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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/17/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Rejections under 35 USC 102
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks filed 02/17/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1-14 under 35 USC 102 have been fully considered with respect to the amended claims and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made over Safraoui (US 20210205016 A1) in view of Wang (US 20110218597 A1). Specifically, Safraoui does not disclose a projection unit disposed in the head portion of the personal care device; however, Wang discloses these features as detailed in the rejection under 35 USC 103 below.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 11/02/2022 has been considered by the examiner.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Safraoui (US 20210205016 A1) in view of Wang (US 20110218597 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Safraoui teaches an apparatus (90,92) configured for use with a personal care device (10), wherein the apparatus is configured to provide visual guidance (see [0296]; device 10 may comprise a visual information system for viewing the progress of the treatment directly on part P of the body such as light projectors 90 and 92) to a user on movement of the personal care device across a body of a subject (see [0296]; distinguishing directly on the part of the body between the areas that have already been treated and the as yet to be treated areas),
wherein the personal care device is configured to perform a personal care operation on a plurality of successive treatment areas of the body by successively moving the personal care device from a respective one of a plurality of current treatment positions on the body (see Fig. 9; treatment area corresponding to part P of the body) corresponding with a respective one of said successive treatment areas to a next treatment position on the body corresponding with a next one of said successive treatment areas (see Figs. 3A-C, [0258-0259]; where subsequent adjacent treatment areas 33 are pictured, each area 33 corresponding to the localized area which receives a singular laser pulse) and performing the personal care operation to said next one of said successive treatment areas while maintaining the personal care device in said next one of said treatment positions (see Fig. 1; picturing path F which the personal care device follows while providing treatment),
the apparatus (90, 92) being part of the personal care device (10) and the personal care device having a head portion (30), the apparatus comprising:
a projection unit (90, 92) configured to project a light pattern on to a surface of the body (see [0296]; a visual information system for viewing the progress of the treatment directly on the part P of the body comprising light projectors 90 and 92 projecting light onto the areas that have already been treated or onto the yet untreated areas); and
a processing unit (23) configured to:
control the projection unit to project the light pattern on to the surface of the body in a projection position (see [0286]; the control system 23 is able to distinguish between the areas of the part P to be treated that have already been treated and that are yet to be treated, [0296]; a system for distinguishing directly, on the part of the body, between the areas that have already been treated and the as yet untreated areas);
wherein the projection position is indicative of the next treatment position on the body to which the personal care device is to be moved by the user from the current treatment position on the body (see [0296]; a visual information system for viewing the progress of the treatment directly on the part P of the body may distinguish between the number of passes that each area of the body has experienced via various colors, for example the area to be treated may be displayed in green by projecting a corresponding image on the body; it can be appreciated that under the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claims, the system of Safraoui teaches a projection position indicative of the next treatment position the device is to be moved to because it illuminates an untreated area, differentiating an already treated area of the body part P from an untreated area, and therefore indicating to the user the location of the next treatment position of the device is to be in the untreated region).
Safraoui is silent regarding a projection unit which is disposed in the head portion of the personal care device.
Wang teaches an apparatus (110) configured for use with a phototherapy device (phototherapy apparatus pictured in Wang Fig. 1) configured to provide visual guidance to a user on movement of the personal care device across a body of a subject (see Wang Fig. 1, [0013-0014]; digital light projector 110 projects markers 114 onto the surface of the biological tissue which offers guidance for the practitioner to precisely control the phototherapy procedure), the apparatus (110) being part of the personal care device (phototherapy apparatus pictured in Wang Fig. 1) and the personal care device having a head portion (output wand 104), the apparatus comprising:
a projection unit (110) disposed in the head portion (see Wang [0014]; output wand 104, the image sensor 108, and the light projector 110 of the present embodiment can be integrated together to form a common outputting/sensing/projecting port for the phototherapy apparatus) and configured to project a light pattern on to a surface of the body (see Wang Fig. 1, [0013-0014]; digital light projector 110 projects markers 114 onto the surface of the biological tissue).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Safraoui’s apparatus for visual guidance for a personal care device with a guidance projection unit disposed in the head portion of the personal care device as taught by Wang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to minimize the amount of separate elements in the phototherapy apparatus for ease and convenience of use, especially when the integrated elements are configured to share a singular optical path.
