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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on December 23, 2025 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 1 – 4 and 6 – 12 are pending. Claim 5 is cancelled.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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Claims 1 – 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlucci (U. S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0173842 A1) in view of Yun (KR-30-0869640) as cited by Applicant.
Regarding Independent Claim 1, Carlucci teaches a facial brush (facial treatment apparatus, 10) and a cradle system (base, 12) comprising, an electrically powered facial brush (handheld member, 14) having at least one moving part (motor or drive, 48) that is driven by electrical power (Paragraph [0003]) and that has a housing (housing, 20), a grip portion (Annotated Fig. 1) and a head portion (Annotated Fig. 1); a cradle (Fig. 1) having a base (base, 12) adapted to rest in a free-standing fashion on a generally flat surface (Fig. 1) and having a cord (electric cord, 18) for connecting to an external electrical power supply source (Fig. 1).
Carlucci does not teach the cradle having a support that extends vertically upward from the base to be perpendicular from the flat surface and a loop that extends outward from the support parallel with the flat surface so that the grip portion can pass through the loop to position the head portion on the loop allowing the facial brush to hang from the loop.
Yun, however, teaches an analogous base unit, comprising a cradle (Annotated Fig. 1.1) and a base unit (Annotated Fig. 1.1), the cradle having a support (Annotated Fig. 1.1) that extends vertically upward from the base (Annotated Fig. 1.1) to be perpendicular from the flat surface (Annotated Fig. 1.1) and a loop (Annotated Fig. 1.1) that extends outward from the support (Annotated Fig. 1.1) parallel with the flat surface (Annotated Fig. 1.1) so that the grip portion can pass through the loop (Annotated Fig. 1.1) to position the head portion on the loop allowing the facial brush to hang from the loop (the loop of Yun allows for a grip portion of a facial brush to be cradled in the loop and positions the head portion on the loop allowing the brush to hang from the loop).
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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 system of Carlucci to further include the cradle has a base, a support that extends upward from the base, and a loop that extends outward from the support, as taught by Yun, to provide a device that is easier to dry.
Regarding Claim 2, Carlucci, as modified, teaches the facial brush (facial treatment apparatus, 10) further comprising an electrical charging system for charging at least one electrical battery contained in the facial brush (Paragraph [0018]).
Regarding Claim 3, Carlucci, as modified, teaches the facial brush (facial treatment apparatus, 10) wherein the head portion (Annotated Fig. 1) has a larger width than a width of the grip portion (Annotated Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 4, Carlucci, as modified, teaches the facial brush (facial treatment apparatus, 10), wherein the housing (20) is removably connectable to a first attachment (facial treatment element, 22).
Regarding Claim 6, Carlucci, as modified, teaches the facial brush and the cradle system of claim 5 as discussed above.
Carlucci, as modified does not teach wherein the loop has a width that is a smaller size than a width of the head portion; however, 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 system of Carlucci to further include the loop has a width that is a smaller size than a width of the head portion since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding Claim 7, Carlucci, as modified, teaches the facial brush and the cradle system of claim 6 as discussed above.
Carlucci does not teach wherein the width of the loop is sized larger than the width of the grip portion so that the grip portion can pass through the loop to position the head portion on the loop to support the head portion on the loop allowing the facial brush to hang from the cradle.
Yun, however, teaches the width of the loop (Annotated Fig. 1.1) is sized larger than the width of the grip portion so that the grip portion can pass through the loop (Annotated Fig. 1.1) to position the head portion on the loop to support the head portion on the loop allowing the device to hang from the cradle (Yun is designed as a cradle thus allowing for a grip of the device to pass through the loop to support a head portion).
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 system of Carlucci to further include the width of the loop is sized larger than the width of the grip portion so that the grip portion can pass through the loop to position the head portion on the loop to support the head portion on the loop allowing the facial brush to hang from the cradle, as taught by Navid, to provide a device that is easier to dry.
Regarding Claim 8, Carlucci, as modified, teaches the facial brush and the cradle system of claim 7 as discussed above.
Carlucci does not teach wherein the support is sized to have a length so that when the facial brush hangs from the cradle, and wherein the grip portion has a space between the base and the grip portion.
Yun, however, teaches wherein the support (Annotated Fig. 1.1) is sized to have a length so that when the device hangs from the cradle (Fig. 1.1), and wherein the grip portion has a space between the base and the grip portion (Yun is designed as a cradle thus allowing for the support to be sixed so that device hangs from the cradle and further providing a space between the base and grip portion.
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 system of Carlucci to further include the support is sized to have a length so that when the facial brush hangs from the cradle, and wherein the grip portion has a space between the base and the grip portion, as taught by Navid, to provide a device that is easier to dry.
