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 § 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.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Velamakanni et al. (US 2021/0353387) in view of Angelini (US 2020/0282639).
Velamakanni shows a method of forming a dental appliance comprising: (A) receiving a design file representing the dental appliance (file to allow 3D printing); (B) printing, using a stereolithography ([0090]) three-dimensional (3D) printer and the design file, the dental appliance ([0090]), the dental appliance being cured and including at least one initial physical property value ([0090] may be applied on the surface after 3D printing, which will therefore be after curing); (C) applying, using a first additive manufacturing system, a first layer of a first material to at least one first surface of the dental appliance to form a modified dental appliance (microstructures 122 printed on the surface); wherein the at least one initial physical property value of the dental appliance is changed to a corresponding at least one modified physical property value of the modified dental appliance by the application of the first layer of first material in (C) (adding of material changes physical properties such as shape and dimension). With respect to claim 2, wherein the dental appliance includes at least one of a retainer, and an aligner (“shell-like orthodontic dental appliance 100” considered equivalent to aligner; Fig. 1). With respect to claim 3, wherein the at least one initial physical property includes at least one of tensile strength, elasticity, elongation, impact resistance, rigidity, mechanical strength, hardness, wear resistance, color, and transparency (addition of the microstructures will add thickness and therefore adjust the rigidity and mechanical strength for instance). With respect to claim 4, wherein the first material includes at least one of thermoplastic, acrylic, and epoxy (“acrylic” [0028]). With respect to claim 5, wherein the first additive manufacturing system includes at least one of a material dipping system, material spraying system, material coating system, material wrapping system, material heat shrinking system, material depositing system, and material painting system ([0090] lists the possible depositing systems). With respect to claim 6, further comprising: (C)(1) curing the first layer of first material on the at least one first surface (once printed on, will be cured thereon). With respect to claim 7, further comprising: (C)(1) activating the adhesion between the first layer of first material and the at least one first surface (printing the structures onto the shell activates the adhesion to reach the product of Fig. 1). With respect to claim 8, wherein the activating the adhesion between the first layer of first material and the at least one first surface is provided by at least one of exposure to ultraviolet light, an addition of a curing and/or activation agent, exposure to heat, and the passing of time (the listed methods of [0090] utilize passing of time for curing of material). With respect to claim 9, further comprising: (A)(1) modifying the design file by modifying at least one parameter of the represented dental appliance within the design file (the file must be modified in order to both create the shell structure and to create the microstructures for printing). With respect to claim 10, wherein the modifying the design file by modifying at least one parameter includes modifying at least one surface of the represented dental appliance within the design file (addition of microstructures). With respect to claim 11, wherein the modifying the design file by modifying at least one parameter includes modifying at least one thickness of the represented dental appliance within the design file (addition of microstructures adds thickness).
Claims 12-19 are rejected similarly to the above where a second additive manufacturing system that may be the same as the first is used to apply a second layer of a second material to at least one second surface of the modified dental appliance to form an additionally modified dental appliance; wherein the at least one modified physical property value of the modified dental appliance is changed to a corresponding at least one additionally modified physical property value of the additionally modified dental appliance by the application of the second layer of second material in (D) (addition of a second microstructure, such as one of the many in Fig. 1, is considered this second printing). With respect to claim 19, wherein the dental appliance includes a shell with a shell outer surface and a cavity with a cavity inner surface, and the first layer of the first material is applied to the shell outer surface and/or the cavity inner surface (Fig. 1).
However, Velamakanni fails to show explicitly fully curing the stereolithography printed appliance before addition of first material.
Angelini similarly teaches a method of making a 3D printed dental appliance ([0007]), wherein the stereolithography printed appliance is fully cured before addition of the first material ([0007], [0012]; fully cured is equivalent to after post-exposure in the reference, as evidenced by optionally applying a first coating material while the appliance is not fully cured or after post-exposure; see also [0033]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Velamakanni’s method by adding the first material/coating after full cure as taught by Angelini in order to take advantage of the supports being removed and as a known alternative in the art ([0012]).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Velamakanni in view of Angelini and further in view of Sirovskiy et al. (US 2018/0263730).
Velamakanni/Angelini discloses the device as previously described above, but fails to show further comprising: (C)(1) obstructing, using a blocking member, at least a portion of dental appliance from the application of the first layer of first material.
Sirovskiy similarly teaches additive manufacturing methods of dental devices where a mask stereolithography machine ([0056]; mask stereolithography machines utilize a blocking/masking member/filter for printing) may be used as an alternative to stereolithography (which is used by Velamakanni/Angelini). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Velamakanni/Angelini’s method by substituting the method of printing to include blocking/masking as taught by Sirovskiy as these are well known alternatives in the dental printing art ([0056]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues that Velamakanni does not explicitly teach the dental appliance being fully cured before applying the first layer of material when newly amended stereolithography is used. This does appear to be the case, however Angelini has been incorporated for the teaching of either pre post exposure or after post exposure, where post-exposure is equivalent to fully curing as detailed in the 103 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW NELSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5898. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 7:30am-5:00pm EDT.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please contact the examiner’s supervisor, Eric Rosen, at (571) 270-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW M NELSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3772