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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/05/2022 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, corresponding to Claims 4 to 6 in the reply filed on 07/03/2025 is acknowledged.
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 4 to 6 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.
Regarding Claim 4:
The Claim preamble reads “A method of manufacturing a mask pack, with respect to the manufacturing method of the mask pack in which a heating element composition is contained, comprising: “. The underlined portion is confusing since it seems to be trying to make reference to a different method or mask. For prosecution it will be read as: --A method of manufacturing a mask pack in which a heating element composition is contained, comprising: --.
On line 3 the claim reads: ”mixing carbon powder in a first piece of iron powder”. This in unclear since the iron is a powder and a piece of a powder would be most likely infinitesimal. the Examiner is considering that the Applicant means “amount” instead.
On line 6 the Claim reads: “step 3) of making a heating pack by sealing the second mixture”. This is unclear since the claimed second mixture is just a group of ingredients that can’t be “sealed” by themselves. In view of the disclosure of claim 5 the limitation will be read as --step 3) of making a heating pack by sealing the second mixture into a sealed pouch--.
On line 9 the Claim reads: “step 5) of manufacturing the mask pack by releasing a sealing state of the heating pack”. The expression “releasing a sealing state” is confusing. The Examiner will interpret it as seems to be expressed in the step 4, that the heating pack is sealed in a vacuum pack and the step 5 involves opening or unsealing the vacuum pack.
The last line of the claim reads “putting salt and water”. The Claim does not indicate where the water or the salt are supposed to be put.
Where applicant acts as his or her own lexicographer to specifically define a term of a claim contrary to its ordinary meaning, the written description must clearly redefine the claim term and set forth the uncommon definition so as to put one reasonably skilled in the art on notice that the applicant intended to so redefine that claim term. Process Control Corp. v. HydReclaim Corp., 190 F.3d 1350, 1357, 52 USPQ2d 1029, 1033 (Fed. Cir. 1999).
The term “pulp powder” in claim 4 the Examiner considers that it is being used to mean “wood pulp powder” while the accepted meaning is more like “fruit pulp powder The term is indefinite because the specification does not clearly redefine the term.
The term “pulp fabric” in claim 5 the Examiner considers that it is being used to mean “wood pulp fabric or wood pulp paper or cotton pulp paper” while the accepted meaning is more like a fabric made of the pulp of a plant. The term is indefinite because the specification does not clearly redefine the term. The Examiner notes that the claim discloses adhering the pulp fabric and the non-woven fabric to each other, while the wood pulp fabrics and wood or cotton pulp papers are in general also considered non-woven fabrics.
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (KR 2015/0053651) in view of Go (KR 101871689) and Douglas (US 2009/0071859).
Regarding Claim 4:
Choi discloses a method of manufacturing a mask pack in which a heating element composition is contained (TECHNICAL-FIELD, The present invention relates to a self-heating composition and the eye mask pack using the same), comprising: step 1) of making a first mixture by mixing carbon powder in a first piece of iron powder; step 2) of making a second mixture by mixing loess powder, pulp powder, and a high adsorptive resin in the first mixture; step 3) of making a heating pack by sealing the second mixture (Paragraph 0012, Self-heating eye mask pack using loess and pulp according to the present invention comprises the steps of 1) mixing the iron powder and carbon powder to form a first mixture; 2) mixing a polyvinyl alcohol and ocher powder to form a second mixture; 3) forming a first suspension comprising the second mixture and pulp and aqua slush; 4) mixing the first mixture with the first suspension to form a second suspension, (Paragraph 0045) the second suspension contains loess and pulp; 5) drying the second suspension to form an exothermic patch;
Choi discloses preserving the heating pack sealed (Paragraph 0038, packaging in the present invention proceeds in a nitrogen atmosphere and working at an oxygen concentration of less than 1% is stable to avoid exothermic reaction), putting salt and water (Paragraph 0035, the saline solution in the present invention is to generate thermal steam by using the heat generated as the iron powder is oxidized according to the above reaction formula) and releasing a sealing state of the heating pack (Paragraph 0019, The iron powder generates heat by reacting with oxygen in the air, Paragraph 0024, The saline is to generate thermal steam by using heat generated while the iron powder is oxidized by exposure to oxygen on air, so to heat up the heating pack it need to be unsealed).
Choi does not specifically disclose preserving the heating pack sealed in a vacuum pack.
Go teaches making similar Hot Pack Comprising Means For Preventing Air Exposure Of Thermogenic Materials including that the hot pack may be hermetically packed by enclosing the outer circumferential surface of the hot pack using an outer wrapping paper and vacuum-packed to minimize air exposure of the heat generator of the pack.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Choi the teachings of Go and preserve the heating pack sealed in a vacuum pack as a well-known way to minimize air exposure of the heat generator of the pack.
Choi does not disclose preserving the packs wound on a reel.
Douglas teaches disposing successive packages on a spool that may be separated from the tape by pulling to use them as needed (Figure 7, spool 21 will be considered a reel and successive packages 30 will be considered packs).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to Choi the teachings of Douglas and have the heating pads made as successive packages to be stored as pulled out of the reel as needed as a well-known way in the art to store filled packages.
Choi does not disclose adding salted water during the unsealing of the heating pad, but it has been considered that the selection of any order of performing process steps is prima facie obvious in the absence of new or unexpected results, and given that adding water to the exothermic mixture has a function of accelerating the oxidation of iron together with salts then it does not seem that changing the sequence of adding the water would provide any unexpected result.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (KR 2015/0053651) in view of Go (KR 101871689) and Douglas (US 2009/0071859) as applied to Claim 4 above, and further in view of Tabuchi (JP 2006/006526).
Regarding Claim 5:
As discussed for Claim 5 above, the modified invention of Choi discloses the invention as claimed, in particular Choi discloses the use of tissue, that can be considered paper, a pulp fabric, or non-woven fabric.
Choi does not specifically disclose making the mask packs by applying the second mixture onto a pulp fabric; covering an upper portion of the second mixture with a non-woven fabric; and adhering the pulp fabric and the non-woven fabric to each other in a state of putting the second mixture therebetween.
Tabuchi teaches applying the exothermic composition powder over a cotton paper, considered a non-woven pulp fabric (The sheet-like heating element of the present invention wraps the exothermic composition powder 17 by folding a stacking body 16 formed by stacking fibers such as paper cotton, mixed fiber of paper cotton and other fibers, The whole is embossed or pressed into a sheet shape, and covered by thin air-permeable material 15 such as tissue paper and nonwoven fabric on Figures 6D and 6D).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate to the modified invention of Choi the teachings of Tabuchi and make the mask pad by applying the second mixture onto a pulp fabric; covering an upper portion of the second mixture with a non-woven fabric; and adhering the pulp fabric and the non-woven fabric to each other in a state of putting the second mixture therebetween as a well-known in the art way to make the mask packs.
Regarding Claim 6:
As discussed for Claim 5 above, the modified invention of Choi discloses the invention as claimed.
the modified invention of Choi does not specifically disclose the water being put in an amount of 50 to 200 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the first piece of iron powder.
it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use an amount of 50 to 200 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the first piece of iron powder, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. In particular Choi (KR 101539000) could have been used for a proper rejection.
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/EDUARDO R FERRERO/Examiner, Art Unit 3731
/ROBERT F LONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731