Regarding claim 2, Safraoui and Wang teach the apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Safraoui further teaches wherein the projection position is such that, seen in a direction in which the personal care device is to be moved by the user, the treatment area corresponding with the next treatment position seamlessly connects to the treatment area corresponding with the current treatment position (see Safraoui Figs. 3A-3C illustrating arrangements of successive treatment areas, [0258]; the optical system allows for laser pulses which cover a localized area 33 of the body to be easily juxtaposed without there being any space between the two adjacent areas).
Regarding claim 3, Safraoui and Wang teach the apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Safraoui further teaches wherein the processing unit is configured to control the projection unit (see Safraoui [0070]; device determines the as yet untreated areas of the part of the body, and the control system is configured so as to automatically trigger the emission of the light pulses when the handpiece is positioned on an as yet untreated area of the part of the body to be treated, [0286]; the control system 23 is able to distinguish between the areas of the part P to be treated that have already been treated and that are yet to be treated) to project the light pattern in the projection position after the personal care operation has been performed at the current treatment position of the personal care device on the body (see Safraoui [0064]; the illumination by the projection system may be adjusted in real time; the guidance information for the part of the body is preferably information relating to the untreated areas of the part of the body to be treated).
Regarding claims 4 and 5, Safraoui and Wang teach the apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Safraoui further teaches wherein the processing unit is configured to control the projection unit to project the light pattern in response to a first input from the user (see Safraoui Fig. 1; operator O, [0096]; selecting between a plurality of modes including a manual mode and an automatic mode, wherein the mode selection can be appreciated to indicate the beginning of a treatment session which triggers the projection of the guidance indicators by the apparatus) and wherein the processing unit is configured to control the projection unit to stop the projection of the light pattern in response to a second input from the user (see Safraoui [0300]; the operator may stop the treatment whenever he wants).
Regarding claim 6, Safraoui and Wang teach the apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Safraoui further teaches wherein the processing unit is further configured to:
receive a signal from a movement sensor (34) associated with the personal care device (see Safraoui [0284]; all the information provided by the motion detector 34 is transmitted to a control system);
process the received signal to determine when the personal care device starts to move from the current treatment position on the body (see Safraoui [0020]; motion detector makes it possible to determine the direction and the speed of movement of the handpiece over the part of the body); and
adjust the operation of the projection unit when the personal care device is determined to be starting to move from the current treatment position (see Safraoui [0071]; a determination system for determining the movements of the part of the body in order to make it possible to take into account the movements of the part of the body during the treatment, in particular in the precise determination of the position of the handpiece and/or the determination of the areas of the body treated by the handpiece).
Regarding claim 7, Safraoui and Wang teach the apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Safraoui further teaches wherein the processing unit is configured to adjust the operation of the projection unit by controlling the projection unit to deactivate the projection of the light pattern when the personal care device starts to move from the current treatment position (see Safraoui [0064]; projection system or systems preferably at least partially illuminate the part of the body to be treated in order to distinguish, in particular through a difference in brightness, color or illumination, between the treated areas and the untreated areas of the part of the body to be treated).
Regarding claim 8, Safraoui and Wang teach the apparatus as claimed in claim 6. Safraoui further teaches wherein the processing unit is configured to control the projection unit based on the signal received from the movement sensor (see Safraoui [0284]; all the information provided by the motion detector 34 is transmitted to a control system) such that the projection position of the projected light pattern is substantially static relative to the surface of the body in response to the movement of the personal care device from the current treatment position to the next treatment position (see Safraoui [0101]; signaling may be performed through projection onto the body by a projection system for projecting information relating to the progress of the treatment, in particular by distinguishing between fully treated areas, that is to say areas that have experienced the predetermined number of passes, and as yet not fully treated areas).
Regarding claim 9, Safraoui and Wang teach the apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Safraoui further teaches wherein the light pattern comprises one or more lines indicative of a position of an edge of the personal care device on the surface of the body associated with the next treatment position of the personal care device on the body (see Safraoui [0151]; projection system projects fringes onto the part of the body in order to help determine the movements of the part of the body).
