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 Submission
Applicant’s submission filed on 2026 July 23 has been entered. Claims 1-12 and 17-22 are pending.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required: the limitation “the columnar first segment is surrounded by the second segment” (recited in claim 1) and the term “flavor enhancer” (recited in claim 11) appear to be absent from the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 11-12 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 11-12: “the one or more tobacco material” should be “the one or more tobacco materials”.
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.
Claims 11 and 22 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.
Claim 11: the term “flavor enhancer” is a subjective term which renders the claim indefinite. Whether an agent is a flavor can be evaluated by whether the agent activates taste buds and olfactory nerves for a majority of humans, but whether an agent is a flavor enhancer is unclear. No objective test or example is disclosed to evaluate how an agent interacts with a flavor to develop said flavor. The term is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The term “flavor enhancer” is interpreted as “agent” to make the claim examinable.
Claim 22 is rejected by dependence on claim 11.
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 1-4, 6, 17-18, and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1).
Claim 1: Jeong teaches a heat-not-burn [51] flavor inhaling article (fig. 2 and [52], #50) comprising an aerosol-generating rod (56 and 58) and a mouthpiece segment (52 and 54),
wherein the aerosol-generating rod (56 and 58) includes a columnar first segment (58) including an aerosol-source material ([76], #58 comprises glycerin and propylene glycol) and a second segment ([52], #56) including a flavor component ([56], the gel aerosol-forming substrate #56 comprises natural food flavor or fruit extract),
the mouthpiece segment ([52], #52 and #54) includes a cooling segment ([94], #54 cools aerosol) and a filter segment ([52], #52),
the columnar first segment (58) and the second segment (56) are provided to extend in an axial direction of the aerosol-generating rod (56 and 58), and the second segment (56) is disposed around the columnar first segment (58) so that the columnar first segment (58) is abutted by the second segment (56).
Jeoung does not explicitly teach that the columnar first segment is surrounded by the second segment.
Batista teaches a flavor inhaling article (fig. 2 and p. 25, lines 22-24, #12) comprising a columnar first segment (fig. 1 and p. 25, lines 1-2, #38) surrounded by a second segment (40), such that proximity of the columnar first segment to an internal heater and the second segment to an external heater enables releasing contents of the two segments at different temperatures (p. 6, lines 1-10).
Jeoung teaches that it is desirable to insert an external heater (fig. 10 and [133], #136b) only into a columnar first segment (58) of tobacco filler, so one of ordinary skill would be suggested to position the columnar first segment inside the second segment to maintain the same heating position.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to arrange Jeoung’s first columnar segment to be surrounded by Jeoung’s second segment as motivated by Batista, because doing so would enable proximity of the columnar first segment to an internal heater and the second segment to an external heater to facilitate releasing contents of the two segments at different temperatures.
Claim 2: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1, wherein the aerosol-source material ([76], glycerin and propylene glycol) is at least one selected from the group consisting of glycerin and propylene glycol.
Claim 3: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1, wherein the columnar first segment (fig. 2 and [52], #58) further includes plant fibers (tobacco fibers).
Claim 4: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 3, wherein the columnar first segment (fig. 2 and [52], #58) includes a cylindrical wrapper (62) and a nonwoven fabric ([74], #58 is a stuffed tobacco sheet) made up of the plant fibers (tobacco fibers) filling an inside of the wrapper (60), and the nonwoven fabric (tobacco sheet) contains the aerosol-source material ([76], glycerin and propylene glycol).
Claim 6: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4, wherein the wrapper (fig. 2 and [86], #62) is a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper (metal thin film and wrapping paper laminated together).
Claim 17: modified Jeong teaches a heat-not-burn [51] flavor inhaling system (fig. 10 and [136]) comprising: the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article (50) according to claim 1; and a heating device (100) including a heater (136) that heats the aerosol-generating rod (56 and 58) of the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article.
Claim 18: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system according to claim 17, wherein the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) includes a first circumferential heater (136e) that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment (58) and that does not heat the second segment (56).
Claim 20: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system according to claim 17, wherein the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) includes an internal heater (136b) that heats an inside of the columnar first segment (58) entirely in an axial direction and that does not heat the second segment (56).
