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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 12 both recite the limitation “air passing into the first bottle passes separately between the nozzle and through the wick such that air passing through the wick is diverted off prior to passing through the nozzle” which lacks support in the disclosure as filed. The disclosure does not support any diverting of air as claimed. At best, par. 43 of the specification as filed supports air being fed into the bottle 107 by forcing it through the nozzle and where the air is atomized with air that comes from the wick. There is no support for any diverting and indeed there is no order in which the air flows that is discussed. Furthermore, air cannot be atomized because it is a gas. Air cannot be atomized with air as set forth in the same paragraph of the disclosure. The bottle 107 containing an essential oil would require some further structure proximate nozzle 145 to divert the air through the wick 108 before atomization as claimed, and that structure is not disclosed or supported. The structure of fig. 11 would be expected to function as a capillary nozzle by negative pressure formed at the top of the wick 108, drawing fluid from the bottle 107 through wick 108 in order to atomize via nozzle 145, and there is no explanation for or structure provided to facilitate the claimed function of passing air through the wick by diverting it off before passing through the nozzle as claimed. There is no support for the claimed limitation and the claims are directed towards new matter.
The dependent claims are rejected for depending on one of claim 1 or 12.
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 1-19 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.
Claims 1 and 12 recite the limitation that “air passing into the first bottle passes separately between the nozzle and through the wick such that air passing through the wick is diverted off prior to passing through the nozzle”, and it is not clear where the air is diverted off to or how the air is diverted off, and further if the air streams rejoin each other. The phrase “prior to” further renders the claim indefinite because it cannot be determined if the air passes through both the wick and the nozzle in that order or if a portion of air passes through the wick and does not pass through the nozzle and there is another portion of air that passes through the nozzle and not the wick. There is no structure claimed for performing this claimed function, and the disclosure as filed does not provide any clarity. Fig. 11 is the only reference for this claim limitation, and it is not clear from the figure and par. 43 describing the structure how the air is diverted or if air is even forced downward through the wick at all. The scope of what is the configuration of the nozzle and wick and how these structures function together cannot be determined and the claims are indefinite.
The dependent claims are rejected for depending on one of claim 1 or 12.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-4 and 6-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lau (US 10,245,923) in view of Habbel (US 2014/0097266).
Regarding claim 1, Lau (US 10,245,923) discloses –
A liquid diffuser system (Title, Abstract, with reference to figs. 1-4 in particular), comprising:
a housing (Fig. 1, air fragrance diffuser system 150 coupled to vents of a climate control system of an automobile, at least the automobile itself or the vent system reading on the limitation of a housing);
a first bottle coupled to the housing (atomizing device 108), the first bottle including a wick (fig. siphon tube 108c best shown in fig. 2);
an air pump within the housing configured to draw air from the environment (air pressure generating source 102, fig. 3 inlet 307a; Col. 8 lines 40-43);
a valve configured to regulate the passage of air from the air pump (electronic valve hub 406, see fig. 4; Col. 11 lines 1-17);
an outlet located within the first bottle (outlet 108k, Col. 7 line 3 – 10 disclose an outlet)
configured to atomize the incoming air with a liquid in the first bottle to generate an air mixture (Col. 6 line 53 – Col. 7 line 3 describes the atomization of the liquid within atomizer 108 into an air stream mixture); and
an external tube extending away from the housing for the release of the air mixture (HVAC ventilation line 114b, Col. 9 lines 45-56);
wherein air passing into the first bottle passes separately between the outlet and through the wick such that air passing through the wick is diverted off prior to passing through the outlet (air passed through the wick 108c must pass therethrough before passing through outlet 108k).
Lau discloses an electronic valve but appears to be silent with regards to the valve being specifically a solenoid and the outlet being a nozzle.