Regarding claim 10, Safraoui and Wang teach the apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Safraoui further teaches wherein the light pattern is configured to highlight the treatment area of the body corresponding with the next treatment position of the personal care device on the body (see Safraoui [0146]; The guidance information for the part of the body is information relating to the untreated areas of the part of the body to be treated).
Regarding claim 11, Safraoui and Wang teach the apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Safraoui further teaches wherein the processing unit is further configured to:
i. receive a signal from a movement sensor associated with the personal care device (see Safraoui [0284]; all the information provided by the motion detector 34 is transmitted to a control system);
ii. process the received signal to determine an amount of movement of the personal care device from a first treatment position at which a first personal care operation is performed by the personal care device to a next, second, treatment position at which a second personal care operation is performed by the personal care device (see Safraoui [0071]; a determination system for determining the movements of the part of the body in order to make it possible to take into account the movements of the part of the body during the treatment, in particular in the precise determination of the position of the handpiece and/or the determination of the areas of the body treated by the handpiece, [0224]; a control system for controlling the emission of the light pulses, configured so as to automatically trigger the light pulses during the movement of the handpiece at a rate determined on the basis at least of at least one item of information provided by the motion detector);
iii. repeat ii for a plurality of movements of the personal care device from first treatment positions to next, second, treatment positions (see Safraoui [0101]; a projection system for projecting information relating to the progress of the treatment, in particular by distinguishing between fully treated areas, that is to say areas that have experienced the predetermined number of passes, and as yet not fully treated areas); and
iv. compare each determined amount of movement to an expected amount of movement from each first treatment position to the respective next second treatment position (see Safraoui [0101]; method comprising a step of determining the areas of the part of the body that have not received light pulses during a pass with the handpiece, distinguishing areas that have experienced the predetermined number of passes, and as yet not fully treated areas, and/or the number of light pulses received on each area per pass and/or the number of passes over each of the areas of the part of the body, [0050]; the size of the treated area by a single pulse, which is being considered as the unit area, may be changed in size based on the desired treatment area);
wherein the processing unit is configured to control the projection unit to project the light pattern on to the surface of the body in a projection position indicative of a next treatment position on the body to which the personal care device is to be moved based on the result of the comparison (see Safraoui [0064]; projection system or systems preferably at least partially illuminate the part of the body to be treated in order to distinguish, in particular through a difference in brightness, color or illumination, between the treated areas and the untreated areas of the part of the body to be treated).
Regarding claim 12, Safraoui and Wang teach the apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Safraoui further teaches wherein: the apparatus further comprises at least one further projection unit configured to project a further light pattern on to a different part of the body (see Safraoui Fig. 9; two projection units 90 and 92).
Regarding claim 13, Safraoui teaches a personal care device (10) configured to perform a personal care operation on a body of a subject, the personal care device comprising:
a head portion (30); and
an apparatus as claimed in claim 1 configured to provide visual guidance to a user of the personal care device on movement of the personal care device across the body of the subject (see [0296]; a visual information system for viewing the progress of the treatment directly on the part P of the body comprising light projectors 90 and 92 projecting light onto the areas that have already been treated or onto the yet untreated areas).
Safraoui is silent regarding the apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a projection unit which is disposed in the head portion of the personal care device.
Wang teaches an apparatus (110) configured for use with a phototherapy device (phototherapy apparatus pictured in Wang Fig. 1) configured to provide visual guidance to a user on movement of the personal care device across a body of a subject (see Wang Fig. 1, [0013-0014]; digital light projector 110 projects markers 114 onto the surface of the biological tissue which offers guidance for the practitioner to precisely control the phototherapy procedure), the apparatus (110) being part of the personal care device (phototherapy apparatus pictured in Wang Fig. 1) and the personal care device having a head portion (output wand 104), the apparatus comprising:
a projection unit (110) disposed in the head portion (see Wang [0014]; output wand 104, the image sensor 108, and the light projector 110 of the present embodiment can be integrated together to form a common outputting/sensing/projecting port for the phototherapy apparatus) and configured to project a light pattern on to a surface of the body (see Wang Fig. 1, [0013-0014]; digital light projector 110 projects markers 114 onto the surface of the biological tissue).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Safraoui’s apparatus for visual guidance for a personal care device with a guidance projection unit disposed in the head portion of the personal care device as taught by Wang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to minimize the amount of separate elements in the phototherapy apparatus for ease and convenience of use, especially when the integrated elements are configured to share a singular optical path.