Claim 21: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system according to claim 17, wherein a heating temperature of the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) ranges from 250°C to 350°C [140].
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 4 in view of Yamada (US 20200120981 A1).
Claim 5: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4.
Modified Jeong does not explicitly teach that multiple pieces of the sheet nonwoven fabric are stacked and fill the inside of the wrapper in a state of being folded in an S-shape.
Yamada teaches a heat-not-burn [5] flavor inhaling article (fig. 3 and [89]) comprising multiple pieces of a tobacco [58] sheet nonwoven fabric (fig. 2D and [79], #10) that are stacked and fill the inside of a wrapper ([53], wrapper) in a state of being folded in an S-shape (fig. 2D), such that the stacked pieces yield efficient heat transfer between contacting portions while maintaining efficient airflow [78].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to stack Jeong’s tobacco sheet nonwoven fabric into Yamada’s S-shape folds, because doing so would yield efficient heat transfer between contacting portions while maintaining efficient airflow.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 4 in view of Rosales (US 0829296 A).
Claim 7: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4, wherein the wrapper (fig. 2 and [86], #62) is a laminated body of a paper layer (wrapping paper) forming an outer surface (in the example, #56a adjoins the metal foil, so the wrapping paper is an outer layer) and a liquid impermeable layer (metal thin film) forming an inner surface (in the example, #56a adjoins the metal foil, so the metal foil is an inner layer), the liquid impermeable layer is made up of a layer of a metal foil (metal thin film), and the wrapper (62) is formed in a cylindrical shape (fig. 2) in a manner such that the liquid impermeable layer (metal foil) of the wrapper (62).
Modified Jeong does not explicitly teach that the wrapper is bonded at one end and the other end of the wrapper.
Rosales teaches an inhaling article (fig. 1) comprising a wrapper (lines 14-22, outer wrapper) bonded at a first end and a second end of the wrapper (the outer wrapper is adhered together), such that the wrapper contains and preserves a shape of material wrapped therein (lines 14-22).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Rosales’s bonding adhesive to a first end and a second end of Jeong’s wrapper, because doing so would help to contain and preserve a shape of material wrapped therein.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 1 in view of Rich (US 2985175 A).
Claim 8: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Modified Jeong does not explicitly teach that the first segment further contains a thickener.
Rich teaches an inhaling article (fig. 1-3) comprising a first segment that is an aerosol-source material (col. 2, lines 1-9, #8) comprising a thickener (binder material), such that the thickener strengthens the aerosol-source material in forming a sheet (lines 1-9).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Rich’s thickener to Jeong’s first segment comprising a tobacco sheet, because doing so would strengthen the tobacco sheet.
Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) as applied to claim 1 in view of He (CN 110150762 A with reference made to machine translation).
Claims 9-10: Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Jeong does not explicitly teach that the flavor component contains a tobacco component,
one or more tobacco materials selected from among a mesophyll, vein, stalk, flower, and root of a tobacco plant.
He teaches an inhaling article (fig. 3 and [38-39]) comprising a gel (211) comprising a plant material exemplified as tobacco veins and stalks ([26], leaves and stems) which contain a flavor (tobacco contains flavor compounds), such that the tobacco gel generates a high amount of tobacco flavor [33].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add He’s tobacco veins and stalks which contain a flavor to Jeong’s gel, because doing so would enable the gel to generate a high amount of tobacco flavor.
Claims 11 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) in view of He (CN 110150762 A with reference made to machine translation) as applied to claim 10 in further view of Nordskog (US 20170238607 A1).
Claims 11 and 22: modified Jeoung teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 10.
Modified Jeoung does not explicitly teach that the one or more tobacco materials contains an agent to volatilize the tobacco component,
wherein the agent is potassium carbonate or sodium carbonate.
Nordskog teaches a flavor inhaling article (fig. 1 and [56], #10) comprising a flavor component ([30], aerogel) comprising sodium carbonate to volatilize a tobacco component ([applicant 68], sodium carbonate is inherently capable of volatilizing a tobacco component), such that the sodium carbonate can catalyze formation of the flavor component [30].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as Jeoung’s generic means that forms a flavor component, Nordskog’s specific sodium carbonate catalyst that forms a flavor component, because doing so is exemplified by Nordskog as a known catalyst in the smoking art to achieve Jeoung’s same flavor-component-forming outcome.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) and He (CN 110150762 A with reference made to machine translation) as applied to claim 10 in further view of Ajithkumar (WO 2019122015 A1).
