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.
(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.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8-10, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yamada (WO 2019/208536; Equivalent US 2021/0045448 used for citation).
Regarding claim 1, Yamada teaches a flavor inhaler 100 [Fig. 1] comprising: a heater assembly 30 (accommodating portion) [Fig. 2] that includes an opening (top of chamber 40C) formed at one end and accommodates at least a part of a flavor generating article via the opening [0081], wherein the accommodating portion includes a tubular portion 41 that surrounds a circumference of the flavor generating article [0081], and ribs 41R (abutting portion) disposed at the other end of the accommodating portion inside the tubular portion [Fig. 13; 0123], formed of a member that is different from the tubular portion (shown as distinct from tubular portion 41 in Fig. 13), and abuts the flavor generating article 110 accommodated in the accommodating portion.
Regarding claim 5, Yamada teaches the tubular portion is configured of metal [0081].
Regarding claim 6, Yamada teaches the tubular portion has a non-cylindrical shape [Fig. 3-4].
Regarding claim 8, Yamada teaches a heating portion that is disposed at an outer circumference of the tubular portion and is configured to heat the flavor generating article accommodated in the accommodating portion, wherein the abutting portion and the heating portion do not overlap each other in an axial direction of the accommodating portion [0097].
Regarding claim 9, Yamada teaches the abutting portion 41R is engaged with a bottom portion 42 of the tubular portion formed on the other end side of the accommodating portion [Fig. 13].
Regarding claims 10 and 13, Yamada teaches a heat insulating member 72 (support portion) that is engaged with the abutting portion via the tubular portion 42, wherein a bottom portion 42 of the tubular portion formed on the other end side of the accommodating portion is sandwiched between and supported by the abutting portion 41R and the support portion 72 [Fig. 13 and 33].
Regarding claim 14, Yamada teaches a guide portion UE that abuts the opening of the tubular portion 41 and guides insertion of the flavor generating article into the tubular portion [Fig. 22; 0146].
Claims 1, 5, and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee (US 2020/0086068).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches an aerosol generation device 10000 (flavor inhaler) [Fig. 1] comprising: an accommodating portion [Fig. 7] that includes an opening (top opening of case 80) formed at one end and accommodates at least a part of a flavor generating article 7 via the opening, wherein the accommodating portion includes a case 80 (tubular portion) that surrounds a circumference of the flavor generating article, and an outer cover 21 (abutting portion) that is disposed at the other end of the accommodating portion inside the tubular portion 80, is formed of a member that is different from the tubular portion 80, and abuts the flavor generating article accommodated in the accommodating portion 7 [0083].
Regarding claim 5, Lee teaches the tubular portion is configured of metal [0100].
Regarding claim 10, Lee teaches a flange 22 (support portion) that is engaged with the abutting portion via the tubular portion [0083; Fig. 7].
Regarding claim 11, Lee teaches support portion 22 is fixed to the second cover 30 via protrusions 37. Rotation of the support portion 22 is prevented by the second cover 30. In other words, there is a rotation preventing mechanism that prevents relative rotation of the support portion with respect to the tubular portion about an axial direction of the accommodating portion as a rotation axis [0091, Fig. 5].
Regarding claim 12, Lee teaches the abutting portion 21 forms an air layer (gap between portion 21 and second cover 30) on a side opposite to an abutting surface that abuts the flavor generating article 7 accommodated in the accommodating portion in a state where the abutting portion 21 is engaged with the support portion 22 [Fig. 7].
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 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamada as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Liu (US 2017/0135403).
Regarding claim 2, Yamada is silent to the material of the abutting portion. Liu teaches an electronic cigarette comprising polycarbonate resin for its excellent properties including stability, strength, and heat resistance [0035]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use polycarbonate resin for the abutting portion of Yamada for the above reasons suggested by Liu.
Regarding claim 3, Yamada teaches a first air flow path that communicates with the flavor generating article accommodated in the accommodating portion is formed at the bottom 42 of the accommodating portion [0082, Fig. 2], and thus also at the abutting portion the embodiment of Fig. 13.
Regarding claim 4, Yamada [Fig. 2-3] teaches the tubular portion includes a contact portion 41A that comes into contact with the flavor generating article when the flavor generating article is accommodated in the accommodating portion and a separated portion 41B that is adjacent to the contact portion in a circumferential direction and is separated from the flavor generating article, and when the flavor generating article is accommodated in the accommodating portion, a second air flow path 43 that communicates with the first air flow path is formed between the separated portion and the flavor generating article [0082, 0089].
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Liu.
Yamada teaches the abutting portion is made of a heat-resistant polymer [0076] but does not teach a resin. Liu teaches an electronic cigarette comprising polycarbonate resin for its excellent properties including stability, strength, and heat resistance [0035]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use polycarbonate resin for the abutting portion of Lee for the above reasons suggested by Liu.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamada as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Akiyama (US 2019/0059449).
Yamada does not teach a sealing portion that seals a part between the tubular portion and the abutting portion. Yamada is also silent to how the abutting portion is attached to the tubular portion. Akiyama teaches a flavor inhaler wherein ribs are by adhering [0079], i.e. with an adhesive [0112]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to adhere the ribs (abutting portion) of Akiyama to the tubular portion with adhesive to join them together. This adhesive is interpreted to correspond to a sealing portion that seals a part between the tubular portion and the abutting portion.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamada as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wei (US 2022/0202072)
Yamada does not teach a cover portion that is disposed to cover a circumference of an abutting location between the tubular portion and the guide portion. Yamada teaches an aerosol-generating device comprising a mouthpiece 12 disposed to cover a top of the device [Fig. 2]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide such a mouthpiece with the device of Yamada to provide the user with an option to inhale from the mouthpiece rather than directly from the article. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that this mouthpiece would be disposed to cover a circumference of an abutting location between the tubular portion 41 and the guide portion UE of Yamada [Fig. 22].
Conclusion
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/ERIC YAARY/Examiner, Art Unit 1755
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