Regarding claim 14, Safraoui teaches a method of operating an apparatus to provide visual guidance to a user (O) of a personal care device,
wherein the visual guidance is for guiding movement of the personal care device across a body of a subject by the user (see Fig. 1; operator O using optical guide 40 to guide handpiece 30 over part P following path F, [0296]; distinguishing directly on the part of the body between the areas that have already been treated and the as yet to be treated areas),
wherein the personal care device is configured to perform a personal care operation on a plurality of successive treatment areas of the body by successively moving the personal care device from a respective one of a plurality of successive current treatment positions on the body corresponding with a respective one of said successive treatment areas to a next treatment position on the body (see Fig. 9; treatment area corresponding to part P of the body) corresponding with a next one of said successive treatment areas and performing the personal care operation to said next one of said successive treatment areas (see Figs. 3A-C, [0258-0259]; where subsequent adjacent treatment areas 33 are pictured, each area 33 corresponding to the localized area which receives a singular laser pulse) while maintaining the personal care device in said next one of said successive treatment positions (see Fig. 1; operator O following path F to provide treatment to part P), the method comprising:
controlling a projection unit in the apparatus to project a light pattern on to the surface of the body in a projection position (see [0286]; the control system 23 is able to distinguish between the areas of the part P to be treated that have already been treated and that are yet to be treated, [0296]; a system for distinguishing directly, on the part of the body, between the areas that have already been treated and the as yet untreated areas);
characterized in that the projection position is indicative of the next treatment position on the body to which the personal care device is to be moved by the user from the current treatment position on the body (see [0296]; a visual information system for viewing the progress of the treatment directly on the part P of the body may distinguish between the number of passes that each area of the body has experienced via various colors, for example the area to be treated may be displayed in green by projecting a corresponding image on the body; it can be appreciated that under the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claims, the system of Safraoui teaches a projection position indicative of the next treatment position the device is to be moved to because it illuminates an untreated area, differentiating an already treated area of the body part P from an untreated area, and therefore indicating to the user the location of the next treatment position of the device is to be in the untreated region).
Safraoui is silent regarding a projection unit which is disposed in the head portion of the personal care device.
Wang teaches an apparatus (110) configured for use with a phototherapy device (phototherapy apparatus pictured in Wang Fig. 1) configured to provide visual guidance to a user on movement of the personal care device across a body of a subject (see Wang Fig. 1, [0013-0014]; digital light projector 110 projects markers 114 onto the surface of the biological tissue which offers guidance for the practitioner to precisely control the phototherapy procedure), the apparatus (110) being part of the personal care device (phototherapy apparatus pictured in Wang Fig. 1) and the personal care device having a head portion (output wand 104), the apparatus comprising:
a projection unit (110) disposed in the head portion (see Wang [0014]; output wand 104, the image sensor 108, and the light projector 110 of the present embodiment can be integrated together to form a common outputting/sensing/projecting port for the phototherapy apparatus) and configured to project a light pattern on to a surface of the body (see Wang Fig. 1, [0013-0014]; digital light projector 110 projects markers 114 onto the surface of the biological tissue).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Safraoui’s apparatus for visual guidance for a personal care device with a guidance projection unit disposed in the head portion of the personal care device as taught by Wang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to minimize the amount of separate elements in the phototherapy apparatus for ease and convenience of use, especially when the integrated elements are configured to share a singular optical path.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALISHA J SIRCAR whose telephone number is (571)272-0450. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 9-6:30, Friday 9-5:30 CT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin Klein can be reached on 571-270-5213. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 3792
/Benjamin J Klein/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3792