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 .
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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Claim(s) 1, 2 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over COURBAT et al. (US 2020/0163386) in view of SCHNEIDER et al. (US 2015/0163859) and ROBERT et al. (US 2019/0269174).
With respect to claim 1, COURBAT et al. discloses an electrical heating assembly for an aerosol generating device (Abstract) comprising a conductive substrate, 110.3, (Paragraphs [0117]-[0120]), a heating layer, 110.1 and 110.2 disposed on each side of the conductive substrate (Paragraphs [0117]-[0120]). The heating layers are electrically connected to the conductive substrate (Paragraph [0118]).
COURBAT et al. does not explicitly disclose a first conductive member and a second conductive member.
SCHNEIDER et al. discloses a heating system for an aerosol generating system (Abstract). The ends of the heater are provided with bond pads, 88, thereon to ensure low electrical resistance contacts (Paragraphs [0088], [0084]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide conductive members on each of the heating layers (e.g. first and second bond pads, respectively) of COURBAT et al., as taught by SCHNEIDER et al. so as to ensure low electrical resistant contact.
Given that the first and second conductive members are connected to respective heating elements, each conductive member is electrically connected to their respective heater element and the conductive substrate.
COURBAT et al. does not explicitly disclose the claimed insulating layer. ROBERT et al. discloses a heating assembly for an aerosol generating device (Abstract; Title). The heater comprises a metallic core, 214, (Figure 3; Paragraphs [0100], [0101]). On each main surface of the core are cover members, 213, which are electrically insulating (Paragraph [0065]) and only cover a section of the core in order to prevent shorts (Paragraphs [0065]-[0066]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide an insulating layer only on a portion of the core of COURBAT et al., in the longitudinal direction, so that the heater portion thereof is prevented from shorting, as taught by ROBERT et al.
Moreover, as seen in figure 8 of COURBAT et al., the heater portions, 110.1 and 110.2, extend the entire longitudinal length of the core. Thus, by providing the insulating layers at only the tip portion and to less than the longitudinal length of the core, the heater portions of COURBAT et al. are still electrically connected at the base of the core, opposite the tip. As seen in figure 3 of ROBERT et al., the connections, 102, are placed over the area of the insulating layers, and thus, the first and second conductive members of modified COURBAT et al. would be connected in such an area as well, thereby having the first and second conducting members being located over the insulating layers, while also being electrically connected to the core through the heating layers.
With respect to claim 2¸ COURBAT et al. discloses that the resistivity of the heating layers is between 10 and 1500 milliohm (e.g., 0.01 to 1.5 ohm) (Paragraph [0021]) and the resistivity of the core can be less than the heating layers (Paragraph [0118]). Thus, the scope of the resistivity of the core implicitly includes less than 1.5 ohm.
With respect to claim 10¸ COURBAT et al. discloses that the substrate comprises a metal substrate, such as stainless steel (Paragraph [0117]).
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Claim(s) 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over COURBAT et al. (US 2020/0163386) in view of SCHNEIDER et al. (US 2015/0163859) and ROBERT et al. (US 2019/0269174) as applied to claims 1, 2 and 10 above, and further in view of HUANG et al. (US 2022/0279853).
With respect to claims 11 and 12¸modified COURBAT et al. does not explicitly disclose that the heater layer is covered with a covering layer. HUANG et al. discloses an atomizing assembly of an electronic cigarette (Abstract; Title) wherein the heating layer is covered with a protective layer that is formed of ceramic to provide good wear resistance to the heater (Paragraph [0087]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide a ceramic protective cover over the heater of modified COURBAT et al., as taught by HUANG et al. so as to provide greater wear resistance to the heater.
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Claim(s) 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over COURBAT et al. (US 2020/0163386) in view of SCHNEIDER et al. (US 2015/0163859) and ROBERT et al. (US 2019/0269174) as applied to claims 1, 2 and 10 above, and further in view of PLOJOUX et al. (US 2018/0007971).
With respect to claim 13¸ modified COURBAT et al. discloses the heating element of claim 1 (See rejection of claim 1) but does not explicitly disclose the claimed mounting base.
PLOJOUX et al. discloses a heating element for an aerosol generating device (Abstract; title). The heater itself is mounted to a mounting base, 110, (Paragraphs [0071]-[0072], [0086]; Figures 2-4) so that the heater element is firmly retained in place. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide a mounting base, as taught by PLOJOUX et al., to mount the heating element of modified COURBAT et al. so that the heating element can be firmly held in place.
With respect to claim 14, PLOJOUX et al. discloses that such a configuration for the heating element is used in a heat not burn cigarette device (Paragraphs [0005]-[0006], [0082]).
With respect to claim 15¸modified COURBAT et al. discloses the heating element of claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1), but does not specify that the device is a heat-not-burn cigarette device. PLOJOUX et al. discloses that such a configuration for the heating element is used in a heat not burn cigarette device (Paragraphs [0005]-[0006], [0082]) so that volatile flavor compounds can be released without combustion (Paragraphs [0002], [0048]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use a heat-not-burn cigarette application in modified COURBAT et al., as taught by PLOJOUX et al. so that the flavors can be released without combustion of the tobacco material.
With respect to claim 16¸ modified COURBAT et al. discloses the heating device of claim 13 (See rejection of claim 13), but does not specify that the device is a heat-not-burn cigarette device. PLOJOUX et al. discloses that such a configuration for the heating element is used in a heat not burn cigarette device (Paragraphs [0005]-[0006], [0082]) so that volatile flavor compounds can be released without combustion (Paragraphs [0002], [0048]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use a heat-not-burn cigarette application in modified COURBAT et al., as taught by PLOJOUX et al. so that the flavors can be released without combustion of the tobacco material.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claim 3, it is required to have the first conductive member adjacent to the first end, which is the end of the heating element that does not have the insulation layer on the core. The second conductive member is on the second surface and the conductive members need to be adjacent to the first end
According to the rejection of claim 1, the first and second connectors are on the first and second heating layers, and are over the insulation layers (See figure 3 of ROBERT et al.) but on a side of the heaters opposite the side closest to the first end of the conductive substrate. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would not consider these conductive members to be adjacent to the first end, but rather, they would be adjacent to the second end.
[AltContent: textbox (First connector connected to first heater at area of insulation layer)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Electrodes according to the teachings of COURBAT et al. in view of ROBERT et al.)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: rect][AltContent: rect][AltContent: textbox (Second end)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (First end)][AltContent: arrow]
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There does not appear to be a teaching that would move the conductive members to the opposite side of the conductive substrate because the first end of the conductive substrate penetrates the tobacco member.
With respect to claim 7, the art does not disclose the features of the cited art wherein the conductive member is in the shape of a column, per se.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX B EFTA whose telephone number is (313)446-6548. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-5PM EST M-F.
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/ALEX B EFTA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1745