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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 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.
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(s) 1, 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mccloud US 2023/0000243 in view of Williams US 2004/0040571 and Drignath DE 19850325 A1 and Joseph US 1,368,799, alternatively, over Cygler US 9,265,338 in view of Williams US 2004/0040571 and Drignath DE 19850325 A1 and Joseph US 1,368,799.
Re claim 1, Mccloud discloses a multipurpose dental cleaning device (fig. 1), comprising:
a main body 110 to facilitate gripping thereof;
a plurality of bristles 120 disposed on at least a portion of a first end of the main body to brush at least one tooth;
a floss compartment [130, 131, 132] disposed within at least a portion of a second end of the main body, the floss compartment comprising:
a compartment body 130 to store a line of floss therein,
a roll 131 of floss movably disposed within at least a portion of the compartment body to coil the line of floss,
a floss dispensing aperture 132 disposed on at least a portion of the compartment body to facilitate extraction of the line of floss from within the compartment body, and
a motor 160 disposed within at least a portion of the main body to perform at least one of vibrate the plurality of bristles and oscillate the roll of floss.
Cygler discloses a multipurpose dental cleaning device (fig. 5), comprising:
a main body 100 to facilitate gripping thereof;
a plurality of bristles 121 disposed on at least a portion of a first end of the main body to brush at least one tooth;
a floss compartment 102 disposed within at least a portion of a second end of the main body, the floss compartment comprising:
a compartment body 123 to store a line of floss therein,
a roll 125 of floss movably disposed within at least a portion of the compartment body to coil the line of floss,
a floss dispensing aperture 124 disposed on at least a portion of the compartment body to facilitate extraction of the line of floss from within the compartment body,
a motor 106 disposed within at least a portion of the main body to perform at least one of vibrate the plurality of bristles and oscillate the roll of floss.
Mccloud and Cygler do not teach a plurality of floss holders movably disposed on at least a portion of the compartment body to hold the line of floss on at least a portion thereof, wherein each of the plurality of floss holders moves from retracted within the compartment body in a first position to at least partially extracted from the compartment body in a second position, and moves from extracted from the compartment body in the second position to retracted within the compartment body in the first position, such that the plurality of floss holders are extracted from the compartment body by either unfolding from a folded position or by rotating the plurality of floss holders.
However, Williams teaches a multipurpose dental cleaning device [figs. 1-3] including a plurality of floss holders [legs of floss holder 205, Fig. 2] movably disposed on at least a portion of the compartment body 101 to hold the line of floss 208 on at least a portion thereof, wherein each of the plurality of floss holders 205 moves from retracted within the compartment body 101 in a first position to at least partially extracted from the compartment body in a second position [fig. 3], and moves from extracted from the compartment body in the second position to retracted within the compartment body in the first position, such that the plurality of floss holders are extracted from the compartment body by rotating the plurality of floss holders 205. Drignath teaches a multipurpose dental cleaning device [figs. 1, 12, 19-25] including a plurality of floss holders 20 movably disposed on at least a portion of the compartment body to hold the line of floss 22 on at least a portion thereof, wherein each of the plurality of floss holders 22 moves from retracted [Fig. 27] within the compartment body in a first position to at least partially extracted [Fig. 24] from the compartment body in a second position, and moves from extracted from the compartment body in the second position to retracted within the compartment body in the first position [with push button 14 and guide slot 15]. Josepth teaches floss holders that unfold [Fig. 2] from a folded position [Fig. 1].
The only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art is that the prior art does not incorporate the multipurpose dental cleaning device with bristles at one end of the body and floss holders that either unfold or rotate at the other end into a single combined apparatus. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have had the technological capabilities to incorporate both the bristles of Mccloud or Cygler and the floss holders of Williams, Drignath, and Joseph into a combined apparatus before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. No inventive effort would have been required. Furthermore, the resulting combined apparatus would yield predictable results. Even in the context of a combined apparatus, both features would be expected to work as intended, with each element in the combined apparatus performing the same function as it did separately. No new functionality would arise from the combination.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the multipurpose cleaner of Mccloud or Cygler with the floss holders of Williams, Drignath, and Joseph, in order to yield the predictable result of having a multipurpose dental apparatus to brush and floss.
Re claim 3, Mccloud, Cygler, Williams, Drignath, and Josepth teach the invention as discussed above. Drignath further teaches wherein the plurality of floss holders 20 are flush with at least one of an edge of the compartment body and an edge of the main body in the first position (fig. 28).
Re claim 4, Mccloud, Cygler, Williams, Drignath, and Josepth teach the invention as discussed above. Drignath further teaches wherein the plurality of floss holders 20 suspend the line of floss 21 therebetween a distance away from the compartment body (fig. 24).
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mccloud US 2023/0000243 in view of Williams US 2004/0040571 and Drignath DE 19850325 A1 and Joseph US 1,368,799 and in further view of Lai US 6,886,570, alternatively, over Cygler US 9,265,338 in view of Williams US 2004/0040571 and Drignath DE 19850325 A1 and Joseph US 1,368,799 and in further view of Lai US 6,886,570.
Re claim 5, Mccloud, Cygler, Williams, Drignath, and Josepth teach the invention as discussed above for claim 1 but fail to teach wherein the plurality of floss holders vibrate the line of floss in response to movement by the motor.
Lai teaches a multipurpose dental cleaner [fig. 1] and wherein the plurality of floss holders [202. 203] vibrate the line of floss in response to movement by a motor 420 [Abstract].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the motor of Lai into the combination of Mccloud or Cygler, in order to yield the predictable result of vibrating the dental floss when flossing.
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.
period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Carlos A. Rivera whose telephone number is (571)270-5697. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM -4PM.
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C. A. R.
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3723
/C. A. RIVERA/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723