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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/09/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In lines 7-8, “the applicator head” should be amended as follows: “the application head”.
In line 8, “an end of the applicator head” should be “an end of the applicator application head”.
In the last clause, “wherein the application head comprising a material” should be amended as follows: “wherein the application head comprises a material”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 11 is 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 11 recites the limitation "the cosmetic product loading area" in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is therefore suggested to amend the aforementioned portion of line 9 as follows: “[[the]] a cosmetic product loading area”.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7, 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kukreja (US2019/0125059).
Regarding claim 1, Kukreja discloses a cosmetic product application device (1, Figures 1-13), comprising an application head (10), the application head comprising:
a lateral wall (vertical wall defined between the outer face and inner face, refer to the First Annotated Figure 3, below) comprising a cosmetic product loading area (per Applicant’s specification, “the loading area comprises one single cavity”, refer to Page 3, 12-13 of Applicant’s specification, i.e. in light of the specification the cavity and the loading area are one and the same. Kukreja discloses a cavity, 18, wherein the area of that cavity defines the cosmetic product loading area) comprising a cavity (18) formed in the application head (best shown in Figure 3), the lateral wall further comprising at least one orifice (17a, 17b) in fluid communication (orifices 17a, 17b define an air-vent 17 “which communicates with the longitudinal feed channel 18”, refer to Paragraph [0061]) with the cavity, the at least one orifice opens through to an outer face (refer to the First Annotated Figure 3, below) of the lateral wall and opens through to an inner face (refer to the First Annotated Figure 3, below) of the lateral wall that defines the cavity (refer to Figure 3), a portion of the lateral wall entirely surrounding (“the longitudinal feed channel may…be concentric with the body of the applicator head”, refer to Paragraph [0017]; additionally refer to Figure 3) a central axis (X) of the application head between an end (bottom end of the applicator with respect to Figure 3 OR top end with respect to Figure 3) of the application head and the at least one orifice (refer to the Second Annotated Figure 3, for a first interpretation wherein the portion of the lateral wall from a bottom end of the applicator head to the at least one orifice, completely surrounds the central axis X; refer to the Second Annotated Figure 3, for a second interpretation wherein a portion of the lateral wall from a top of the applicator head to the at least one orifice, completely surrounds the axis X), wherein the portion of the lateral wall inhibits fluid flow therethrough such that the cavity is configured to receive and retain a cosmetic product (the lateral wall is a solid, substantially cylindrical wall in the portions defined by the Second Annotated Figure 3, below, thereby preventing fluid flow therethrough);
wherein the lateral wall defines an area for applying the cosmetic product loaded on the cosmetic product loading area (the lateral wall defines a solid cylindrical surface, any area of which may be used to apply the cosmetic product loaded on the cosmetic product loading area; additionally refer to Paragraph [0066]), over a target surface,
wherein the application head comprises a material whose thermal effusivity is higher than that of the target surface (“The applicator head 10 in this example is constructed, at least partially, from a thermal storage material that is capable of retaining heat or cold for application. The thermal storage material may comprise, for example, a metal, ceramic, glass, stone, alloy and/or other material with a relatively high thermal storage capacity and/or thermal conductivity.”, refer to Paragraph [0054]), the target surface being skin of a user (“for applying a flowable cosmetic…to a biological surface, for example skin or keratinous materials of the human body”, refer to Paragraph [0002]).
PNG
media_image1.png
839
867
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
783
562
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 2, Kukreja discloses the application device according to claim 1, wherein the application head is hollow (Oxford Languages defines hollow as “having a hole or empty space inside”; Kukreja’s device has an empty space inside, defined by cavity, 18, and is therefore hollow), the hollow of the application head forming the cavity of the cosmetic product loading area (refer to Figure 3, wherein the cavity, 18, is defined by the empty space inside the applicator and therefore the hollow defines the cavity).
Regarding claim 3, Kukreja discloses the application device according to claim 2, wherein the at least one orifice includes a plurality of orifices (17a defines a first orifice and 17b defines a second orifice, as best shown in Figure 3), and wherein the cavity opens outwards from the application head through the plurality of orifices (since the orifices are in communication with the cavity, the cavity opens outward/in a direction away from axis X, through the plurality of orifices).
Regarding claim 4, Kukreja discloses the application device according to claim 3, wherein the outer face includes a first lateral face (12) and a second lateral face (vertical portion of 14, refer to annotated Figure 4, below), and wherein the orifices are arranged only over the first lateral face of the application head (referring to the annotated Figure 4, below the orifices are disposed only over the first lateral face/portion denoted as 12) and wherein the area for applying cosmetic product corresponds to the second lateral face of the application head (since the area for applying cosmetic product is defined by the entire vertical wall portion of 12 and 14, the area for applying cosmetic product includes and therefore corresponds to the second lateral face/portion 14).
