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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/28/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The Examiner acknowledges the amendments and arguments. The prior rejections have been withdrawn. New rejections are set forth herein.
It is the Examiner’s understanding the claims are directed toward the embodiment of Figures 5a-c. From the restriction, the Examiner believed the embodiments chosen were Figures 3a-b, 11a-e, 17a-e, or 18a-d. The Examiner can see how a broad interpretation would allow the embodiment of 5a-c to be included. The Examiner is warning the Applicant that a claim set directed toward another embodiment might end in a non-compliant amendment.
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, 8-10, and 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baertschi (US20090158540A1) in view of Ballmaier (US20100263149) in view of Baertschi (US 2009/0188063), herein referenced as Baertschi B.
Regarding claim 1 and 24, Baertschi discloses an oral hygiene device having a front side and a rear side that faces away from the front side, with at least one application unit and with at least one handle unit which is connected to the application unit and which comprises at least one material volume body, wherein
the handle unit comprises at least one essential hollow-space structure (Figure 4 Paragraph 75), which is at least substantially delimited by the material volume body and which extends at least over a substantial portion of an extent ()along a main extent direction of the handle unit,
in at least one cross section that is perpendicular to the main extent direction of the handle unit, the hollow-space structure is surrounded by the material volume body, the material volume body has a plurality of recesses on the front side (Item 30) and a plurality of recesses on the rear side (Item 34) via which the hollow-space structure is connected to an environment, and between 3 and 10 recesses are realized per side (Figures 1 and 3),
an orientation of the cross sections of the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses is lengthwise,
the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses are arranged at approximately equal distances in a row along the longitudinal axis of the handle unit (Paragraph 77),
the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses are arranged offset from one another (best shown in Figure 2, Paragraph 79),
the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses respectively hollows the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses induce in a wall of the material volume body, are spaced apart from one another by webs of the material volume body (Items 35 and 40),
after penetrating the wall of the material volume body, the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses end in the hollow-space structure, and
the material volume body comprises a thumb-gripping region, and the thumb- gripping region is formed by a concave hollow in the handle unit (Item 24 Figure 2/4).
Baertschi fails to explicitly disclose the recesses are introduced relative to a longitudinal axis length-wise and are circular-, oval- or elliptic-shaped AND a volume of the hollow space structure that is enclosed is between 4 and 13 (or 6-10) cm3 AND wherein the thumb-gripping region is formed by a further material component, which is part of the handle unit, the further material component being implemented extending through the material volume body.
Ballmaier teaches a toothbrush wherein the recesses are introduced relative to a longitudinal axis length-wise and are circular-, oval- or elliptic-shaped (Paragraph 14). 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 shape of the recesses such that they were elliptic shape as taught by Ballmier. Such a modification is viewed as a change in shape, which has been held to be routine by one skilled in the art (See MPEP 2144.04). The change from a rounded rectangle to an elliptic shape might be found to be more aesthetically pleasing from one user to another.
Regarding the volume of the hollow space structure that is enclosed is between 4 and 13 (or 6-10) cm3 , 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 size of the volume of the hollow space of Baertschi. Such a modification is viewed as a change of size, which has been held to be of routine by one skilled in the art (see MPEP 2144.04). A toothbrush handle is optimized to be comfortable to a user. As discussed above Baertschi in view of Ballmaier disclose the claimed structure. Adjusting the volume would be within the disclosure of Baertshi (see paragraph 7). The volume of the hollow space would adjust for a child’s tooth brush in comparison to an adult toothbrush. Further, depending on the material used the volume could vary. Different materials have different thicknesses, and different cooling rates which are variables a manufacturer takes into account to produce a low cost, light weight, toothbrush. In the instant application, Pages 14-15 fails to disclose any criticality of unexpected results to the claimed range.
Baertschi B teaches an example of an oral hygiene device wherein the thumb-gripping region is formed by a further material component, which is part of the handle unit, the further material component being implemented extending through the material volume body (Figure 1 Items 18 and 36). Originally disclosed by Baertschi, the use of soft materials can also be used by injection molding into the handle components (Paragraph 142). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Baertschi with the soft material in the thumb region as taught by Baertschi B. Such a modification would allow for a user to more comfortably grip the device (Baertschi Paragraph 14).
Regarding claim 8, Baertschi in view of Ballmaier in view of Baertschi B disclose the oral hygiene device according to claim 1, wherein the material volume body engages around the hollow-space structure in a plane that is perpendicular to the main extent direction of the handle unit at least substantially in a C shape (Baertschi Figure 5).
Regarding claim 9, Baertschi in view of Ballmaier in view of Baertschi B disclose the oral hygiene device according to claim 1, wherein the material volume body is realized in a thin-walled fashion, wherein a substantial portion of the material volume body is realized with a substantially uniform wall thickness (Baertschi Paragraph 81).
Regarding claim 10, Baertschi in view of Ballmaier in view of Baertschi B disclose the oral hygiene device according to claim 1. Baertschi fails to explicitly disclose wherein a volume of the hollow-space structure is larger than a volume of the material volume body. 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 length of the hollow space in comparison to the overall length of the toothbrush. Such a modification is viewed as a change of shape which has been held to be of routine by one of ordinary skill in the art (see MPEP 2144.04). Extending the length of the hollow structure would decrease the amount of material being used for the injection molding.