Claim 12: modified Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 10.
Modified Jeong does not explicitly teach that the one or more tobacco materials contains a lipid.
Ajithkumar teaches an inhaling article (title) comprising a tobacco material (p. 6, lines 11-19, homogenized tobacco material) comprising a lipid (medium chain triglyceride oil), such that the lipid facilitates transfer of volatile compounds to a user (lines 11-19).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Ajithkumar’s lipid to Jeong’s tobacco material, because doing so would facilitate transfer of volatile compounds to a user.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 17 in further view of Counts (US 5388594 A).
Claim 19: Jeong teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system according to claim 17, wherein the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) includes a second circumferential heater (136e) that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment (58) and that does not heat the second segment (56).
Jeong does not explicitly teach that the second circumferential heater heats an entire bottom of the columnar first segment.
Counts teaches a flavor inhaling system (fig. 3A and col. 11, lines 3-14) comprising a circumferential heater (89) that heats an entire bottom and an entire side (fig. 6) of a columnar inhaling article (fig. 1 and col. 4, lines 62-67, #23).
Jeong’s heater and Counts’s heater both conductively heat a columnar inhaling article to yield expectation to succeed. The heaters embody different shapes to achieve the same heating outcome.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to substitute Counts’s circumferential heater that heats a bottom and a side for Jeong’s circumferential heater that heats a side, because doing so would be a simple substitution of circumferential heaters between flavor inhaling systems.
Double Patenting
Claims 1, 3-4, and 9-11 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 16 of copending Application No. 18/493285 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1).
Claim 1: ‘285 recites a heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article (C15, heat-not-burn flavor inhaler) comprising an aerosol-generating rod (tobacco-containing segment) and a mouthpiece segment (mouthpiece segment),
wherein the aerosol-generating rod (tobacco-containing segment) includes a columnar first segment (cylindrical first segment) including an aerosol-source material (aerosol generator) and a second segment (second segment) including a flavor component (tobacco sheet), and the mouthpiece segment (mouthpiece segment) includes a cooling segment (cooling segment) and a filter segment (filter segment),
the columnar first segment (first segment) and the second segment (second segment) are provided to extend in an axial direction of the aerosol-generating rod (the first segment and the second segment extend to some extent), and the second segment (second segment) is disposed around the columnar first segment (the first segment and the second segment are on the same article).
Modified ‘285 does not teach that the columnar first segment is surrounded by the second segment.
Batista teaches a flavor inhaling article (fig. 2 and p. 25, lines 22-24, #12) comprising a columnar first segment (fig. 1 and p. 25, lines 1-2, #38) surrounded by a second segment (40), such that proximity of the columnar first segment to an internal heater and the second segment to an external heater enables releasing contents of the two segments at different temperatures (p. 6, lines 1-10).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to arrange Jeoung’s first columnar segment to be surrounded by ‘285’s second segment as motivated by Batista, because doing so would enable proximity of the columnar first segment to an internal heater and the second segment to an external heater to facilitate releasing contents of the two segments at different temperatures.
Claim 3: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1, wherein the first segment (C16, first segment) further includes plant fibers.
Claim 4: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 3, wherein the first segment (C16, first segment) includes a cylindrical wrapper and a nonwoven fabric made up of the plant fibers filling an inside of the wrapper, and the nonwoven fabric contains the aerosol-source material.
Claim 9: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1, wherein the flavor component (C15, tobacco sheet) contains a tobacco component.
Claim 10: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 9, wherein the second segment (C15, second segment) includes one or more tobacco materials selected from among a mesophyll, vein, stalk, flower, and root of a tobacco plant (mesophyll, vein, stalk, flower, and root are essential components of tobacco; one of ordinary skill would immediately envisage a tobacco sheet comprising one or more of mesophyll, vein, stalk, flower, and root).