Habbel (US 2014/0097266) discloses a scent dispenser arrangement for an HVAC system similar to that of Lau (Title, abstract), where dispensing of scented air is controlled by a solenoid valve (fig. 26, solenoid 170; par. 95) with an outlet that is a nozzle (see fig. 5 with nozzle on tube 34 for distributing the air and fragrance mixture; par. 71) and an external tube extending away from a housing for release of the air mixture (see the tube at the end of solenoid 170 and also the tube 181 in Fig. 27). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device disclosed by Lau such that the valve is specifically a solenoid valve, the outlet is a nozzle and, in the event Lau fails to teach the limitation of an external tube with sufficient specificity, such that it includes an external tube extending away from a housing for release of the air mixture as taught by Habbel to arrive at the claimed invention. One would have been motivated to do so to successfully implement the valve according to known and conventional valve types and to successfully distribute the scented air into the HVAC system to arrive at a successful scented air distributions system. The combination of familiar prior art elements, including known valve types and distributions means, for the same purpose together as separate according to known means to arrive at results that are nothing more than predictable is prima facie obvious. MPEP 2143(I)(A).
Regarding claim 2, Lau is set forth with regards to claim 1 above but appears to be silent with regards to an air filter.
Habbel further teaches an air filter coupled to a portion of the housing so as to filter out contaminants from the air prior to the air pump (Fig. 3 filter 18). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device disclosed by Lau such that there is an air filter coupled to the housing to filter the air prior to the air pump as taught by Habbel to arrive at the claimed invention. One would have been motivated to do so to provide clean and fragrant air to a user to arrive at an improved scenting device.
Regarding claim 3, Lau further teaches a second bottle coupled to the housing adjacent the first bottle, the second bottle also containing a liquid (Fig. 4 shows multiple bottles 413, 414, 416 in series), the second bottle in communication with the air pump to receive air from the environment; (Fig. 4 shows the atomizer bottles connected to the air pump 403, the atomizers having the same structure as atomizer 108) and a splitter configured to receive an air mixture from both the first bottle and the second bottle and selectively combine them into a singular mixture (Fig. 4 valve hub 430 combines and controls the flow paths of the received scent from the bottles, Col. 11 lines 63-37, Col. 21 lines 36-40).
Regarding claim 4, Lau further teaches a touchscreen coupled an outer portion of the housing and configured to let a user regulate performance of the system (Col. 25 lines 38-45 discloses a touch screen that a user can interact with to provide instruction to the system, the touch screen necessarily or at least obviously being coupled to an outside of the system so that a user could reasonably access the screen).
Regarding claim 6, Lau is set forth above with regards to claim 1 but appears to be silent with regards to a light coupled to the exterior of the housing.
Habbel further teaches a light coupled to the exterior of the devices housing configured to emit a light (Fig. 23, LED 5; par. 91), the light emitting different colors to emit different colors indicative of an operational mode of the system (par. 91, the LED blinks green and red to indicate to a user). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device disclosed by Lau such that the device includes a light coupled to the exterior of the housing configured to emit a light as disclosed by Habbel to arrive at the claimed invention. One would have been motivated to do so to conveniently and simply provide feedback to a user regarding the operational status of the device to arrive at an improved scent distribution device.
Regarding claims 7 and 8, modified Lau further teaches the light emits different colors (par. 91 of Habbel) and the colors of the light are representative of an operational mode of the system (par. 91 of Habbel).
Regarding claim 9, Lau is set forth above with regards to claim 1 but appears to be silent with regards to an air sensor in communication with the external tube configured to monitor air flow to initiate an operational function of the system.
Habbel further teaches an air sensor in communication with the external tube, the air sensor configured to monitor air flow adjacent the external tube, wherein the detection of an air flow initiates an operational function of the system (Fig. 6 Flow sensor 28; pars. 81 and 86 describe the flow sensor 28 detecting air to control an operation of the scent dispensing system). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device disclosed by Lau such that it includes an air sensor in communication with the external tube, the air sensor monitoring air flow adjacent the external tube, wherein the detection of an air flow initiates an operational function of the system as taught by Habbel to arrive at the claimed invention. One would have been motivated to do so to better control the operation of the device to function synchronously with the remaining components of the duct system the scent dispenser is in communication with to arrive at a conveniently and reliably controlled scent delivery device. The combination of familiar prior art elements, including flow sensors for dispersion control, for the same purpose together as separate according to known means to arrive at results that are nothing more than predictable is prima facie obvious. MPEP 2143(I)(A).
