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
Applicant’s election without traverse of group 1, claims 1-8 in the reply filed on 11/04/2025 is acknowledged.
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 1-4 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (2008/0279729) in view of Pugh et al. (10,981,326).
Regarding claims 1 and 6, Chen discloses an aroma porcelain wall deco, wherein the microelement breathable and permeable body having fine pores evenly and densely formed on the interior and the external surface thereon is equipped with a porous property, and can absorb the aromatic agent on a complete scale so as to increase the contact area with the atmosphere outside; whereby, via each fine porous cell of the microelement breathable and permeable body, the fragrant scent is evenly diffused into the air in a long-lasting and continuous manner till the aroma agent is used up without the inconvenience of the aforementioned conventional press-type or burning-type aroma diffusers [0004].
The wall deco is made by sintering powder material of SiO2(35.96%), Al2O3(59.5%), Fe2O3(0.1%), TiO2(0.04%), CaO(0.25%), MgO(0.02%), K2O(0.82%), Na2O(0.7%), Lg loss(2.61%) and into a molded liquid-permeable and air-ventilating special porcelain wicking head with fine pores evenly and densely formed on the interior and the external surface. The raw material with the fine air pores formed on the crystal boundaries is also utilized to provide a porous property for the absorption of essential oils and the release of the fragrant scents [0011].
Pugh et al. (10,981,326) discloses a 3D printing method with optimized porcelain particles 122 for sintering and controlled porosity, comprising the steps of providing porcelain material with a plurality of elongated particles to promote porosity control – see abstract, Fig. 1, step 12, and 3D printing melting/sintering the powder material into a product – Fig. 1, 14-18; 300 – to create linear pathways via the elongated particles can make it easier for gases to travel through the structure than by just following paths along particles and/or gaps between adjacent particles – col. 2, line 66 to col. 3, line 6.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to improve Chen’s powder sintering method by 3D printing porcelain particles and adjusting the amount of elongated particles and/or other components as taught by Pugh et al. in order to control different level of porosity to create linear pathways via the elongated particles can make it easier for gases to travel through the structure than by just following paths along particles and/or gaps between adjacent particles, which would greatly improve the porosity of the forming device and the diffusing of the fragrance.
Regarding claims 2 and 7, Pugh et al. further discloses that the amount of powder material and the amount of elongated particles are selected for different intended use of the forming product – see col. 3, lines 46-59, and by varying the quantity of elongated particles in the resin material, the porosity of the printed object can be controlled – col. 4, lines 2-9.
Regarding claim 3, wherein the loose powder comprises at least one of ceramic, metal, glass, and composites – see col. 5, lines 29-38.
Regarding claims 4 and 8, Chen discloses that the aroma porcelain wall deco is filled with a fragrance, [0002], [0009].
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (2008/0279729) in view of Pugh et al. (10,981,326) as applied to claims 1-4 and 6-8 above, and further in view of Ma (2017/0157281).
Ma discloses an aroma diffuser, comprising an outer cover 1, a hollow diffuser body 2 and a base 3, wherein the outer cover 1 covers the outside of the hollow diffuser body 2 to achieve a decoration effect.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide Chen and Pugh’s diffuser with an outer cover 1 as taught by Ma in order to provide additional protection to the diffuser and the fragrance oil and to prevent the fragrance oil from uncontrolled vaporization.
8. The method of claim 5, further comprising saturating the porous device with a fragrance.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Thu-Khanh T. Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)272-1136. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-4:30.
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/Thu Khanh T. Nguyen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1743