temperature sensors as doing so allows for various temperature checks on the clipper head to prevent overheating of the device during use.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toy (U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2015/0367521) in view of Sueyoshi (US 2013/0340260) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wahl (U.S. Patent No. 3,604,915).
Regarding claim 17 the modified device of Morris teaches the electric hair-cutting device of claim 1, but does not provide wherein a lever is coupled to a movable blade and when actuated increases a distance between a stationary blade and the movable blades to vary hair length.
Wahl teaches it is known in the art of hair trimmers to incorporate a lever (17) to vary cutting length between two blade members (Col. 2, Lines 46-50 and Figure 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have further modified the device of Toy to incorporate the teachings of Wahl to provide a lever to vary cutting length. In doing so, it allows for a variety of trimming length cuts as desired by the user.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims 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.
Conclusion
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/RICHARD D CROSBY JR/ 09/11/2026Examiner, Art Unit 3724
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