Regarding claim 10, modified Lau further teaches an HVAC system containing a duct; wherein the air sensor is located within the duct to detect the air flow passing within the duct (Fig. 3 of Habbel best shows this).
Regarding claim 11, Lau further teaches a remote electronic device in communication with the system and configured to regulate operational functions of the system remotely (Col. 11 lines 35-62 discloses the function of a remote device like a cell phone electronically and remotely controlling the functions of the system).
Regarding claim 12, Lau (US 10,245,923) teaches –
A liquid diffuser system (Title, Abstract, with reference to figs. 1-4 in particular), comprising:
a housing (Fig. 1, air fragrance diffuser system 150 coupled to vents of a climate control system of an automobile, at least the automobile itself or the vent system reading on the limitation of a housing);
a first bottle coupled to the housing (Figs. 1 and 4 atomizing device 108 showing the specific structure and Fig. 4 showing the bottles 413, 414, and 416; bottle 413 being a first) the first bottle including a first wick (tube 108c);
a second bottle coupled to the housing adjacent the first bottle (bottle 414) the second bottle including a second wick (tube 108c);
an air pump within the housing configured to draw air from the environment (air pressure generating source 102, fig. 3 inlet 307a; Col. 8 lines 40-43);
a valve configured to regulate the passage of air from the air pump (electronic valve hub 406, see fig. 4; Col. 11 lines 1-17);
a pair of outlets located within the first bottle and second bottle (Fig. 2 showing the structure, Fig. 4 showing the outlets being associated with respective bottle including outlets 108k, Col. 7 line 3 – 10 disclose an outlet)
configured to atomize the incoming air with a liquid in the first and second bottle to generate an air mixture (Col. 6 line 53 – Col. 7 line 3 describes the atomization of the liquid within atomizer 108 into an air stream mixture);
a splitter configured to receive the air mixture from both the first bottle and the second bottle and selectively combine them into a singular air mixture (Fig. 4 valve hub 430 combines and controls the flow paths of the received scent from the bottles, Col. 11 lines 63-37, Col. 21 lines 36-40);
an external tube extending away from the housing for the release of the air mixture (HVAC ventilation line 114b, Col. 9 lines 45-56);
a cover coupled to each of the first bottle and the second bottle and configured to selectively close off the air mixture from both bottles from reaching the splitter (fig. 4 other valve hub 406 is coupled to the plurality of bottles for closing off the air provided to the bottles; col. 11 lines 19-34); wherein
air passing into at least one of the first bottle and the second bottle passes separately between the pair of nozzles and through the wicks such that air passing through the wicks is diverted off prior to passing through the pair of nozzles (air passed through the each of the bottles respective wick 108c must pass therethrough before passing through respective outlets 108k).
Lau discloses an electronic valve but appears to be silent with regards to the valve being specifically a solenoid, and the device including an air sensor and the outlet being a nozzle.
Habbel (US 2014/0097266) discloses a scent dispenser arrangement for an HVAC system similar to that of Lau (Title, abstract), where dispensing of scented air is controlled by a solenoid valve (fig. 26, solenoid 170; par. 95), an external tube extending away from a housing for release of the air mixture (see the tube at the end of solenoid 170 and also the tube 181 in Fig. 27), and an air sensor monitoring air flow adjacent the external tube where the detection of an air flow outside the external tube initiates an operational function of the system (Fig. 6 Flow sensor 28; pars. 81 and 86 describe the flow sensor 28 detecting air to control an operation of the scent dispensing system). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device disclosed by Lau such that the valve is specifically a solenoid valve, the device includes an air sensor in communication with the external tube, the air sensor monitoring air flow adjacent the external tube, wherein the detection of an air flow initiates an operational function of the system and, in the event Lau fails to teach the limitation of an external tube with sufficient specificity, such that it includes an external tube extending away from a housing for release of the air mixture as taught by Habbel to arrive at the claimed invention. One would have been motivated to do so to successfully implement the valve according to known and conventional valve types, to allow the device to function synchronously with the remaining components of the duct system the scent dispenser is in communication with, and to successfully distribute the scented air into the HVAC system to arrive at a successful scented air distributions system. The combination of familiar prior art elements, including known valve types and distributions means as well as sensors for control, for the same purpose together as separate according to known means to arrive at results that are nothing more than predictable is prima facie obvious. MPEP 2143(I)(A).