Claim 11: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 10, wherein the tobacco material contains a flavoring (tobacco comprises volatile flavor compounds).
Claim 2, 6, 17-18, and 20-21 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 16 of copending Application No. 18/493285 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claims 1 and 4 in further view of Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1).
Claim 2: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Modified ‘285 does not teach that the aerosol-source material is at least one selected from the group consisting of glycerin, propylene glycol, and 1,3-butanediol.
One of ordinary skill would immediately envisage using, as the generic aerosol-source material, three commonplace aerosol-source materials of glycerin, propylene glycol, and/or 1,3-butanediol. For example, Jeong teaches an aerosol-source material comprising glycerin and/or propylene glycol [76].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as ‘285’s generic aerosol-source material, Jeong’s specific glycerin and/or propylene glycol, because doing so would be immediately envisaged by one of ordinary skill as generating aerosol.
Claim 6: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4.
Modified ‘285 does not teach a wrapper that is a metal foil, a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper, a polymer film, a laminated sheet of polymer film and paper, or paper on a surface of which a coating agent selected from the group consisting of modified cellulose, modified starch, polyvinyl alcohol, and vinyl acetate is applied,
and an outer wrapper connecting the first segment and the second segment and including a heat transfer raw material.
Jeong teaches a wrapper (fig. 2 and [86], #62) that is a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper (metal thin film and wrapping paper laminated together),
connecting a first segment (58) and a second segment (56) and including a heat transfer raw material (metal foil), such that the wrapper prevents a substrate wrapped therein from escaping [86].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as ‘285’s generic wrapper, Jeong’s specific wrapper of a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper, because doing so would prevent a substrate wrapped therein from escaping.
Claims 17-18 and 20-21: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Modified ‘285 does not teach a heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system comprising the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1 and a heating device including a heater that heats the aerosol-generating rod of the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article,
wherein the heater includes a first circumferential heater that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein the heater includes an internal heater that heats an inside of the columnar first segment entirely in an axial direction and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein a heating temperature of the heater ranges from 200°C to 350°C.
Jeong teaches a heat-not-burn [51] flavor inhaling system (fig. 10 and [136]) comprising: a heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article (50); and a heating device (100) including a heater (136) that heats the aerosol-generating rod (56 and 58) of the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article,
wherein the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) includes a first circumferential heater (136e) that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment (58) and that does not heat the second segment (56),
wherein the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) includes an internal heater (136b) that heats an inside of the columnar first segment (58) entirely in an axial direction and that does not heat the second segment (56),
wherein a heating temperature of the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) ranges from 250°C to 350°C [140], such that the heater can heat the inhaling article without burning the inhaling article [51].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to combine Jeong’s heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system comprising the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1 and a heating device including a heater that heats the aerosol-generating rod of the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article,
wherein the heater includes a first circumferential heater that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein the heater includes an internal heater that heats an inside of the columnar first segment entirely in an axial direction and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein a heating temperature of the heater ranges from 250°C to 350°C, because doing so would heat the inhaling article without burning the inhaling article.
Claim 5 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 16 of copending Application No. 18/493285 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 4 in view of Yamada (US 20200120981 A1).
Claim 5: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4, wherein multiple pieces of the sheet nonwoven fabric are stacked (C16, the nonwoven fabric fills the wrapper, so the nonwoven fabric is stacked onto itself to some extent).
Modified ‘285 does not teach that the multiple pieces of the sheet nonwoven fabric are folded in an S-shape.
Yamada teaches a heat-not-burn [5] flavor inhaling article (fig. 3 and [89]) comprising multiple pieces of a tobacco [58] sheet nonwoven fabric (fig. 2D and [79], #10) that are stacked and fill the inside of a wrapper ([53], wrapper) in a state of being folded in an S-shape (fig. 2D), such that the stacked pieces yield efficient heat transfer between contacting portions while maintaining efficient airflow [78].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to stack ‘285’s tobacco sheet nonwoven fabric into Yamada’s S-shape folds, because doing so would yield efficient heat transfer between contacting portions while maintaining efficient airflow.
Claim 7 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 16 of copending Application No. 18/493285 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 4 in further view of Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) and Rosales (US 0829296 A).