Regarding claim 23, Baertschi in view of Ballmaier in view of Baertschi B disclose the oral hygiene device according to claim 1, wherein the recesses on the front side have different diameters, a diameter of the recesses increasing toward a center of the handle unit, and the recesses on the rear side have different diameters, a diameter of the recesses increasing toward the center of the handle unit (Figure1 and 3 show the recesses growing in diameter from the bottom to the center where Item 38 is located).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baertschi (US20090158540A1) in view of Ballmaier (US20100263149) in view of Baertschi (US 2009/0188063), herein referenced as Baertschi B in view of Jungnickel (US 2019/0200743).
Regarding claim 11, Baertschi in view of Ballmaier in view of Baertschi B disclose the oral hygiene device according to claim 1. Baertschi fails to explicitly disclose a center of gravity that is situated, when the device is laying on the underside in the main extent direction, the center of gravity is located 40% to 70% of the total length of the oral hygiene device Jungnickel teaches an oral hygiene device wherein a center of gravity that is situated, when the device is laying on the underside in the main extent direction, the center of gravity is located 40% to 70% of the total length of the oral hygiene device (Paragraph 93-94). 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 length of the toothbrush, the width of the toothbrush and the length of the hollow body. Such modifications are viewed as a changes of shape which has been held to be of routine by one of ordinary skill in the art (see MPEP 2144.04). Jungnickel further discloses having the center of gravity more biased towards the handle, allows for when the toothbrush is loaded with tooth paste, the toothbrush is more stable and doesn't tip over as easily (Jungnickel Paragraph 96).
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baertschi (US20090158540A1) in view of Ballmaier (US20100263149) in view of Baertschi (US 2009/0188063), herein referenced as Baertschi B in view of Xi (US 2016/0073769)
Regarding claim 25 Baertschi discloses an oral hygiene device having a front side and a rear side that faces away from the front side, with at least one application unit and with at least one handle unit which is connected to the application unit and which comprises at least one material volume body, wherein
the handle unit comprises at least one essential hollow-space structure (Figure 4 Paragraph 75), which is at least substantially delimited by the material volume body and which extends at least over a substantial portion of an extent ()along a main extent direction of the handle unit,
in at least one cross section that is perpendicular to the main extent direction of the handle unit, the hollow-space structure is surrounded by the material volume body, the material volume body has a plurality of recesses on the front side (Item 30) and a plurality of recesses on the rear side (Item 34) via which the hollow-space structure is connected to an environment, and between 3 and 10 recesses are realized per side (Figures 1 and 3),
an orientation of the cross sections of the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses is lengthwise,
the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses are arranged at approximately equal distances in a row along the longitudinal axis of the handle unit (Paragraph 77),
the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses are arranged offset from one another (best shown in Figure 2, Paragraph 79),
the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses respectively hollows the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses induce in a wall of the material volume body, are spaced apart from one another by webs of the material volume body (Items 35 and 40),
after penetrating the wall of the material volume body, the recesses of the plurality of front recesses and the plurality of rear recesses end in the hollow-space structure, and
the material volume body comprises a thumb-gripping region, and the thumb- gripping region is formed by a concave hollow in the handle unit (Item 24 Figure 2/4)
Baertschi fails to explicitly disclose the recesses are introduced relative to a longitudinal axis length-wise and are circular-, oval- or elliptic-shaped AND a volume of the hollow space structure that is enclosed is between 4 and 13 (or 6-10) cm3 AND wherein the thumb-gripping region is formed by a further material component, which is part of the handle unit, the further material component being implemented extending through the material volume body AND the rear side of the at least one handle unit has a concave shape when viewed from the longitudinal axis.
Ballmaier teaches a toothbrush wherein the recesses are introduced relative to a longitudinal axis length-wise and are circular-, oval- or elliptic-shaped (Paragraph 14). 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 shape of the recesses such that they were elliptic shape as taught by Ballmier. Such a modification is viewed as a change in shape, which has been held to be routine by one skilled in the art (See MPEP 2144.04). The change from a rounded rectangle to an elliptic shape might be found to be more aesthetically pleasing from one user to another.
Regarding the volume of the hollow space structure that is enclosed is between 4 and 13 (or 6-10) cm3 , 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 size of the volume of the hollow space of Baertschi. Such a modification is viewed as a change of size, which has been held to be of routine by one skilled in the art (see MPEP 2144.04). A toothbrush handle is optimized to be comfortable to a user. As discussed above Baertschi in view of Ballmaier disclose the claimed structure. Adjusting the volume would be within the disclosure of Baertshi (see paragraph 7). The volume of the hollow space would adjust for a child’s tooth brush in comparison to an adult toothbrush. Further, depending on the material used the volume could vary. Different materials have different thicknesses, and different cooling rates which are variables a manufacturer takes into account to produce a low cost, light weight, toothbrush. In the instant application, Pages 14-15 fails to disclose any criticality of unexpected results to the claimed range.
Baertschi B teaches an example of an oral hygiene device wherein the thumb-gripping region is formed by a further material component, which is part of the handle unit, the further material component being implemented extending through the material volume body (Figure 1 Items 18 and 36). Originally disclosed by Baertschi, the use of soft materials can also be used by injection molding into the handle components (Paragraph 142). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Baertschi with the soft material in the thumb region as taught by Baertschi B. Such a modification would allow for a user to more comfortably grip the device (Baertschi Paragraph 14).
Xi teaches an oral care device wherein the rear side of the at least one handle unit has a concave shape when viewed from the longitudinal axis (Figures 7 and 8 Item 120). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Baertshi to include the concave shaped handle end as taught by Xi. Such a modification would allow the user to place the toothbrush on a surface and easily hold the head upright (Xi Paragraph 38).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 11/28/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 103- Baertschi in view of Ballmaier have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Baertschi in view of Ballmaier in view of Baertschi B as discussed above.
Conclusion
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/TOM RODGERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723