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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims.
Therefore, the permeable decorative housing comprising an outer permeable portion comprising a fabric material and an inner permeable portion comprising a foam material, or claim 1, the attachment mechanism of claim 9, the interlocking portions of claim 10, the stems and grooves of claims 11 and 12, the Velcro, button, zippers of claim 13
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4-6, 9 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joshi (5,765,751) in view of Hecking (4,712,737) and Lehman et al. (6,220,473)
Regarding claim 1, Joshi shows a fragrance diffusing device comprising: a fragrance reservoir (16); and a vessel (11), wherein the vessel comprises: a first substantially impermeable layer defining an internal space (figure 1) and comprising one or more openings (14); and a semi-permeable layer (13) disposed within the internal space of the first substantially impermeable layer; a first sealing flap (15) overlapping a first opening (14) of the one or more openings; wherein the fragrance reservoir is configured to be placed within the vessel with the semi-permeable layer disposed between the first substantially impermeable layer and the fragrance reservoir (fig 1), and the first sealing flap comprise mechanical seals (tap includes a sticky glue that is a mechanical seal) configured to be an impermeable layer for allowing selective opening and closing of the first opening and the at least one additional openings;
But fails to disclose at least one additional sealing flap overlapping at least one additional opening of the one or more openings.
However Hecking teaches a sent diffusing device that includes two sealing flaps (16) that each close separate openings (15).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was effectively field to make the single sealing flap of Joshi into at least two sealing flaps so that the sealing flaps can be removed to permit exposure of less than all of the openings as taught by Hecking (abstract).
The above combination still fails to disclose that the fragrance reservoir and vessel are housed by a permeable decorative housing comprising an outer permeable portion comprising a fabric material and an inner permeable portion comprising a foam material.
However, Lehman et al. teaches a permeable decorative housing (10) comprising an outer permeable portion (58) comprising a fabric material and an inner permeable portion comprising a foam material (60),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was effectively field to put the vessel with the fragrance reservoir of Joshi as modified above, inside the container (10) of Lehman et al. in order to keep the inside of the container scented.
In the above combination, the inner permeable portion (60 on the inside of 10) is disposed between the outer permeable portion (58 on the outside of 10) and the vessel (of Joshi).
Regarding claim 2, wherein the first substantially impermeable layer comprises plastic (col 2, lines 63).
Regarding claim 4, the above combination fails to disclose that the first sealing flap and the at least one additional sealing flap comprise of at least one of a plastic based material, a paper based material, or a combination thereof.
However, plastic and paper based tapes are well known in the art.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was effectively field to use a paper based tape in order to be more environmentally friendly
Regarding claim 5, wherein at least a portion of the mechanical seal is disposed on at least a portion of the first sealing flap and the at least one additional sealing flap (each flap is a tape with a sickly seal).
Regarding claim 6, wherein the first substantially impermeable layer comprises a perforated portion that extends partially from a first edge of the substantially impermeable layer to a second edge about a width of the first substantially impermeable layer (figure 1).
Regarding claim 9, further comprising an attachment mechanism (fig 5, 6 Joshi) used to attach the decorative housing to a mirror of a vehicle.
Regarding claim 13, further comprising a resealable opening (14) configured for selectively placing or removing the fragrance reservoir and/or the vessel from inside the permeable decorative housing, wherein the resealable opening comprises at least one of Velcro (50), buttons, zippers, or combinations thereof.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joshi (5,765,751) as modified by Hecking (4,712,737) and Lehman et al. (6,220,473) above, further in view of Van Kippersluis (2007/0057086).
Regarding claim 3, Joshi as modified above shows all aspects of the applicant’s invention as in claim 1, but fails to disclose that the semi-permeable layer comprises cotton fibers. synthetic fibers, or both.
However, Van Kippersluis teaches a similar scent dispensing device that has a semi-permeable layer (70) made from synthetic or cotton fibers [0026]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was effectively field to use cotton or synthetic fibers for the semi-permeable layer of Joshi as modified above, in order to absorb and release scented material.
Claim(s) 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joshi (5,765,751) as modified by Hecking (4,712,737) and Lehman et al. (6,220,473) above, further in view of Joshi et al (2010/0176214).
Regarding claim 10, Joshi as modified above shows all aspects of the applicant’s invention as in claim 1, but fails to disclose that the mechanical seals comprise one or more interlocking portions.
However, Joshi et al teaches the use of Velcro as a mechanical seal [0019] to secure a cover to a sent diffuser.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was effectively field to Velcro as the mechanical seal to make the seal reusable.
Regarding claims 11 and 12, Velcro includes interlocking stems and grooves.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the pending claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 JASON J BOECKMANN whose telephone number is (571)272-2708. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur Hall can be reached on (571) 270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON J BOECKMANN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752 10/3/2025