Claims 7: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4.
Modified ‘285 does not teach a wrapper that is a laminated body of a paper layer forming an outer surface and a liquid impermeable layer forming an inner surface, the liquid impermeable layer is made up of a layer of a metal foil, a polymer film, or a layer of a coating agent selected from the group consisting of modified cellulose, modified starch, polyvinyl alcohol, and vinyl acetate, and the wrapper is formed in a cylindrical shape in a manner such that the liquid impermeable layer of the wrapper is bonded at one end and the other end of the wrapper.
Jeong teaches a wrapper (fig. 2 and [86], #62) that is a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper (metal thin film and wrapping paper laminated together), such that the wrapper prevents a substrate wrapped therein from escaping [86].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as ‘285’s generic wrapper, Jeong’s specific wrapper of a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper, because doing so would prevent a substrate wrapped therein from escaping.
Rosales teaches an inhaling article (fig. 1) comprising a wrapper (lines 14-22, outer wrapper) bonded at a first end and a second end of the wrapper (the outer wrapper is adhered together), such that the wrapper contains and preserves a shape of material wrapped therein (lines 14-22).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Rosales’s bonding adhesive to a first end and a second end of Jeong’s wrapper, because doing so would help to contain and preserve a shape of material wrapped therein.
Claim 8 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 16 of copending Application No. 18/493285 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 1 in further view of Rich (US 2985175 A).
Claim 8: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Modified ‘285 does not teach that the first segment further contains a thickener.
Rich teaches an inhaling article (fig. 1-3) comprising a first segment that is an aerosol-source material (col. 2, lines 1-9, #8) comprising a thickener (binder material), such that the thickener strengthens the aerosol-source material in forming a sheet (lines 1-9).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Rich’s thickener to ‘285’s first segment comprising a tobacco sheet, because doing so would strengthen the tobacco sheet.
Claim 12 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 16 of copending Application No. 18/493285 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 10 in view of Ajithkumar (WO 2019122015 A1).
Claim 12: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 10.
Modified ‘285 does not teach that the tobacco material contains a lipid.
Ajithkumar teaches an inhaling article (title) comprising a tobacco material (p. 6, lines 11-19, homogenized tobacco material) comprising a lipid (medium chain triglyceride oil), such that the lipid facilitates transfer of volatile compounds to a user (lines 11-19).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Ajithkumar’s lipid to Jeong’s tobacco material, because doing so would facilitate transfer of volatile compounds to a user.
Claim 19 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 16 of copending Application No. 18/493285 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) and Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) as applied to claim 17 in further view of Counts (US 5388594 A).
Claim 19: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system according to claim 17, wherein (claim 18) the heater includes a second circumferential heater that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment and that does not heat the second segment.
Modified ‘285 does not explicitly teach that the second circumferential heater heats an entire bottom of the columnar first segment.
Counts teaches a flavor inhaling system (fig. 3A and col. 11, lines 3-14) comprising a circumferential heater (89) that heats an entire bottom and an entire side (fig. 6) of a columnar inhaling article (fig. 1 and col. 4, lines 62-67, #23).
Jeong’s heater and Counts’s heater both conductively heat a columnar inhaling article to yield expectation to succeed. The heaters embody different shapes to achieve the same heating outcome.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to substitute Counts’s circumferential heater that heats a bottom and a side for Jeong’s circumferential heater that heats a side, because doing so would be a simple substitution of circumferential heaters between flavor inhaling systems.
Claim 22 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 16 of copending Application No. 18/493285 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to instant claim 11 in further view of Potter (US 4955399 A).
Claim 22: modified ‘285 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 11.
Modified ‘285 does not explicitly teach that the agent is potassium carbonate or sodium carbonate.
Potter teaches adding potassium carbonate to tobacco (col. 9, line 67 – col. 10, line 3), such that the tobacco can readily release flavor compounds (col. 10, lines 1-3).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Potter’s potassium carbonate to ‘285’s flavor component, because doing so would enable the tobacco to readily release flavor compounds.
Claims 1, 3-4, and 9-11 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493519 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1).
