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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-12 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lord (WO2020089091) in view of Aoun (US 20190124981).
Regarding claim 1, Lord teaches a non-combustion-heating-type flavor inhalation article used with an electrical heating type device (page 3, lines 1-3 and page 8, lines 24-29),
the non-combustion-heating-type flavor inhalation article (1, Fig. 1) comprising:
a flavor-generating segment (2) that includes a flavor-generating-segment filler containing an aerosol-source material (page 9, lines 22-25);
a mouthpiece segment (5 and 6) for inhaling a flavor component, the mouthpiece segment including a cooling segment (6) and a filter segment (5) positioned downstream from the cooling segment (Fig. 1); and
a lining sheet including a first sheet material (3) that at least wraps a portion of the flavor-generating segment (2) and a portion of the cooling segment (6) and a second sheet material (7) that is disposed outside the first sheet material and that at least wraps the entire filter segment (5) and a portion of the cooling segment (6) (Fig. 1).
Lord does not expressly teach that the electrical heating type device comprises an inductor for electromagnetic induction heating or that the flavor-generating segment includes a plate-shaped susceptor for electromagnetic induction heating of the flavor-generating-segment filler.
Aoun teaches a non-combustion-heating-type flavor inhalation article (1), which includes a flavor-generating segment containing an aerosol-source material (30) and a plate-shaped susceptor (20, [0065]) for electromagnetic induction heating of the flavor-generating-segment. The article is used with an electrical heating type device which comprises an inductor for electromagnetic induction heating ([0048] and [0052]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted the direct electric heater of Lord for the electromagnetic induction heating of Aoun because induction heating and magnetic hysteresis heating do not require a physical connection to be provided between the source of the varying magnetic field and the object, design freedom and control over the heating profile may be greater, and cost may be lower ([0052]).
Regarding claim 10, modified Lord teaches that the first sheet material (3) and the second sheet material (7) each include a wrap portion that is wrapped in an overlapping manner (Lord, Fig. 1). Modified Lord teaches that the second sheet material (7) encircles the filter (5) and has an axial length of around 20 mm such that it overlays a portion of the cooling segment (6) (Lord, page 10, lines 21-22). Modified Lord further teaches that the filter (5) has a length less than 20 mm (Lord, page 4, lines 18-21). Thus, a small portion of the second sheet material (7) will overlap with the first sheet material (3).
While modified Lord fails to expressly teach that each of the wrap portions has a length of 1 mm to 3 mm, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the length of the wrap portion since it has been held that, where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). The burden is upon the Applicant to demonstrate that the claimed wrap portion length is critical and has unexpected results. In the present invention, one would have been motivated to optimize the length of the wrap portion motivated by the desire to ensure that the length of the wrap portion is long enough to secure the filter to the rest of the article (Lord, page 10, lines 20-21) .
Regarding claim 11, modified Lord teaches a perforation (13a, 13b) extending through the first sheet material and the second sheet material is formed (Lord, Fig. 1 and page 10, lines 23-24).
Regarding claim 12, modified Lord teaches a non-combustion-heating-type flavor inhalation product (Lord, 10) comprising:
the non-combustion-heating-type flavor inhalation article according to claim 1 (Lord, 1); and
an electrical heating type device (Lord, 10), wherein the electrical heating type device includes:
an inductor (Aoun, 112) for electromagnetic induction heating (Aoun,[0077]),
a power source that supplies operation power to the inductor (Lord, page 11, lines 8-10),
a control unit (Aoun, 117) for controlling the inductor (Aoun,[0077]), and
a heating chamber (Lord, 11) into which the non-combustion-heating-type flavor inhalation article can be inserted via an insertion slot.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lord in view of Aoun as applied to claim 1, above, and further in view of Joyeux (WO 2020250114).
Regarding claim 2, modified Lord does not expressly teach that the first sheet material has water resistance or liquid impermeability.
Joyeux teaches an aerosol generating article wherein the first sheet material surrounds an aerosol generating substrate and a second sheet material surrounds the first sheet material (page 2, lines 12-17). Joyeux teaches that the first sheet material has a surface treatment that makes the first sheet material have water resistance (page 3, lines 1-3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have made the first sheet material of modified Lord have water resistance, as suggested by Joyeux, because it is desirable that the wrapper surrounding the aerosol generating substrate does not swell up by absorbing water or compounds contained in the aerosol generating substrate (Joyeux, page 1, lines 29-30).
Claim(s) 3-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lord in view of Aoun as applied to claim 1, above, and further in view of Hideshima (US 20220264936).
Regarding claims 3-8, modified Lord teaches that the second sheet material wraps the entire mouthpiece segment, but modified Lord does not expressly teach that the second sheet material wraps a portion of the flavor-generating segment or the specific properties of the second sheet material.
Hideshima teaches a tipping wrapper for aerosol generating articles (abstract) which connects the mouthpiece rod and the tobacco (‘flavor-generating’) rod ([0003]) and thus must wrap at least a portion of the tobacco (‘flavor-generating’) rod. Hideshima further teaches the wrapper has a thickness of greater than 30 microns ([0027]), a basis weight of greater than 40 gsm and smaller than 60 gsm ([0026]-[0027]), a smoothness of the wrapper is greater than 500 seconds and smaller than 2500 seconds (claims 7 and 8) and an air permeability of less than 1.5 Coresta unit (claim 1). Hideshima further teaches applying a lip release agent to the wrapper ([0008]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have applied the properties of the tipping wrapper of Hideshima to the second sheet material of modified Lord because Hideshima teaches that the wrapper fulfills general tipping wrapper requirements as for example non-combustibility and machine runability. Furthermore the tipping wrapper according to the invention comprises a shiny appearance and an improved lip feeling (Hideshima, [0012]).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lord in view of Aoun as applied to claim 1, above, and further in view of Arae (US 20220160027).
Regarding claim 9, modified Lord does not expressly teach that the lining sheet is fixed to the flavor-generating segment and to the mouthpiece segment via a vinyl acetate emulsion or a starch glue applied to an entirety or a portion of one surface of the lining sheet.
Arae teaches a smoking article with a tobacco section and a filter section and a wrapper around both sections (abstract). Arae teaches applying vinyl acetate to a portion of one surface of the wrapper ([0080]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply vinyl acetate to a portion of one surface of the lining sheet of modified Lord because Arae teaches vinyl acetate serves to glue the lining sheet to the flavor-generating segment and to the mouthpiece segment (Arae, [0066]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YANA B KRINKER whose telephone number is (571)270-7662. The examiner can normally be reached Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Philip Louie can be reached at 571-270-1241. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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YANA B. KRINKER
Examiner
Art Unit 1755
/YANA B KRINKER/ Examiner, Art Unit 1755
/PHILIP Y LOUIE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1755
Prosecution Insights