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 .
Priority
Acknowledgement is made to Applicant’s claim to priority to PCT/CN2020/114886 filed September 11, 2020; to Foreign App. No. PCT/CN2020/110870 filed August 24, 2020; and to Foreign App. No. CN202010105137 filed February 20, 2020.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20, filed August 19, 2020, are presently pending in this application.
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 1 and 19, and claims 2-8 and 20 by dependency, 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.
Claims 1 and 19 recite “between an inner wall of the air outlet channel insert” it is unclear whether the limitation “inner wall” is referencing the previously introduced inner wall or introducing a new limitation. For the purpose of this Office action the limitation “between an inner wall of the air outlet channel insert” has been interpreted as --between the inner wall of the air outlet channel insert--.
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.
Claim(s) 9-10 and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by SÄLL DANIEL et al. (WO 2019/145159 A1; hereinafter: “SÄLL”).
Regarding Claim 9, SÄLL discloses an air outlet channel insert applicable to a vaporizer, the air outlet channel insert comprising: an air outlet channel (13; Fig. 3) provided inside the air outlet channel insert and configured to convey vapor; a first air inlet channel (15-1, 26; 3-4) provided on a side wall (A, Fig. A annotated below) of the air outlet channel insert and in communication with the air outlet channel (Fig. 3-4b); and a first airflow guide channel (15-2, 27; Fig. 3) provided on an outer wall (B, Fig. A annotated below) of the air outlet channel insert, wherein the first airflow guide channel is in communication with the first air inlet channel and outside air to guide an external airflow to enter the air outlet channel through the first air inlet channel so as to form a blocking airflow (Fig. 4a, 4b) between an inner wall (C, Fig. A annotated below) of the air outlet channel insert and the vapor (Pg. 8, ln 11-26; Pg. 9, ln 8-19; Pg. 10, ln 4-27; Pg. 11, ln 11-14; Pg. 12, ln 15-19; Examiner notes: SÄLL discloses sheath air flow A2 around the flow of generated vapor “C”.).
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Figure A, Adapted from Figure 3 of SÄLL.
Regarding Claim 10, SÄLL discloses the air outlet channel insert further comprising: a first air inlet (D, Fig. A annotated above); and an air outlet (17; Fig. 3), wherein the first air inlet and the air outlet are in communication with the air outlet channel, respectively (Fig. 3), wherein the first air inlet channel is provided close to the first air inlet, and wherein the first airflow guide channel extends toward the air outlet (Fig. 3).
Regarding Claim 14, SÄLL discloses the air outlet channel insert wherein the outer wall is provided with a plurality of first airflow guide channels (15-2, 27; Fig. 6), and wherein the plurality of first airflow guide channels are distributed at uniform intervals in a circumferential direction of the air outlet channel insert (Fig. 3, 6; Pg. 9, ln 8-15).
Regarding Claim 15, SÄLL discloses the air outlet channel insert wherein the first airflow guide channel extends in a direction parallel to a central axis (E, Fig. A annotated above) of the air outlet channel insert (Fig. 3-4b).
Regarding Claim 16, SÄLL discloses the air outlet channel insert wherein the air outlet channel insert comprises a plurality of first air inlet channels (15-2, 27; Fig. 6), and wherein the plurality of first air inlet channels are provided at intervals sequentially in a circumferential direction of the air outlet channel insert (Fig. 3, 6; Pg. 9, ln 8-15).
Regarding Claim 17, SÄLL discloses the air outlet channel insert wherein the plurality of first air inlet channels are uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction of the air outlet channel insert (Fig. 3, 6; Pg. 9, ln 8-15).
Regarding Claim 18, SÄLL discloses the air outlet channel insert wherein each of the plurality of first air inlet channels extends in a radial direction (A, Fig. B annotated below) of the air outlet channel insert at a position thereof, and wherein angles between extending directions of any two adjacent first air inlet channels are the same (Fig. 6).
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Figure B, Adapted from Figure 6 of SÄLL.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 19 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claim 11-13 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Prior art of SÄLL discloses the air outlet channel insert, above.
Prior art of Kern (DE 102018112711 A1; Machine translation accessed March 21, 2026 relied upon herein) discloses a nebulizer unit with mouthpiece comprising an air outlet channel insert applicable to a vaporizer comprising a blocking airflow between an inner wall of the air outlet channel insert and the vapor (¶ 0019).
Prior art of SÄLL and Kerns alone or in combination fail to disclose or render obvious the air outlet channel insert:
“wherein a periphery of the air outlet channel insert is further provided with a limiting groove surrounding in a circumferential direction of the air outlet channel insert, wherein the limiting groove is configured to place an elastic ring to fix the air outlet channel insert to a vapor generation device, wherein the limiting groove is in communication with the first airflow guide channel, and wherein a depth of the limiting groove is smaller than a depth of the first airflow guide channel.” as recited in dependent claim 11.
“further comprising: a plurality of first air inlet channels, wherein a periphery of the air outlet channel insert is provided with a second airflow guide channel, the second airflow guide channel being in communication with the first airflow guide channel, an extending direction of the first airflow guide channel being different from an extending direction of the second airflow guide channel, wherein at least some first air inlet channels are in communication with the second airflow guide channel, and wherein a number of the first air inlet channels is greater than a number of the first airflow guide channels.” As recited in dependent claim 12.
Prior art of SÄLL and Kerns alone or in combination fail to disclose or render obvious “a vaporizer, comprising: a vapor generation device comprising a liquid storage cavity, a vaporization core, and a mounting portion, the liquid storage cavity being configured to store an aerosol-generation substrate, and the vaporization core being configured to vaporize the aerosol-generation substrate to generate vapor; and an air outlet channel insert configured to be inserted in the mounting portion, the air outlet channel insert comprising an outer wall, an inner wall, and a first air inlet channel, the inner wall encircling to form an air outlet channel, the outer wall being provided with a first airflow guide channel, and the first airflow guide channel being in communication with the first air inlet channel and the air outlet channel, respectively, wherein, when the air outlet channel insert is inserted in the mounting portion, the air outlet channel is in communication with the vaporization core, and the first airflow guide channel is in communication with outside air to guide an external airflow to enter the air outlet channel through the first air inlet channel so as to form a blocking airflow between an inner wall of the air outlet channel insert and the vapor.” as recited in independent claim 1 and similarly in independent claim 19.
Specifically, the air outlet channel insert of SÄLL fails to disclose “a vapor generation device comprising a liquid storage cavity, a vaporization core, and a mounting portion, the liquid storage cavity being configured to store an aerosol-generation substrate, and the vaporization core being configured to vaporize the aerosol-generation substrate to generate vapor; and an air outlet channel insert configured to be inserted in the mounting portion,” as recited in independent claim 1 and similarly in independent claim 19.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELLIOT S RUDDIE whose telephone number is (571)272-7634. The examiner can normally be reached M-F usually 9-7 EST.
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/ELLIOT S RUDDIE/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3785