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 .
Rejections 35 U.S.C. § 112
1. 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.
Independent claims 1 and 13 recite the determine from said modelling a cleaning metric representing a quantitative measure of cleaning performance of the oral care routine when using said one or more oral accessories. However, the Applicant points to paragraphs [0022]-[0024] in the specification to support this amendment but looking at these paragraphs in the patent publication it is not clear what quantitative measure is being ascertained from the said cleaning metric. In other words, is the frictional energy, power density or the time over which a certain stress is exerted on the tooth or biofilm surface being measured or some other measurement?
Claims 2-12 and 14 are rejected for its dependency claims 1 and 13.
Independent claims 1 and 13 recites the limitation "an oral accessory" in line 4 while line recites line 6 “an oral accessory” . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim since it is not clear whether the subsequent “accessory” is different from the first.
Rejections 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1)
2. 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, 2, 4-9, and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Publication (2018/0132602) to Gatzemeyer.
Regarding independent claim 1, Gatzemeyer discloses an first input (171) for receiving input data comprising oral geometry information in respect of a user for whom an oral accessory is to be recommended (See paragraphs [0030] and [0041]);
an second input (175) for receiving input data comprising user behavioral information in respect of the manner in which the particular user conducts their oral care using the oral care device with an oral accessory (103) (see paragraph [0042]);
and a processor (169) which is adapted to: model the interaction between one (103) or more oral care accessories of a set of oral care accessories, and the oral geometry (brushing stroke or position; See paragraph [0071]) of the user when the user performs an oral care routine in said manner (See paragraph [0048]);
determine (207) from said modelling a cleaning metric representing a quantitative measure of cleaning performance the oral care routine when using said one or more oral care accessories (See physical property data as seen paragraph [0049] and See FIG. 3A);
and based on said cleaning metric, provide a recommendation (526) of a suitable oral care accessory, from the set of different oral care accessories, to be used with the oral care device (103) (See paragraph [0058]).
Regarding claim 2, Gatzemeyer discloses an input (231) for receiving input data including medical information of the user (See paragraph [0053] and dental hygiene).
Regarding claim 4, Gatzemeyer discloses that the processor (169) is further adapted to provide a recommendation of a suitable handle for the oral care accessory and/or suitable operating settings for the handle (243) for the oral care accessory (See paragraph [0059]).
Regarding claim 5, Gatzemeyer discloses a database (107) of data relating to a set of oral care accessories (103, 251; See paragraph [0061]).
Regarding claim 6, Gatzemeyer discloses comprising an input (175) for receiving input data comprising an image (LED) of the currently used oral care accessory (103), wherein the processor (169) is further adapted to provide a recommendation of when to change the oral care accessory (capable of recommending a change of the oral care accessory (103).
Regarding claim 7, Gatzemeyer discloses that the processor (169) is further adapted to provide advisory information in respect of user behavioral information (See paragraph [0071]).
Regarding claim 8, Gatzemeyer discloses that the oral care accessory (103) includes a toothbrush head (145) and the oral care device (See FIG. 1A) includes an electric toothbrush comprising a handle (111) to which the toothbrush head (145) is to be connected (See paragraph [0033]).
Regarding claim 9, Gatzemeyer discloses that the user behavioral information comprises one or more of: brushing forces, brushing angles; brushing speeds; and brushing location and time spend per location (See paragraph [0053]).
Regarding claim 11, Gatzemeyer discloses a handle (311) having a drive mechanism and a connection interface (See FIG. 9) for connecting an oral care accessory (303) to the handle (311); a recommendation system (See paragraph [0058]) as claimed in claim 1; and at least one oral care accessory (301) as recommended by the recommendation system.
Regarding claim 12, Gatzemeyer discloses the oral care accessory (303) or the handle of the oral care system comprises a sensor system (355) for providing sensor information from which the behavioral information can be derived, wherein the sensor system (355) comprises one or more of: a force measurement system; a brushing angle measurement system; a motion detection system; and a location measurement system (See paragraph [0071]).
Regarding independent claim 13, Gatzemeyer discloses receiving input data (171) including oral geometry information (See paragraph [0071]) in respect of a user for whom an accessory (See paragraphs [0048]; [0058] and [0071]) is to be recommended;
receiving input data comprising user behavioral information in respect of the manner in which the particular user conducts their oral care using the oral care device with an accessory (103) (See paragraph [0049] and FIG. 3A);
modelling the interaction between one or more oral care accessories (103) of a set of oral care accessories and the oral geometry (position) of the user when the user performs an oral care routine in said manner (See paragraph [0071]);
determine (207) from said modelling a cleaning metric representing a quantitative measure of cleaning performance the oral care routine when using said one or more oral care accessories (See physical property data as seen paragraph [0049] and See FIG. 3A);
and based on said cleaning metric, providing a recommendation of a suitable oral care accessory, from a set of different oral care accessories, to be used with the oral care device (103) (See paragraph [0058]).
Regarding claim 14, A computer program comprising computer program code means which is adapted (See paragraph [0030]), when said program is run on a computer (See paragraph [0031]) remote device or on a cloud-based platform, to implement the method of claim 13.
Rejections 35 U.S.C. § 103
3. 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.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication (2018/0132602) to Gatzemeyer in view of U.S. Patent Publication (2020/0253702) to De Gentile et al.
Regarding clam 10, Gatzemeyer is silent regarding that the oral care accessory includes a brushing arch and the oral care device comprises a mouthpiece toothbrush comprising a handle to which the brushing arch is to be connected. However, De Gentile et al. teaches oral care accessory (10) having a brushing arch (100) (See paragraph [0035] of De Gentile et al.). De Gentile et al. that having brush arch (100) improves cleaning of the teeth compared to conventional methods (See paragraph [0003]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date to modify Gatzemeyer to include a brushing arch as taught in De Gentile et al. to improve cleaning while applying uniform pressure for the mouth.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant's arguments filed November 19, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant in the Remarks at page 5 asserts that neither independent claims 1 nor 13 recite “to provide/providing a recommendation of a suitable oral care accessory, from the set of different oral care accessories, to be used with the oral care device”. The Applicant asserts that U.S. Patent Publication (2018/0132602) to Gatzemeyer merely shows an interface where an evaluation and a hygiene recommendation are displayed not a selection of a different oral care accessory.
However, Gatzmeyer discloses an interface with measurements from various toothbrushes (243, 261, 281, 341) (See paragraphs [0052]-[0070]). Gatzmeyer suggests each brushing session is recorded with the various oral care accessory with the performance efficacy of each brushing session before recording. A metric with different size and dispensing capabilities is provided based on the type of toothbrush being used. The recommendation comes from the users desire to improve their brushing session based on the superior metric provided by one of the oral care accessories relative to the other since they each have different size or providing an additive. In other words, the performance metric with the highest weight would be the recommended choice for the user based on the various toothbrushes being used as disclosed in the in Gatzmeyer (See paragraph [0074]).
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Conclusion
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL D. JENNINGS whose telephone number is (571)270-1536. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4:30pm. EST.
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MICHAEL DEANGILO. JENNINGS
Examiner
Art Unit 3723
/MICHAEL D JENNINGS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723