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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-6 and 8-15 are amended. Claims 7 are cancelled. Therefore, claims 1-6 and 8-15 are currently pending and have been considered below.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on June 02, 2026 has been entered. Applicant’s amendment overcomes the previously set-forth objection to claims 3 and 5 and the U.S.C. 112b rejection of claims 10-11 and 15.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Page 4-9, filed on 06/02/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-15 under U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of applicant’s amendment regarding the printed circuit board heating a heating element.
The Examiner agrees with the applicant regarding Vrtis at most could teach that a printed circuit board is electrically connected to a heater and this would be different than a printed circuit board that heats a heating element.
However, the heater that is connected to the printed circuit board can be construed as being part of the circuit board, where newly found prior art reference Jaworski discloses that a heater can provide heat to heat transfer plates. It is the Examiner’s position that the resistive heater is construed as part of the printed circuit board and provides heat to a heating element or heat transfer plates.
It appears that from applicant’s arguments that the printed circuit board does not include any other heating device and this feature should be clarified as an amendment, similar to, “wherein the device also comprises a printed circuit board that emanates heat which heats the heating element placed inside the cavity…”
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 1 is missing a period at the end.
Appropriate correction is required.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. EP20192097.2, filed on 08/21/2020.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
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.
Claims 1, 6, 9-11, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Unknown (JP S5572878 U) in view of Flashinski (US 20050232615 A1) and Vrtis et al. (WO 2019141820 A1, hereinafter Vrtis) and Jaworski et al. (US 6478440 B1, hereinafter Jaworski).
Regarding claim 1, Unknown discloses a device for evaporating volatile substances (Page 4, Para. 2, “An evaporator comprising a planar heater having vertically penetrating holes arranged below a drug impregnated mat”), comprising:
- a mat impregnated with volatile substances (Page 2, last Para, “A drug impregnated mat 4”),
- a heating element that heats the mat for evaporating the volatile substances (Page 4, Para. 2, “An evaporator comprising a planar heater having vertically penetrating holes arranged below a drug impregnated mat”, where the planar heater is 11), and
a reflective element for reflecting the heat from the heating element to said mat (Page 3, Para .1, “A planar heater {2) mode of a ceramic heater (11) is placed above the reflector (9) in this cylindrical body (2}”, where the reflector is under the heater and would reflect heat upwards to the mat),
wherein the reflective element forms a cavity defined by a bottom and side walls where the heating element is placed, wherein the mat is placed on the heating element (Modified Fig. 2b, where the reflective element 9 is shown to include a bottom and sides that create a cavity, where the heater 11 and mat 4 are located within the cavity, where the mat 4 is placed on the heating element 11 by being positioned vertically on top of the heating element).
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Modified Figure 2b, Unknown
Unknown does not disclose:
a porous mat; and
wherein the device also comprises a printed circuit board that heats the heating element placed inside the cavity defined by the reflective element.
However, Flashinski discloses, in the similar field of evaporation of mats with volatile substances (Abstract, “mats for dispensing volatile materials”), where the mat can be porous (Para. 0004, “It is known to impregnate or coat a solid porous mat, including a plastic mat, with a volatile material, and/or to place a volatile material in a metal pan-like structure. These structures are then placed on heaters to cause the volatile to vaporize into the ambient air.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the mat in Unknown to be porous as taught by Flashinski.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use known methods for impregnating mats for dispensing volatile substances, where making the mats porous has been well known, as stated by Flashinski, Para. 0004, “It is known to impregnate or coat a solid porous mat, including a plastic mat, with a volatile material”.
Vrtis discloses, in the similar field of in the similar field of evaporating volatile substances (Page 7, lines 27-29, “"aerosol-generating article" refers to an article comprising an aerosol-forming substrate that, when heated, releases volatile compounds that can form an aerosol.”), where a printed circuit board can be connected to a resistive heater (Abstract, “The heater assembly (30) comprises an elongate electrical heater (12) having a first end (22) and a second end (24 ), and a printed circuit board (32)”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the resistive heater in modified Unknown to include a printed circuit board connection as taught by Vrtis.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of the printed circuit board allowing for greater control over the resistive heater, as stated by Vrtis, Page 10, lines 11-14, “During use, a control circuit comprising at least some of the electrical components 38 on the printed circuit board 32 controls a supply of electrical power from the power supply 58 to the resistive heating portion 16 of the elongate electrical heater 12.”.