Regarding Claim 9, Carlucci, as modified, teaches the facial brush (facial treatment apparatus, 10), wherein the electrical charging system comprises at least one brush electrical contact on the facial brush and at least one cradle electrical contact on the cradle (Paragraph [0018]), each of the electrical contacts positioned so that when the facial brush is supported by the cradle the at least one cradle electrical contact (Paragraph [0018]) and the at least one brush electrical contact engage each other for transmitting electrical power from the cradle to the facial brush (Paragraph [0019]).
Regarding Claim 11, Carlucci, as modified, teaches the facial brush (facial treatment apparatus, 10), wherein the facial brush has interchangeable attachments (Paragraph [0020]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carlucci (U. S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0173842 A1) in view of Yun (KR-30-0869640) as cited by Applicant and Navid (U. S. Patent No. 8,497,659 B2.
Regarding Claim 10, Carlucci, as modified, teaches the facial brush and the cradle system of claim 2 as discussed above.
Carlucci does not teach the electrical charging system comprises an inductive charging system housed internally in the facial brush and the cradle so that when the facial brush is supported by the cradle electrical power is transmitted from the cradle to the facial brush.
Navid, however, teaches the electrical charging system comprises an inductive charging system housed internally in the device and the cradle so that when the device is supported by the cradle electrical power is transmitted from the cradle to the device (Abstract and Claim 1).
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 system of Carlucci to further include the electrical charging system comprises an inductive charging system housed internally in the device and the cradle so that when the device is supported by the cradle electrical power is transmitted from the cradle to the device, as taught by Navid, to provide a device that is easier to dry.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fry et al. (U. S. Patent No. 4,724,563) in view of Yun (KR-30-0869640) as cited by Applicant.
Regarding Independent Claim 1, Fry teaches a facial brush (scrub brush apparatus, 10) and a cradle system (cradle, 86; Fig. 3) comprising, an electrically powered facial brush (10) having at least one moving part (motor, 28) that is driven by electrical power and that has a housing (housing, 12), a grip portion (handle member, 14) and a head portion (head portion, 24), the head portion (24) having at least one brush electrical contact (78N and P; Fig. 1); a cradle (86) having a base (floor, 92) and having a cord (84; Fig. 3) for connecting to an external electrical power supply source (Fig. 3), the cradle (86) having a support (90L and R) that extends upward from the base (92) and at least one cradle electrical contact (108R and L; Fig. 5) above the base (92), each of the at least one cradle electrical contact (108R and L) and the at least one brush electrical contact (78N and P; Fig. 1) being positioned so that when the head portion (24) of the facial brush (10) is supported by the cradle (86)the at least one cradle electrical contact and the at least one brush electrical contact engage each other for transmitting electrical power from the cradle to the facial brush (Col. 6, lines 47 – 69), wherein the cradle (86) can support the facial brush (10) in a position in which the facial brush (10) is suspended (Fig. 3).
Carlucci does not teach the cradle having a support that extends vertically upward from the base to be perpendicular from the flat surface and a loop that extends outward from the support parallel with the flat surface so that the grip portion can pass through the loop to position the head portion on the loop allowing the facial brush to hang from the loop.
Yun, however, teaches an analogous base unit, comprising a cradle (Annotated Fig. 1.1) and a base unit (Annotated Fig. 1.1), the cradle having a support (Annotated Fig. 1.1) that extends vertically upward from the base (Annotated Fig. 1.1) to be perpendicular from the flat surface (Annotated Fig. 1.1) and a loop (Annotated Fig. 1.1) that extends outward from the support (Annotated Fig. 1.1) parallel with the flat surface (Annotated Fig. 1.1) so that the grip portion can pass through the loop (Annotated Fig. 1.1) to position the head portion on the loop allowing the facial brush to hang from the loop (the loop of Yun allows for a grip portion of a facial brush to be cradled in the loop and positions the head portion on the loop allowing the brush to hang from the loop).
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 system of Carlucci to further include the cradle has a base, a support that extends upward from the base, and a loop that extends outward from the support, as taught by Yun, to provide a device that is easier to dry.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicants Arguments/Remarks dated May 27, 2025 with respect to the rejection of claims 1 – 11 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive; therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, after further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is presented in view of Yun.
Applicant argues “Navid is non-analogous art. Specifically; Navid is not from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention since Navid does not disclose or suggest a facial brush and a cradle system.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Navid is analogous art in that it teaches a charging base for holding an object to be charged. The instant application claims a base with electrical power for transmitting electrical power from the cradle to an object being held. Navid explicitly teaches that limitations as claimed.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATINA N HENSON whose telephone number is (571)272-8024. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday; 5:30am to 3:30pm.
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/KATINA N. HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723