DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 4, 11-14, and 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aoun (WO 2018/178095).
Regarding claim 1, Aoun teaches an aerosol provision device comprising: an aerosol generator having a layered inductor arrangement, wherein the layered inductor arrangement comprises a plurality of layers 21 and 22 [Fig. 1-2; page 8, l. 1-12].
Regarding claim 4, Aoun teaches the layered inductor arrangement comprises layers disposed on a printed circuit board [page 8, l. 26-32].
Regarding claim 11, Aoun teaches the aerosol generator comprises one or more inductor arrangements, wherein the one or more inductor arrangements are arranged to generate a varying magnetic field, and wherein one or more susceptors are arranged to become heated by the varying magnetic field [page 6, l. 11-33; page 14, l. 17-25].
Regarding claims 12-14, Aoun teaches an aerosol provision system comprising: the aerosol provision device as claimed in claim 1; and an article for use with the aerosol provision device, wherein the article includes one or more susceptor elements and aerosol generating material [Fig. 5; page 20, l. 9-25].
Regarding claims 19-22, Aoun teaches the layered inductor arrangement comprises a first layer 21 comprising an electrically-conductive first portion; and a second layer 22 comprising an electrically-conductive second portion, wherein the electrically-conductive first portion and second portion comprise a circular spiral [Fig. 1-2; page 8, l. 1-12]. As the device comprises multiple inductor arrangements [Fig. 3-5], the device comprises at least a third layer comprising an electrically-conductive third portion, wherein the electrically-conductive third portion comprises a circular spiral.
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 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoun.
Aoun teaches the layered inductor arrangement comprises one or more electrically-conductive elements, each electrically-conductive element comprising: a first layer 21 comprising an electrically-conductive first portion; a second layer 22 comprising an electrically-conductive second portion, wherein the second layer is spaced from the first layer along a first direction by a first spacing, wherein each layered inductor arrangement comprises: a first electrically-conductive connector 30 that electrically connects the first portion to the second portion [Fig. 1-2; page 9, l. 4 to page 10, l. 11]. Aoun does not teach the layered inductor arrangement comprises a third layer comprising an electrically-conductive third portion, wherein the third layer that is spaced from the second layer along a second direction by a second spacing, and a second electrically-conductive connector that electrically connects the second portion to the third portion. However, as Aoun teaches two layers spaced apart and an electrically-conductive connector, a third layer spaced apart and a second electrically-conductive connector are considered to be a duplication of parts that would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to achieve predictable results, see In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). (Claims at issue were directed to a water-tight masonry structure wherein a water seal of flexible material fills the joints which form between adjacent pours of concrete. The claimed water seal has a "web" which lies in the joint, and a plurality of "ribs" projecting outwardly from each side of the web into one of the adjacent concrete slabs. The prior art disclosed a flexible water stop for preventing passage of water between masses of concrete in the shape of a plus sign (+). Although the reference did not disclose a plurality of ribs, the court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced.).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoun as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gutierrez (US 2014/0232503).
Aoun does not teach the claimed method for forming the inductor arrangement. Gutierrez teaches an inductive apparatus formed by laser direct structuring [0032, 0043]. As this is a conventional method known in the art for forming an inductive apparatus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply to forming the layers of the device of Gutierrez to achieve predictable results, i.e. forming a layered inductor arrangement.
Claims 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoun as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Doljack (US 5,349,165).
Aoun teaches the layered inductor arrangement comprises two or more layers [Fig. 1-2] but does not teach a bifilar coil. Doljack teaches an induction heater system including a bifilar coil comprising a first concentric inductor and a second concentric inductor, wherein a first layer comprises the first concentric inductor and a second layer comprises the second concentric inductor, and the bifilar coil comprises an electrically-conductive linking portion connecting the first concentric inductor and the second concentric inductor [col. 6, l. 51 to col. 6, l. 5; Fig. 5-6]. This provides a heater system that does not always require a series capacitor, employs inductive coupling to the heater and the inductive device operates at below core saturation [col. 1, l. 60-64]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply this configuration to the inductor arrangement of Aoun for the reasons above suggested by Doljack.
Conclusion
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/ERIC YAARY/Examiner, Art Unit 1755