Further, Jaworski discloses, in the similar field of evaporating volatile substances (Abstract, “a plug-in diffuser for such active materials as fragrances and air fresheners”), where the device comprises a resistive heater that heats a heating element (Section 7, lines 21-24, “Also in electrical contact with the heat transfer plates is the night light circuitry board, made of a suitable circuit board material, which provides mounting means and circuitry to provide electricity to the night light, and the optional illumination sensor and its circuitry.”, and Section 9, lines 18-21, “Thus activated, the heater generated heat, which was transferred by radiation and by conduction through heat transfer plates 9, to the back surface of the wall of the main housing assembly, 20”.). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the heating element that is within the cavity defined by the reflective element and the printed circuit board connected to a resistive heater in modified Unknown to include the resistive heater heating heat transfer elements as taught by Jaworski, where the printed circuit board connected to a resistive heater would then heat up a heating element being the heat transfer plates.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of allowing the heat transfer plates to increase the efficiency of heat transfer to the cartridge that dispenses a fragrance, as stated by Jaworski, Section 8, lines 16-20, “The heat transfer plates, being in direct contact with said inner surface, thus greatly increase the efficiency of the heat transfer to the active material cartridge, which is in close proximity to the opposite side of the wall of said main housing element.”.
Regarding claim 6, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the heating element is a ceramic heater (Unknown, Page 3, Para. 1, “A planar heater {2) mode of a ceramic heater (11)”).
Regarding claim 9, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
wherein the reflective element is mounted on the printed circuit board.
However, Vrtis discloses, in the similar field of evaporating volatile substances (Page 7, lines 27-29, “"aerosol-generating article" refers to an article comprising an aerosol-forming substrate that, when heated, releases volatile compounds that can form an aerosol.”), where a printed circuit board can be below a volatile substance heating chamber (Page 9, lines 26-27, “The heater assembly 30 also includes a printed circuit board 32 comprising a main portion 34 and a connection portion 36 extending from an end of the main portion 34.”, and Page 10, lines 6-8, “Specifically, the bushing 26 is received within the housing 52 by an interference fit, and the main portion 34 of the printed circuit board 32 is received by an interference fit within a slot 56 formed within the housing 52.”, where the bushing 26 separates the printed circuit board from the chamber that receives the volatile substances). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the volatile substance chamber created by the reflective element in modified Unknown to have a printed circuit board below the volatile substance chamber and allowing for the chamber to be mounted to the board through the bushing as taught by Vrtis; where in this combination, the reflective element would be mounted to the bushing which is mounted to the printed circuit board, where the reflective element would then be mounted to the printed circuit board through the bushing.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able have a printed circuit board connection to a heater, where the printed circuit board allows a user to control the heater within the system, as stated by Vrtis, Page 6, lines 6-8, “Preferably, the aerosol-generating device comprises a control circuit configured to control a supply of electrical power from the power supply to the elongate electrical heater. Preferably, the control circuit is disposed on the printed circuit board.”.
Regarding claim 10, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
wherein there is a gap between the printed circuit board and the reflective element.
However, Vrtis discloses where there is a gap between the printed circuit board and the reflective element (Page 9, lines 26-27, “The heater assembly 30 also includes a printed circuit board 32 comprising a main portion 34 and a connection portion 36 extending from an end of the main portion 34.”, and Page 10, lines 6-8, “Specifically, the bushing 26 is received within the housing 52 by an interference fit, and the main portion 34 of the printed circuit board 32 is received by an interference fit within a slot 56 formed within the housing 52.”, where the bushing 26 separates the printed circuit board from the chamber that receives the volatile substances, where the gap between the printed circuit board and the reflective element mounted to the bushing would be the bushing). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the reflective element in modified Unknown to include the bushing and printed circuit board structure as taught by Vrtis.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able have a printed circuit board connection to a heater, where the printed circuit board allows a user to control the heater within the system, as stated by Vrtis, Page 6, lines 6-8, “Preferably, the aerosol-generating device comprises a control circuit configured to control a supply of electrical power from the power supply to the elongate electrical heater. Preferably, the control circuit is disposed on the printed circuit board.”.