Regarding claim 13, modified Lau further teaches an HVAC system containing a duct; wherein the air sensor is located within the duct to detect the air flow passing within the duct (Fig. 3 of Habbel best shows this).
Regarding claim 14, Lau further teaches a remote electronic device in communication with the system and configured to regulate operational functions of the system remotely (Col. 11 lines 35-62 discloses the function of a remote device like a cell phone electronically and remotely controlling the functions of the system).
Regarding claim 15, modified Lau further teaches the air mixture is configured to be released into multiple separate rooms (Habbel shows in Fig. 3 the routing of the scented air to different ducts with different end points, reasonably being capable of releasing to different zones and therefore rooms like for example a bathroom and common room on a bus).
Regarding claim 16, Lau is set forth above with regards to claim 12 but appears to be silent with regards to a light coupled to the exterior of the housing.
Habbel further teaches a light coupled to the exterior of the devices housing configured to emit a light (Fig. 23, LED 5; par. 91), the light emitting different colors to emit different colors indicative of an operational mode of the system (par. 91, the LED blinks green and red to indicate to a user). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device disclosed by Lau such that the device includes a light coupled to the exterior of the housing configured to emit a light as disclosed by Habbel to arrive at the claimed invention. One would have been motivated to do so to conveniently and simply provide feedback to a user regarding the operational status of the device to arrive at an improved scent distribution device.
Regarding claims 17 and 18, modified Lau further teaches the light emits different colors (par. 91 of Habbel) and the colors of the light are representative of an operational mode of the system (par. 91 of Habbel).
Claims 5 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lau (US 10,245,923) in view of Habbel (US 2014/0097266) as applied to claims 1 and 12 above and further in view of Becker (US 2018/0036448).
Regarding claim 5, modified Lau is set forth above with regards to claim 1 but appears to be silent with regards to a motion sensor.
Becker (US 2018/0036448) discloses a controlled scenting system (title, abstract) similar to that of Lau where the system includes a motion sensor configured to monitor for movement in the environment (pars. 178, 189). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device disclosed by modified Lau such that the device includes a motion sensor configured to monitor for movement in the environment as taught by Becker to arrive at the claimed invention. One would have been motivated to do so to only activate the device when a user is present to avoid unnecessary actuation and waste of the aroma to arrive at a more efficient scenting system. The combination of familiar prior art elements, such as sensors for scenting systems, for the same purpose together as separate according to known means to arrive at results that are nothing more than predictable is prima facie obvious. MPEP 2143(I)(A).
Regarding claim 19, modified Lau is set forth above with regards to claim 12 but appears to be silent with regards to a motion sensor.
Becker (US 2018/0036448) discloses a controlled scenting system (title, abstract) similar to that of Lau where the system includes a motion sensor configured to monitor for movement in the environment (pars. 178, 189). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device disclosed by modified Lau such that the device includes a motion sensor configured to monitor for movement in the environment as taught by Becker to arrive at the claimed invention. One would have been motivated to do so to only activate the device when a user is present to avoid unnecessary actuation and waste of the aroma to arrive at a more efficient scenting system. The combination of familiar prior art elements, such as sensors for scenting systems, for the same purpose together as separate according to known means to arrive at results that are nothing more than predictable is prima facie obvious. MPEP 2143(I)(A).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/02/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Lau in view of Habbel fails to teach a wick with air passing separately between the nozzle and wick such that air passing through the wick is diverted off prior to passing through the nozzle is not persuasive. Lau teaches a wick (108c in fig. 2) that is within the bottle and is capable of performing the function as claimed. Applicant fails to identify a structural difference between the prior art and the claimed invention, nor how the prior art could not perform the function as claimed. Claim 1 remains rejected.
Claim 12 similarly remains rejected. Applicant’s arguments directed towards a cover are further not persuasive, as Lau teaches a cover in the form of hub 406 that performs the claimed function. Applicant does not present arguments directed towards hub 406.
The remaining claims remain rejected similarly.
Conclusion
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.
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/BRENDAN A HENSEL/Examiner, Art Unit 1758