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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to the amendment filed 04/28/26. Claim(s) 1-3 and 20 have been amended, no new claims have been added, and claims 5-6 and 10-19 have been cancelled. Thus, claims 1-4, 7-9, and 20 are presently pending in this application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-4, 7-9, and 20 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.
In claim 1, lines 16-18 the limitation “wherein the suction ring comprises a plurality of vacuum apertures that are evenly spaced in a circular formation and wherein the heating or cooling plate is positioned within the circular formation of the plurality of vacuum apertures” renders the scope of the claim indefinite. It is now unclear if the suction ring and the heating and cooling plate are optional as indicated by “comprising one or more of” (in line 10) or required as part of the apparatus.
All remaining claims are rejected based on their dependency on a rejected base claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 7-9, and 20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
REASONS FOR ALLOWANCE
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The closest prior art of record, Lee (2015/0283022), Schenck (2005/0043655), and Cohen (2010/0320819), does not specifically disclose the claimed device and function as presented in claim 1.
Lee discloses a pain-relieving apparatus (100, fig 1; [0009], lines 1-4), comprising: a housing (30, fig 1); at least one attachment site (hand grip; 31, fig 4) to coupling the housing to a user ([0050], lines 4-5); a motor (vibration motor; 46, fig 6); a stimulating surface (20, fig 3) that is actuated by the motor, the stimulating surface configured to interrupt a user’s pain signals to the brain (stimulus to the skin would distract the user’s brain; [0009]), the stimulating surface comprising a suction ring (ring around 21/24, fig 3 of Lee).
Schenck teaches a pain-relieving apparatus (10, fig 1; [0002], lines 1-4) with a TENS output connector (connection of TENS (50) to element 48 in fig 1).
Cohen teaches a device (chair; fig 1) comprising a haptic motor (transducer; see [0293]) configured to generate a plurality of waveform modalities (see [0421-423]) including one or more of sine waves, triangle waves, square waves, and sawtooth waves and an interface (control screen; 200, fig 1 and [0297]) to switch between the plurality of waveforms (see [0423] and fig 6).
However, Lee, Schenck, and Cohen fail to disclose the suction ring comprises a plurality of vacuum apertures that are evenly spaced in a circular formation and wherein the heating or cooling plate is positioned within the circular formation of the plurality of vacuum apertures and to modify would be improper hindsight.
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 KELSEY E BALLER whose telephone number is (571)272-8153. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 AM - 4 PM.
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/KELSEY E BALLER/Examiner, Art Unit 3785
/TU A VO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3785
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