Regarding claim 11, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
wherein the printed circuit board is fed by a battery.
However, Vrtis discloses where the printed circuit board is fed by a battery (Page 10, lines 10-14, “The power supply 58 is electrically connected to the printed circuit board 32 by an electrical connector 60. During use, a control circuit comprising at least some of the electrical components 38 on the printed circuit board 32 controls a supply of electrical power from the power supply 58 to the resistive heating portion 16 of the elongate electrical heater 12.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the system in modified Unknown to include a printed circuit board connected to the heater that is fed by a battery as taught by Vrtis.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to control the heater through supplying the heater with varying amounts of power from the battery, as stated by Vrtis, Page 10, lines 11-14, “During use, a control circuit comprising at least some of the electrical components 38 on the printed circuit board 32 controls a supply of electrical power from the power supply 58 to the resistive heating portion 16 of the elongate electrical heater 12.”
Regarding claim 13, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the porous mat comprises a holder (Unknown, Page 3, Para. 2, “The mat holder (+4) is supported by locking the tapered part (13a) at the upper end to the upper end opening edge of the cylindrical body (101)”, where modified Fig. 2b shows that the mat 4 is separated from the heater 11 through a mat holder).
Claims 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Unknown (JP S5572878 U) in view of Flashinski (US 20050232615 A1) and Vrtis et al. (WO 2019141820 A1, hereinafter Vrtis) and Jaworski et al. (US 6478440 B1, hereinafter Jaworski) in further view of Hiramatsu et al. (DE 3029933 C2, hereinafter Hiramatsu).
Regarding claim 2, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
wherein the reflective element is formed from a metal sheet.
However, Hiramatsu discloses, in the similar field of mats with volatile substances (Page 4, Para. 2, “In the retained by the substrate thermal ver it is volatile (volatile) chemical agents to various active Agents”), where a reflective element is formed from a metal sheet that has high reflectivity (Page 5, Para. 2 from end, “Under the metals are particularly preferred metals with a good heat reflectivity, such. Al, Cu and Ag. The thin metal foil can be treated properly (processed) to give the film a good heat confer reflectivity.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the reflective plate in modified Unknown to include being made from a reflective metal sheet as taught by Hiramatsu.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to maintain reflectivity while using different materials, which allows a user to have access to more materials to choose from, as stated by Hiramatsu, Page 5, Para. 2 from end, “Under the metals are particularly preferred metals with a good heat reflectivity, such. Al, Cu and Ag.”.
Claims 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Unknown (JP S5572878 U) in view of Flashinski (US 20050232615 A1) and Vrtis et al. (WO 2019141820 A1, hereinafter Vrtis) and Jaworski et al. (US 6478440 B1, hereinafter Jaworski) in further view of Reckitt (EP 1709980 A1).
Regarding claim 3, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
wherein the reflective element is formed from a mirror sheet.
However, Reckitt discloses, in the similar field of evaporating volatile substances (Para. 0081, “solid article is given up into the atmosphere, and substantially disappears, or evanesces. The adamantane sublimes and the insecticides are volatile liquids, which evaporate.”), where there is a reflective element formed from a mirror sheet (Para. 0051, “The thermal barrier may be a body which is heat-reflective, for example mirrored, at least on a surface facing the heater.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the reflective element in modified Unknown to be mirrored as taught by Reckitt.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to still allow the reflective element to be heat reflective through different configurations, where being mirrored allows this feature to be kept and can be selected depending on a user’s design choices, as stated by Reckitt, Para. 0051, “The thermal barrier may be a body which is heat-reflective, for example mirrored, at least on a surface facing the heater.”.
Regarding claim 4, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
wherein the cavity formed by the reflective element comprises one or more seals for making the cavity airtight.