Claim 1: ‘519 recites a heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article (C11, heat-not-burn flavor inhaler) comprising an aerosol-generating rod (tobacco-containing segment) and a mouthpiece segment (mouthpiece segment),
wherein the aerosol-generating rod (tobacco-containing segment) includes a first segment (first segment) including an aerosol-source material (aerosol generator) and a second segment (second segment) including a flavor component (tobacco sheet), and the mouthpiece segment (mouthpiece segment) includes a cooling segment (cooling segment) and a filter segment (filter segment),
the columnar first segment (first segment) and the second segment (second segment) are provided to extend in an axial direction of the aerosol-generating rod (the first segment and the second segment extend to some extent), and the second segment (second segment) is disposed around the columnar first segment (the first segment and the second segment are on the same article).
Modified ‘285 does not teach that the columnar first segment is surrounded by the second segment.
Batista teaches a flavor inhaling article (fig. 2 and p. 25, lines 22-24, #12) comprising a columnar first segment (fig. 1 and p. 25, lines 1-2, #38) surrounded by a second segment (40), such that proximity of the columnar first segment to an internal heater and the second segment to an external heater enables releasing contents of the two segments at different temperatures (p. 6, lines 1-10).
Jeoung teaches that it is desirable to insert an external heater (fig. 10 and [133], #136b) only into a columnar first segment (58) of tobacco filler, so one of ordinary skill would be suggested to position the columnar first segment inside the second segment to maintain the same heating position.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to arrange Jeoung’s first columnar segment to be surrounded by Jeoung’s second segment as motivated by Batista, because doing so would enable proximity of the columnar first segment to an internal heater and the second segment to an external heater to facilitate releasing contents of the two segments at different temperatures.
Claim 3: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1, wherein the first segment (C12, first segment) further includes plant fibers.
Claim 4: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 3, wherein the first segment (C12, first segment) includes a cylindrical wrapper and a nonwoven fabric made up of the plant fibers filling an inside of the wrapper, and the nonwoven fabric contains the aerosol-source material.
Claim 9: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1, wherein the flavor component (C11, tobacco sheet) contains a tobacco component.
Claim 10: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 9, wherein the second segment (C11, second segment) includes one or more tobacco materials selected from among a mesophyll, vein, stalk, flower, and root of a tobacco plant (mesophyll, vein, stalk, flower, and root are essential components of tobacco; one of ordinary skill would immediately envisage a tobacco sheet comprising one or more of mesophyll, vein, stalk, flower, and root).
Claim 11: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 10, wherein the tobacco material contains a flavoring (tobacco comprises volatile flavor compounds).
Claim 2, 6, 17-18, and 20-21 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493519 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claims 1 and 4 in further view of Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1).
Claim 2: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Modified ‘519 does not teach that the aerosol-source material is at least one selected from the group consisting of glycerin, propylene glycol, and 1,3-butanediol.
One of ordinary skill would immediately envisage using, as the generic aerosol-source material, three commonplace aerosol-source materials of glycerin, propylene glycol, and/or 1,3-butanediol. For example, Jeong teaches an aerosol-source material comprising glycerin and/or propylene glycol [76].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as ‘519’s generic aerosol-source material, Jeong’s specific glycerin and/or propylene glycol, because doing so would be immediately envisaged by one of ordinary skill as generating aerosol.
Claim 6: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4.
Modified ‘519 does not teach a wrapper that is a metal foil, a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper, a polymer film, a laminated sheet of polymer film and paper, or paper on a surface of which a coating agent selected from the group consisting of modified cellulose, modified starch, polyvinyl alcohol, and vinyl acetate is applied,
and an outer wrapper connecting the first segment and the second segment and including a heat transfer raw material.
Jeong teaches a wrapper (fig. 2 and [86], #62) that is a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper (metal thin film and wrapping paper laminated together),
connecting a first segment (58) and a second segment (56) and including a heat transfer raw material (metal foil), such that the wrapper prevents a substrate wrapped therein from escaping [86].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as ‘519’s generic wrapper, Jeong’s specific wrapper of a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper, because doing so would prevent a substrate wrapped therein from escaping.