PNG
media_image3.png
872
535
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 5, Kukreja discloses the application device according to claim 4, wherein a surface of the first lateral face is larger than a surface of the second lateral face of the application head (referring to the Annotated Figure 4 provided in the rejection to claim 4 above, the first lateral face consists of the entire cylindrical surface area of portion 12 of the applicator whereas the second lateral face consists of only the vertical portion of area 14 of the applicator; the height of portion 14 is depicted as being less than the height of portion 12, thus the surface of the first lateral face is larger than a surface of the second lateral face. Although the drawings may not be to scale, they can still be relied upon for teaching the general conditions of the claim because the overall relationship is depicted).
Regarding claim 7, Kukreja discloses the application device according to claim 1, wherein the application head comprises a metallic material (“The applicator head 10…is constructed from…a metal”, refer to Paragraph [0054]).
Regarding claim 9, Kukreja discloses a set comprising the application device according to claim 1 and a cosmetic product reservoir (200, see Figure 1).
Regarding claim 11, Kukreja discloses a cosmetic product application device (1, Figures 1-13), comprising an application head (10), the application head comprising:
a lateral wall (12 + 14) defining a cavity (18) and at least one orifice (17a, 17b) in fluid communication with the cavity (orifices 17a, 17b define an air-vent 17 “which communicates with the longitudinal feed channel 18”, refer to Paragraph [0061]) and opening through to an inner face (refer to the First Annotated Figure 3, below) of the lateral wall that defines the cavity, the lateral wall including a first lateral face (refer to annotated Figure 4, below wherein the first lateral face is defined by the cylindrical wall 12) and a second lateral face (refer to annotated Figure 4, below), the second lateral face has a different size than the first lateral face (best shown in Figure 2, wherein the second lateral face defines a top angled surface and is depicted as being smaller in size than the first lateral face defined by an entire cylindrical surface of 12; although the figures may not be to scale, they can still be relied upon for teaching the general conditions of the claim because the overall relationship is depicted) and is inclined relative to the first lateral face (best shown in Figure 4), wherein the cavity is configured to receive and retain a cosmetic product (“The longitudinal feed channel 18 serves as a cosmetic product reservoir”, refer to Paragraph [0059]),
wherein the second lateral face of the lateral wall defines an area (referring to Figure 4, the second lateral face defines a surface area) for applying the cosmetic product loaded on a cosmetic product loading area, over a target surface (the limitation “for applying the cosmetic product loaded on a cosmetic product loading area, over a target surface” is interpreted as an intended use limitation; that is, the second lateral face defines a surface area that is fully capable of, without modification, being used in such a manner so as to apply a cosmetic product that has been loaded onto some cosmetic product loading area over a target surface; for example, the second lateral face may be used to apply/spread the cosmetic material that is loaded into the area of the cavity, 18, onto a target surface such as a user’s skin).
PNG
media_image4.png
839
867
media_image4.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image5.png
872
684
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kukreja in view of Fogueteiro (US2024/0122334).
Regarding claim 10, Kukreja discloses the application device according to claim 1, as applied above. Kukreja does not disclose a method for manufacturing the application device, the method comprising a step of manufacturing the application head by additive manufacturing. Rather, Kukreja is silent to the particular manufacturing method.
Fogueteiro discloses a similar application device (1, Figures 1-5) formed of a
metallic material (refer to Paragraph [0049]), that is manufactured via an additive
manufacturing (refer to Paragraph [0078]) method in order to obtain complex assemblies of small dimensions (refer to Paragraph [0078]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kukreja's application device to include a step of manufacturing the application head by additive manufacturing, as taught by Fogueterio, since such a modification provides the advantage of efficiently obtaining complex assemblies of small dimensions.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Crapet (US2022/0369791) discloses a cosmetic product application device comprising an application head (1) with a lateral wall (see cross-sectional views in Figures 2-4, and 6, 8, 10, 12, 14-16, 18, 20-21 showing a wall thickness defining a body of the application head), comprising a cavity (5) and the lateral wall has at least one orifice (19, 25, 27).
Von Jan (US2025/0311836) discloses a cosmetic product applicator (1, Figures 4-5) comprising a cavity (hollow interior, best shown in Figures 4-5), with a plurality of orifices (12) disposed through a lateral wall of the applicator.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARAH WOODHOUSE whose telephone number is (571)272-5635. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 9am - 5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, EDELMIRA BOSQUES can be reached at 571-270-5614. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SARAH WOODHOUSE/Examiner, Art Unit 3772