However, Reckitt discloses where the reflective element with the housing includes seals to make it airtight (Para. 0054, “The thermal barrier may be a body in the form of a plate, or sheet, or shim, or card, located between the heater and the solid article, in use. In this embodiment there is preferably no air gap between the heater and the solid article.”, and Para. 0056, “A thermal barrier in the form of a body as described in the preceding paragraphs preferably has a generally curved or rounded perimeter, in plan view. When of a fibrous form the edge or edges are preferably mechanically rolled over and/or heat sealed.”, where the heat sealed edges create an airtight bond that would also be in contact with the housing, where no air gaps implies that the seal creates an airtight cavity). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the reflective element in modified Unknown to include the airtight connection as taught by Reckitt.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to allow a user to choose if they want to have an air gap, a body and an air gap, or a body and no air gaps for the reflective element, where this gives the user more design options for the evaporating device, as stated by Reckitt, Para. 0054, “In this embodiment there is preferably no air gap between the heater and the solid article.”, and Para. 0058, “In another embodiment the thermal barrier may be an air gap between the solid article and the heater.”, and Para. 0059, “The thermal barrier may be made up of both a body and an air gap.”.
Claims 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Unknown (JP S5572878 U) in view of Flashinski (US 20050232615 A1) and Vrtis et al. (WO 2019141820 A1, hereinafter Vrtis) and Jaworski et al. (US 6478440 B1, hereinafter Jaworski) in further view of Reckitt (EP 1709980 A1) and Mehnert et al. (WO 2016201089 A1, hereinafter Mehnert).
Regarding claim 5, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 4, as set forth above.
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
wherein the cavity formed by the reflective element has an internal vacuum in the range of 0.1 to 0.2 bar.
However, Mehnert discloses, in the similar field of volatile substances (Para. 0002, “modulated release of volatile compositions”), where the substances can be vacuum treated (Para. 00109, “a method for applying the volatile composition 24 comprises combining the volatile composition 24 and base material 12 and/or scent reservoirs 11 in a container and applying a vacuum below atmospheric pressure to the volatile composition 24 and the base material 12 and/or scent reservoirs l 1. Vacuum may be applied in a range from 0.001 mm Hg to about 700 mm Hg, or from about 5 Kpa to about 35 kPa”, where 0.1 bar corresponds to 10 kPa, where 5-35 kPa covers applicant’s claimed range). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the cavity that contains the volatile substances in modified Unknown to include the vacuum treatment process as taught by Mehnert.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to apply additional volatile materials to the mat if needed or desired by a user, as stated by Mehnert, Para. 00109, “longer if needed to apply sufficient amounts of the volatile composition 24 to the base material 12 and/or scent reservoirs 11 to achieve a desired load of the volatile composition 24 to the base material 12 and/or scent reservoirs 11 or release of the volatile composition 24 from the base material 12 and/or scent reservoirs 11.”.
Claims 8 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Unknown (JP S5572878 U) in view of Flashinski (US 20050232615 A1) and Vrtis et al. (WO 2019141820 A1, hereinafter Vrtis) and Jaworski et al. (US 6478440 B1, hereinafter Jaworski) in further view of Richardson et al. (GB 2563910 A1, hereinafter Richardson).
Regarding claim 8, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the porous mat is placed at a distance from the heating element (Unknown, Page 3, Para. 2, “The mat holder (+4) is supported by locking the tapered part (13a) at the upper end to the upper end opening edge of the cylindrical body (101)”, where modified Fig. 2b shows that the mat 4 is separated from the heater 11 through a mat holder).
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
wherein an air gap having a distance is of 1 to 2 mm is provided between the porous mat and the heating element.