Claims 17-18 and 20-21: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Modified ‘519 does not teach a heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system comprising the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1 and a heating device including a heater that heats the aerosol-generating rod of the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article,
wherein the heater includes a first circumferential heater that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein the heater includes an internal heater that heats an inside of the columnar first segment entirely in an axial direction and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein a heating temperature of the heater ranges from 200°C to 350°C.
Jeong teaches a heat-not-burn [51] flavor inhaling system (fig. 10 and [136]) comprising: a heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article (50); and a heating device (100) including a heater (136) that heats the aerosol-generating rod (56 and 58) of the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article,
wherein the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) includes a first circumferential heater (136e) that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment (58) and that does not heat the second segment (56),
wherein the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) includes an internal heater (136b) that heats an inside of the columnar first segment (58) entirely in an axial direction and that does not heat the second segment (56),
wherein a heating temperature of the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) ranges from 250°C to 350°C [140], such that the heater can heat the inhaling article without burning the inhaling article [51].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to combine Jeong’s heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system comprising the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1 and a heating device including a heater that heats the aerosol-generating rod of the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article,
wherein the heater includes a first circumferential heater that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein the heater includes an internal heater that heats an inside of the columnar first segment entirely in an axial direction and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein a heating temperature of the heater ranges from 250°C to 350°C, because doing so would heat the inhaling article without burning the inhaling article.
Claim 5 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493519 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 4 in further view of Yamada (US 20200120981 A1).
Claim 5: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4, wherein multiple pieces of the sheet nonwoven fabric are stacked (C12, the nonwoven fabric fills the wrapper, so the nonwoven fabric is stacked onto itself to some extent).
Modified ‘519 does not teach that the multiple pieces of the sheet nonwoven fabric are folded in an S-shape.
Yamada teaches a heat-not-burn [5] flavor inhaling article (fig. 3 and [89]) comprising multiple pieces of a tobacco [58] sheet nonwoven fabric (fig. 2D and [79], #10) that are stacked and fill the inside of a wrapper ([53], wrapper) in a state of being folded in an S-shape (fig. 2D), such that the stacked pieces yield efficient heat transfer between contacting portions while maintaining efficient airflow [78].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to stack ‘519’s tobacco sheet nonwoven fabric into Yamada’s S-shape folds, because doing so would yield efficient heat transfer between contacting portions while maintaining efficient airflow.
Claim 7 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493519 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 4 in view of Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) and Rosales (US 0829296 A).
Claims 7: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4.
Modified ‘519 does not teach a wrapper that is a laminated body of a paper layer forming an outer surface and a liquid impermeable layer forming an inner surface, the liquid impermeable layer is made up of a layer of a metal foil, a polymer film, or a layer of a coating agent selected from the group consisting of modified cellulose, modified starch, polyvinyl alcohol, and vinyl acetate, and the wrapper is formed in a cylindrical shape in a manner such that the liquid impermeable layer of the wrapper is bonded at one end and the other end of the wrapper.
Jeong teaches a wrapper (fig. 2 and [86], #62) that is a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper (metal thin film and wrapping paper laminated together), such that the wrapper prevents a substrate wrapped therein from escaping [86].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as ‘519’s generic wrapper, Jeong’s specific wrapper of a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper, because doing so would prevent a substrate wrapped therein from escaping.
Rosales teaches an inhaling article (fig. 1) comprising a wrapper (lines 14-22, outer wrapper) bonded at a first end and a second end of the wrapper (the outer wrapper is adhered together), such that the wrapper contains and preserves a shape of material wrapped therein (lines 14-22).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Rosales’s bonding adhesive to a first end and a second end of Jeong’s wrapper, because doing so would help to contain and preserve a shape of material wrapped therein.
Claim 8 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493519 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 1 in further view of Rich (US 2985175 A).
Claim 8: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Modified ‘519 does not teach that the first segment further contains a thickener.
Rich teaches an inhaling article (fig. 1-3) comprising a first segment that is an aerosol-source material (col. 2, lines 1-9, #8) comprising a thickener (binder material), such that the thickener strengthens the aerosol-source material in forming a sheet (lines 1-9).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Rich’s thickener to ‘519’s first segment comprising a tobacco sheet, because doing so would strengthen the tobacco sheet.
