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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 5 depends from claim 4, which is canceled. It is therefore unclear as to what the bound of claim 5 are.
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected as inheriting the defect of claim 5.
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) 1-3, 5-7, 9, 11, 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cise (US 6129547).
Regarding claim 1, Cise discloses an oral care kit comprising: a suction toothbrush (10) comprising a suction-lumen outlet (84b) at a proximal end, and a dentifrice-delivery lumen (104) having a dentifrice-delivery outlet (104a) within or in proximity to a distally-disposed field of toothbrush bristles, and an inlet (at 68) displaced proximally therefrom; an attachable and compressible pipette (28) including a fluid-storage compartment and a fluid loading tube (see annotated Fig. 1 below) extending from the fluid-storage compartment, the loading tube being configured to mate with the proximal inlet of the dentifrice-delivery lumen of the suction toothbrush by the insertion of at least a distal tip of the loading tube in the dentifrice-delivery lumen inlet (Fig. 1A); wherein the suction toothbrush comprises a cradle (74) between the proximal inlet of the dentifrice delivery lumen and a proximal suction port (78B, see Fig. 1A), the cradle being configured to stably and detachably retain the compressible pipette in a fixed orientation external to the suction toothbrush (Fig. 1A).
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Regarding claim 2, Cise discloses the oral care kit of claim 1, wherein the fluid-storage compartment defines a set of equilibrium dimensions (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Cise discloses the oral care kit of claim 1, wherein a wall of the fluid-storage compartment is deformable (col. 5, ll. 14-21) so that when an opening of the fluid-loading tube is in contact with a source of a liquid and the fluid- storage compartment is at least partly compressed, at least partial decompression of the fluid-compartment by a restorative force produces a negative pressure which loads liquid into the fluid storage compartment via the fluid-loading tube (this is an inherent property of the flexible vial).
Regarding claim 5, Cise discloses the oral kit of claim 4, wherein when the compressible pipette is stably retained by the cradle in the fixed orientation external to the suction toothbrush, a distal end of the fluid-loading tube forms a fluid-tight seal with a proximal end of the dentifrice-delivery lumen (via 68) to complete a dentifrice flowpath from an interior of the fluid-storage compartment to the dentifrice-delivery outlet, and a force directly applied upon the exposed and directly accessible external surface of the deformable wall of the fluid-storage compartment at least partially compresses the fluid-storage compartment to expel therefrom dentifrice stored therein so that the expelled dentifrice follows the dentifrice flowpath and exits the dentifrice-delivery lumen via the dentifrice-delivery outlet (col. 5, ll. 26-30).
Regarding claim 6, Cise discloses the oral care kit of claim 5, wherein the fluid-storage compartment has only a single aperture (Fig. 1A), at a proximal end of the fluid-loading tube.
Regarding claim 7, Cise discloses the oral care kit of claim 6, wherein the compressible pipette has only a single aperture (Fig. 1A), at a distal end of the fluid-loading tube.
Regarding claim 9, Cise discloses the oral care kit of claim 1, wherein no valve is disposed in the dentifrice flowpath (Fig. 1A).
Regarding claim 11, Cise discloses the oral care kit of claim 1, wherein the compressible pipette is laterally compressible (col. 5, ll. 22-30).
Regarding claim 13, Cise discloses the oral care kit of claim 1, additionally comprising a bendable suction member (44).
Regarding claim 14, Cise discloses the oral care kit of claim 1, wherein the cradle comprises a snap-in cradle (short wall portion on the side of 28, see Fig. 1A).
Regarding claim 49, Cise discloses an oral care kit comprising: a suction toothbrush comprising (i) a suction-lumen outlet (84b) at a proximal end, and (ii) a dentifrice-delivery lumen (104) having a dentifrice-delivery outlet (104a) within or in proximity to a distally-disposed field of toothbrush bristles, and an inlet (68) displaced proximally therefrom; an attachable and compressible pipette (28) including a fluid-storage compartment and a fluid loading tube (see annotated Fig. 1 above) extending from the fluid-storage compartment, the loading tube being configured to mate with the proximal inlet of the dentifrice-delivery lumen of the suction toothbrush by the insertion of at least a distal tip of the loading tube in the dentifrice-delivery lumen inlet (Fig. 1A); wherein the suction toothbrush comprises a cradle (74) between the proximal inlet of the dentifrice delivery lumen and a proximal suction port, the cradle being configured to stably and detachably retain the compressible pipette in a fixed orientation external to the suction toothbrush (Fig. 1A); wherein the suction toothbrush comprises a ring or ring segment (Fig. 1A) between the proximal inlet of the dentifrice delivery lumen and a proximal suction port (78b), the ring or ring segment being configured to stably and detachably retain the compressible pipette in a fixed orientation external to the suction toothbrush (Fig. 1A).