However, Richardson discloses where the separation distance between a heater and porous mat can be any distance that still allows for heat transfer to occur (Page 4, lines 27-30, “The distance between the first surface 103A of the patterned release layer 103 and the heating surface 101S may be any distance provided that the heating surface 101S can directly or indirectly transfer heat to the patterned release layer 103.”), where the total height of the porous mat is disclosed to be within the millimeter range (Page 5, line 26, “The thickness of the patterned release layer 103 may be between 0.1 mm and 10 mm.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the separation distance created by the mat holder in modified Unknown to be a value within the millimeter range so that indirect heating could still occur as taught by Richardson.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to allow a user to have access to more design choices in selecting distances that still allow for heat transfer to occur, where the a distance of 1-2 mm would be less than the thickness of the mat and still allow for indirect heat transfer to occur, as stated by Richardson, Page 4, lines 27-30, “The distance between the first surface 103A of the patterned release layer 103 and the heating surface 101S may be any distance provided that the heating surface 101S can directly or indirectly transfer heat to the patterned release layer 103.”.
Regarding claim 15, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 8, as set forth above.
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
wherein the printed circuit board is fed by a battery.
However, Vrtis discloses where the printed circuit board is fed by a battery (Page 10, lines 10-14, “The power supply 58 is electrically connected to the printed circuit board 32 by an electrical connector 60. During use, a control circuit comprising at least some of the electrical components 38 on the printed circuit board 32 controls a supply of electrical power from the power supply 58 to the resistive heating portion 16 of the elongate electrical heater 12.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the system in modified Unknown to include a printed circuit board connected to the heater that is fed by a battery as taught by Vrtis.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to control the heater through supplying the heater with varying amounts of power from the battery, as stated by Vrtis, Page 10, lines 11-14, “During use, a control circuit comprising at least some of the electrical components 38 on the printed circuit board 32 controls a supply of electrical power from the power supply 58 to the resistive heating portion 16 of the elongate electrical heater 12.”
Claims 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Unknown (JP S5572878 U) in view of Flashinski (US 20050232615 A1) and Vrtis et al. (WO 2019141820 A1, hereinafter Vrtis) and Jaworski et al. (US 6478440 B1, hereinafter Jaworski) in further view of Shapiro et al. (US 20140079586 A1, hereinafter Shapiro).
Regarding claim 12, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
also comprising a grill that covers the porous mat.
However, Shapiro discloses, in the similar field of evaporating volatile substances (Para. 0026, “A first air stream is generated by rising heat causing volatilizable substances to vaporize and enter into the air.”), where a grill covers the porous mat (Para. 0017, “The dispensing end 14 is comprised of a heating plate 18 upon which a mat (not shown) is placed. A protective grill 20 is attached above and substantially parallel to the heating plate 18.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the system in modified Unknown to include a protective grill over the porous mat as taught by Shapiro.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to protect the mat through the grill, where the grill can prevent a user from accidentally contacting the hot mat, as stated by Shapiro, Para. 0017, “A protective grill 20 is attached above and substantially parallel to the heating plate 18.”.
Claims 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Unknown (JP S5572878 U) in view of Flashinski (US 20050232615 A1) and Vrtis et al. (WO 2019141820 A1, hereinafter Vrtis) and Jaworski et al. (US 6478440 B1, hereinafter Jaworski) in further view of Hiramatsu et al. (DE 3029933 C2, hereinafter Hiramatsu) and Reckitt (EP 1709980 A1).
Regarding claim 14, modified Unknown teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above.
Modified Unknown does not disclose:
wherein the reflective element is formed from a mirror sheet.
However, Reckitt discloses, in the similar field of evaporating volatile substances (Para. 0081, “solid article is given up into the atmosphere, and substantially disappears, or evanesces. The adamantane sublimes and the insecticides are volatile liquids, which evaporate.”), where there is a reflective element formed from a mirror sheet (Para. 0051, “The thermal barrier may be a body which is heat-reflective, for example mirrored, at least on a surface facing the heater.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the reflective element in modified Unknown to be mirrored as taught by Reckitt, where mirrors made from metal are known in the prior art.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to still allow the reflective element to be heat reflective through different configurations, where being mirrored allows this feature to be kept and can be selected depending on a user’s design choices, as stated by Reckitt, Para. 0051, “The thermal barrier may be a body which is heat-reflective, for example mirrored, at least on a surface facing the heater.”.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN GUANHUA WEN whose telephone number is (571)272-9940 and whose email is kevin.wen@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ibrahime Abraham can be reached on 571-270-5569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN GUANHUA WEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
08/18/2026
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