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
Claims 14-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3/10/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I, claims 1-13 in the reply filed on 3/10/2026 is acknowledged.
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 –
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chun et al. (KR 20190051787).
Regarding claim 1, Chun discloses an aerosol-generating device (100 in fig. 1) comprising:
a body (100a, 100b);
a cartridge (300, fig. 1) coupled to the body and comprising:
a first chamber (210, fig. 6) configured to store a liquid;
a second chamber (atomization space around element 270 of fig. 6) formed separately from the first chamber;
a wick (275, fig. 6) disposed in the second chamber and in communication with the first chamber;
a heater (270, fig. 6) configured to heat the wick; and
a cartridge inlet (342, fig.7) allowing the second chamber to communicate with an outside of the cartridge;
a cap configured to cover the cartridge and comprising a cap inlet (325, fig. 7) allowing communication between an inside and an outside of the cartridge; and
an inflow passage (326, fig. 7) interconnecting the cap inlet and the cartridge inlet, wherein at least a portion of the inflow passage is formed between the cap and the cartridge.
Regarding claim 13, Chun discloses wherein the cap inlet (325, fig. 7) is formed at an upper end of the cap.
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) 2-6, 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chun et al. (KR 20190051787) and further in view of Lee et al. (WO 2020222496).
Regarding claim 2, Chun does not expressly discloses a flow sensor. Lee discloses an aerosol-generating device comprising a sensor (130, fig. 8A) mounted in the body and disposed adjacent to the cartridge inlet, wherein the sensor is configured to sense flow of air passing through the cartridge inlet (Abstract and [0012-0014] ).
Regarding claim 3, Lee discloses the body comprises:
a lower body; and a mount coupled to an upper side of the lower body and configured to receive a lower portion of the cartridge (see fig. 8A), wherein the mount comprises a sensor accommodation portion (150, fig. 8A) formed at one side of the mount between the sensor and the cartridge and comprising a sensing hole (by reference sign 140, fig. 8A)open toward the cartridge.
Regarding claim 4, Lee discloses the cartridge comprises: a first container comprising the first chamber (21, fig. 8A); and a lower case coupled to the first container and adjacent to one side of the sensor accommodation portion, wherein the second chamber is provided at the lower case and the cartridge inlet (125, fig. 8A) is formed at one side of the lower case.
Regarding claim 5, Lee the sensing hole (140, fig. 8A) and the cartridge inlet (120, fig. 8A) are aligned, and wherein the sensor is positioned corresponding to the sensing hole and the cartridge inlet.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Chun and Lee discloses the lower case comprises:
a case portion configured to form the second chamber and comprising the cartridge inlet, wherein the case portion is positioned adjacent to the one side of the sensor accommodation portion; and an extension portion (336, fig. 7 of Chun) laterally extending from an upper end of the case portion and disposed below the first chamber; the combination of Chun and Lee taken together as a whole discloses/suggests the extension portion is positioned to adjacent to an upper portion of the sensor accommodation portion (fig. 8A of Lee).
Regarding claim 8, Lee discloses the inflow passage comprises a first passage (by reference sign 120, fig. 8A) in communication with the cartridge inlet and formed between the mount and the cartridge.
Regarding claim 9, Chun discloses the inflow passage further comprises a second passage (by reference sign 326, fig. 7) formed between a side of the cap and a side of the first chamber to interconnect the cap inlet and the first passage .
Regarding claim 10, Chun discloses the cartridge comprises a frame partitioning an inside of the lower case to form the second chamber and a connection passage, the frame comprising a chamber inlet allowing the second chamber to communicate with the connection passage, and wherein the connection passage (the passage below reference sign 342, fig. 7) interconnects the cartridge inlet and the chamber inlet.
Regarding claim 11, Lee discloses the cartridge comprises:
a blocking wall (170, fig. 8A) protruding upwards in the connection passage; and a round surface (by reference sign 120, fig. 8A) defining a portion of the connection passage and disposed adjacent to an upper end of the blocking wall, wherein the round surface extends toward the chamber inlet.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chun et al. (KR 20190051787) and further in view of Han et al. (US Pub. No. 20200229501).
Regarding claim 12, Han discloses using a protection film to protect a sensor for an aerosol generation article wherein the protection film can be rubber (corresponding to the claimed waterproof [0092]; therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use the waterproof film disposed between the cartridge inlet and the sensor to protect the sensor of Chun as taught by Han.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHU H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-5931. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/PHU H NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1747
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