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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 2 and 16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/24/25.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 8, 10, 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Wada (EP 3616649).
Wada teaches an oral care device attachment for being coupled to an oral care device handle having an essentially cylindrical drive shaft coupling end, the attachment comprising: an outer attachment tube (31) having a coupling end that is intended for being detachably secured at a housing of the oral care device handle; a carrier (41) being mounted for driven motion at the outer attachment tube; a motion transmitter (51) being disposed inside of the outer attachment tube, the motion transmitter having a first end (figure 7) coupled with the carrier and a second end (55) being arranged for coupling with the essentially cylindrical drive shaft coupling end, the second end comprising a coupling unit (55) having a top plate (figure 7) and at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements (paragraph 0039 states that the lower half of the fitting cylinder portion 55 is divided into semi-cylindrical divided cylinders 55a with a pair of slits 56 extending in the up-down direction) extending from the top plate, where each of the elastic or deflectable wall elements extends over a portion of a virtual receiver cylinder so that an essentially cylindrical receiver receptacle is defined by the top plate and the at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements (figure 7).
With regards to claim 8, the at least one of the at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements comprises an inwards projecting protrusion (57).
With regards to claim 10, at least one of the at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements is biased against the motion transmitter into a rest or clamping position by a spring (59; figure 7) providing a biasing force and wherein the biased elastic or deflectable wall element is pivotable around a pivot axis when a force acts on the biased elastic or deflectable wall element against the biasing force, preferably wherein the biasing spring is realized together with the biased elastic or deflectable wall element as a single piece element.
With regards to claim 12, the handle having an essentially cylindrical drive shaft coupling end that is coupled with the attachment, wherein the attachment is coupled with the essentially cylindrical drive shaft coupling end such that at least a portion of the essentially cylindrical drive shaft coupling end (16a) is received in the essentially cylindrical receiver receptacle (via 57).
With regards to claim 13, the attachment is coupled with the essentially cylindrical drive shaft coupling end such that the essentially cylindrical drive shaft coupling end (16a) is completely received in the essentially cylindrical receiver receptacle, preferably wherein an inwards projecting protrusion (57) realized at the at least at one of the at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements extending from the top plate is extending underneath the essentially cylindrical drive shaft coupling end (16a is received within 57).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Schaefer (EP 2550940).
Schaefer teaches a kit comprising: at least one attachment comprising an outer attachment tube (710) having a coupling end (759) that is intended for being coupled with the oral care device handle, a carrier (731) mounted for driven motion at the outer attachment tube, and a motion transmitter (716) disposed inside of the outer attachment tube, the motion transmitter has a first end (716B) coupled with the carrier and a second end (716A) comprising a first side of a separable joint; and an adaptor (712) for being coupled to a drive shaft of an oral care device handle having an essentially cylindrical drive shaft coupling end (figure 12C) and for being coupled to the attachment (figure 12C), the adaptor comprising a first end comprising a second side of the separable joint (hole receiving rod 716A) and a second end (710A) comprising a coupling unit having a top plate (figure 12c) and at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements extending from the top plate (holder element 712 is made by injection molding and comprises protrusions (713), such that it has some flexibility allowing it to be considered as deformable), where each of the deflectable wall elements extends over a portion of a virtual receiver cylinder so that an essentially cylindrical receiver receptacle is defined by the top plate and the at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements (figure 12c).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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(s) 3-7, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wada (‘649).
Wada teaches all the essential elements of the claimed invention including that the elastic arms and the top plate are formed as a single piece, integral unit (figure 7) (claim 4) however fails to teach the at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements are at least partly made from a thermoplastic material (claim 3), that the top plate is made from a thermoplastic material, preferably wherein the top plate and the at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements are realized as a single piece, integral unit (claim 4), that the at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements are at least partly made from sheet metal, in particular from non-magnetic sheet metal, preferably wherein the sheet metal has a thickness of not more than about 250 micrometer, further preferably of not more than about 150 micrometer (claim 5), that the top plate is made from a thermoplastic material and the at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements are connected with the top plate by at least one connection technology from the group of welding, snapping, riveting, gluing and/or screwing (claim 6) and that the top plate is made from metal, in particular a non-magnetic metal, and the at least two elastic or deflectable wall elements are connected with the top plate by at least one connection technology from the group of welding, snapping, caulking, gluing, screwing and/or overmolding (claim 7) and that between the essentially cylindrical drive shaft coupling end and a portion of a housing of the oral care device handle a circumferential gap of less than about 1mm, preferably of less than about 0.8mm, further preferably of less than about 0.6mm exists (claim 14).
With regards to claim 3-4 and 6, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the material of the elastic or deflectable walls elements and the top plate so that they are made from a thermoplastic material since it has been held within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious engineering choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. Further, thermoplastic material is a well-known material used in the art of toothbrushes since it is readily available, cost efficient, and durable.
With regards to claim 5 and 7, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wall elements and top plate so that they are made from or partly from sheet metal since it has been held within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious engineering choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. Further, using metal will prevent the arms from breaking apart from the top plate since metal will not crack or break up repeated attachment and detachment of the drive shaft. Lastly, one of skill in the art by routine experimentation would have determined the thickness of the sheet metal any thickness so desired or required, including as claimed to optimize performance of the wall elements.
With regards to claim 6 and 7, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the means for connecting the top plate to the wall elements so that it is can be attached via welding, snapping, gluing or screwing. These fastening means were art-recognized equivalents at the time of the invention was made, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to substitute the unitary single piece design for any of the fastening means as claimed since they are both know to secure elements together equally well. Further, the means used to attach the arms to the front plate is considered to be product by process. Even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process.
With regards to claim 14, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the spacing between the drive shaft coupling end and the handle to be less than 1mm. One of skill would by routine experimentation have determined the appropriate amount of spacing necessary to optimize and minimize vibrations within the handle of the toothbrush.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wada (‘649) in view of Papazian (PGPub 20200315758).
Wada teaches all the essential elements of the claimed invention however fails to teach a spring is arranged between the outer attachment tube and the motion transmitter so that the motion transmitter is biased into a position towards the coupling end of the outer attachment tube. Papazian teaches a toothbrush with a spring (68; figure 6) arranged between and outer attachment tube and the motion transmitter. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wada so that there is a spring as taught by Papazian to securely position the motion transmitter within the carrier.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wada (‘649) in view of Schaefer (‘940).
Wada teaches all the essential elements of the claimed invention however fails to teach the coupling unit is or is part of a separable adaptor, preferably wherein at least a part of the motion transmitter and the separable adaptor are coupled by a separable coupling such as a separable ball joint.
Schaefer teaches a separable adaptor (716A). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the coupling unit of Wada so that it is separable from the motion transmitter as taught by Schaefer to allow the motion transmitter to be removed and replaced as necessary.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAY LYNN KARLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1268. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th (6am-5pm).
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/SHAY KARLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723