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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: the extended portion of the air vent is referred to differently and these references should match. For example, the first citation could be change to “wherein the air vent is formed to have an inner side opening on an extended portion of the air vent extending toward a user’s oral cavity…”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fallon et al. (US 2012/0145166).
Regarding Claim 1, Fallon discloses a mouthpiece for teeth whitening (appliance 1, shown in Figure 1 in the patient’s mouth; this appliance sits against the teeth and is capable of being used as a mouthpiece for teeth whitening) comprising a body (upper and lower tray assemblies 3 and 5) and a tongue rest (tongue support wire 62),
wherein the body further comprises an outer surface (outer side of trays that is against the lips), an inner surface (directly on the other side of the front wall of the trays, the part of bite channel 14 that is against the front side of the teeth) and an air vent penetrating the outer surface and the inner surface (the interface of tray assemblies 3 and 5 acts as the air vent as it extends the full depth of the trays and there are air flow passages 76 through this depth, located between retention walls 26 and wire stops 71);
wherein the air vent is formed to have an inner side opening at a portion extending toward a user's oral cavity by a predetermined length from the inner surface (the inner side opening of the air flow passages 76 is on the side of the tray inside the second wall of the tray; the predetermined length from the inner surface is the distance from the inner surface, defined as the side of the front wall directly against the front of the teeth, to where the tray ends behind the second wall on the inner side of the front teeth);
wherein the tongue rest (tongue support wire 62) is formed to have a base portion (the portion of the wire contained in the interface between the tray assemblies) and a ring-shape portion (rearward bend 66), the ring-shape portion extending from the base portion toward the user's oral cavity (see Figure 9 where it can be seen that the rearward bend forms a ring that extends into the oral cavity); and
wherein the extended portion of the air vent toward the user's oral cavity is connected to the base portion of the tongue rest (the extended portion of the air vent is the interface between trays 3 and 5 that form the air flow passage and tongue support wire 62 is also mounted and connected in that interface), and
wherein an upper part of the air vent fully covers the base portion of the tongue rest (the underside of tray assembly 3 is the upper part of the air vent and it fully covers the base portion of the tongue support wire when the device is assembled).
Regarding Claim 3, Fallon further discloses wherein the tongue rest is formed to protrude from the inner surface toward the user's oral cavity (tongue support wire 62 protrudes into the oral cavity from the trays 3,5, which is into the oral cavity from the front wall that abuts the front side of the teeth which is the inner surface) and to have a predetermined thickness (the thickness of the wire), so that upper and lower jaws of the user are occluded at a widened angle by the thickness (the upper and lower jaws are occluded at a widened angle due to the interface of the lower and upper tray assemblies and part of this interface contains the thickness of tongue rest).
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fallon et al. (US 2012/0145166) in view of Chetiar et al. (US 2013/0052613).
Regarding Claim 2, Fallon discloses the mouthpiece of claim 1 as presented above. Fallon fails to disclose a plurality of bumps formed on the inner surface.
However Chetiar, in the same field of endeavor of mouthpieces for teeth whitening (abstract), teaches a mouthpiece with a plurality of bumps formed on the inner surface (elevated crisscross pattern 19) for the purpose of “matching the dentition pattern of a typical human mouth” (¶ 0012).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fallon by requiring bumps formed on the inner surface (i.e. modifying the inner surface of Fallon to have bumps in a criss-cross pattern), as taught by Chetiar for the purpose of “matching the dentition pattern of a typical human mouth” (¶ 0012 of Chetiar). The resulting configuration of Fallon as modified by Chetiar would result in a plurality of bumps functionally capable of helping tooth whitening gel adhere better to the inner surface, as the criss-cross pattern of Chetiar is shown to form diamond shaped pockets.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 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
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/JENNIFER P CONNELL/ Examiner, Art Unit 3772
/THOMAS C BARRETT/ SPE, Art Unit 3799