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) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cise.
Regarding claim 10, Cise teaches the oral care kit of claim 1, wherein: the fluid-storage compartment is elongated to define an elongate axis (Fig. 1), when the pipette is detached from the suction toothbrush, the fluid loading tube is aligned with the elongate axis of the fluid-storage compartment (Fig. 1).
Cise does not teach that when the compressible pipette is stably retained by the attachment element in the fixed orientation external to the suction toothbrush, the fluid-loading tube is laterally bent toward an external surface of the suction toothbrush to complete the dentifrice flowpath.
At the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have moved the location of the dentifrice-delivery lumen inlet such that the when the compressible pipette is stably retained by the attachment element in the fixed orientation external to the suction toothbrush, the fluid-loading tube is laterally bent toward an external surface of the suction toothbrush to complete the dentifrice flowpath because Applicant has not disclosed that the location of the dentifrice-delivery lumen inlet provides an advantage, is used for a particular purpose, or solves a stated problem. One of ordinary skill in the art, furthermore, would have expected Cise's toothbrush and the applicant's invention to perform equally well with either the dentifrice-delivery lumen inlet located on the elongate axis of the fluid storage compartment taught by Cise or the claimed dentifrice-delivery lumen inlet that is off-center of the elongate axis of the fluid storage compartment such that the fluid-loading tube is laterally bent toward an external surface of the suction toothbrush to complete the dentifrice flowpath because both inlet locations are equally capable of connecting the compressible pipette to the toothbrush such that dentifrice in the pipette can be delivered to the toothbrush head.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Cise to obtain the invention as specified in claim 10 because such a modification would have been considered a mere design consideration which fails to patentably distinguish over the prior art of Cise.
Claim(s) 8 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cise as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Belenkiy (US 2019/0021828).
Regarding claim 8, Cise teaches the oral care kit of claim 1, but does not teach that a hardness of the fluid loading tube exceeds a hardness of walls of the fluid delivery compartment.
Belenkiy teaches a fluid loading tube (244) that has a hardness exceeding that of the walls (242) of a fluid storage compartment (implied by the fact that the neck is strong enough to be threaded to another element and that the wall is deformable bellows).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have to have modified the pipette of Cise such that a hardness of the fluid loading tube exceeds a hardness of walls of the fluid delivery compartment as taught by Belenkiy for the purpose of enabling the fluid loading tube to be used to connect the pipette to the toothbrush.
Regarding claim 12, Cise teaches the oral care kit of claim 1, but does not teach that the compressible pipette includes a bellows at a proximal end and is longitudinally compressible.
Belenkiy teaches a compressible pipette (200) that includes a bellows (242) at a proximal end and is longitudinally compressible.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have to have modified the pipette of Cise such that it includes a bellows at a proximal end and is longitudinally compressible as taught by Belenkiy, wherein doing so would merely be a matter of simple substitution of one compressible wall with another with predictable results.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 18 November 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that lavage supply source of Cise does not read on the claimed pipette because the claimed pipette is designed to be filled by a user from any available source of liquid or dentifrice prior to use.
This is not persuasive because this functionality is not present in the claims. Furthermore, a user would be capable of using the lavage supply source taught by Cise in such a manner due to the flexibility of the supply source.
Applicant argues that Cise does not teach that the pipette tip is directly inserted in the delivery lumen inlet.
In response, it is noted that the Luer lock 68 of Cise is a permanent part of the delivery lumen. The tip of the supply source 28 is inserted into the Luer lock, and therefore reads on the claim limitation.
Applicant argues that Cise does not teach that the claimed location of the cradle, between the proximal inlet of the delivery lumen and the proximal suction port because the attachment point 28a is located on the main body of the universal handle, remote from the functional end of the toothbrush.
In response, it is noted that Cise shows the claimed location of the cradle. Please see annotated Fig. 1A below.
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Applicant’s arguments that Belenkiy teaches a different style of container and attachment means are not persuasive because Belenkiy is not relied upon for those features.
Applicant argues that the references fail to address the problem solved by the present invention, and that the claimed invention allows for unexpected advantages.
These arguments are unpersuasive because they do not point out any specific claim limitations that are not found in the prior art.
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 BRADLEY S OLIVER whose telephone number is (571)270-3787. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7-3 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Angwin can be reached at (571)270-3735. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRADLEY S OLIVER/Examiner, Art Unit 3754
/DAVID P ANGWIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754