Claim 12 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493519 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 10 in further view of Ajithkumar (WO 2019122015 A1).
Claim 12: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 10.
Modified ‘519 does not teach that the tobacco material contains a lipid.
Ajithkumar teaches an inhaling article (title) comprising a tobacco material (p. 6, lines 11-19, homogenized tobacco material) comprising a lipid (medium chain triglyceride oil), such that the lipid facilitates transfer of volatile compounds to a user (lines 11-19).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Ajithkumar’s lipid to Jeong’s tobacco material, because doing so would facilitate transfer of volatile compounds to a user.
Claim 19 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493519 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) and Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) as applied to claim 17 in further view of Counts (US 5388594 A).
Claim 19: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system according to claim 17, wherein (claim 18) the heater includes a second circumferential heater that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment and that does not heat the second segment.
Modified ‘519 does not explicitly teach that the second circumferential heater heats an entire bottom of the columnar first segment.
Counts teaches a flavor inhaling system (fig. 3A and col. 11, lines 3-14) comprising a circumferential heater (89) that heats an entire bottom and an entire side (fig. 6) of a columnar inhaling article (fig. 1 and col. 4, lines 62-67, #23).
Jeong’s heater and Counts’s heater both conductively heat a columnar inhaling article to yield expectation to succeed. The heaters embody different shapes to achieve the same heating outcome.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to substitute Counts’s circumferential heater that heats a bottom and a side for Jeong’s circumferential heater that heats a side, because doing so would be a simple substitution of circumferential heaters between flavor inhaling systems.
Claim 22 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493519 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to instant claim 11 in further view of Potter (US 4955399 A).
Claim 22: modified ‘519 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 11.
Modified ‘519 does not explicitly teach that the agent is potassium carbonate or sodium carbonate.
Potter teaches adding potassium carbonate to tobacco (col. 9, line 67 – col. 10, line 3), such that the tobacco can readily release flavor compounds (col. 10, lines 1-3).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Potter’s potassium carbonate to ‘519’s flavor component, because doing so would enable the tobacco to readily release flavor compounds.
Claims 1, 3-4, and 9-11 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493525 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1).
Claim 1: ‘525 recites a heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article (C11, heat-not-burn flavor inhaler) comprising an aerosol-generating rod (tobacco-containing segment) and a mouthpiece segment (mouthpiece segment), wherein the aerosol-generating rod (tobacco-containing segment) includes a first segment (first segment) including an aerosol-source material (aerosol generator) and a second segment (second segment) including a flavor component (tobacco sheet), and the mouthpiece segment (mouthpiece segment) includes a cooling segment (cooling segment) and a filter segment (filter segment),
the columnar first segment (first segment) and the second segment (second segment) are provided to extend in an axial direction of the aerosol-generating rod (the first segment and the second segment extend to some extent), and the second segment (second segment) is disposed around the columnar first segment (the first segment and the second segment are on the same article).
Modified ‘285 does not teach that the columnar first segment is surrounded by the second segment.
Batista teaches a flavor inhaling article (fig. 2 and p. 25, lines 22-24, #12) comprising a columnar first segment (fig. 1 and p. 25, lines 1-2, #38) surrounded by a second segment (40), such that proximity of the columnar first segment to an internal heater and the second segment to an external heater enables releasing contents of the two segments at different temperatures (p. 6, lines 1-10).
Jeoung teaches that it is desirable to insert an external heater (fig. 10 and [133], #136b) only into a columnar first segment (58) of tobacco filler, so one of ordinary skill would be suggested to position the columnar first segment inside the second segment to maintain the same heating position.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to arrange Jeoung’s first columnar segment to be surrounded by Jeoung’s second segment as motivated by Batista, because doing so would enable proximity of the columnar first segment to an internal heater and the second segment to an external heater to facilitate releasing contents of the two segments at different temperatures.
Claim 3: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1, wherein the first segment (C12, first segment) further includes plant fibers.
Claim 4: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 3, wherein the first segment (C12, first segment) includes a cylindrical wrapper and a nonwoven fabric made up of the plant fibers filling an inside of the wrapper, and the nonwoven fabric contains the aerosol-source material.
Claim 9: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1, wherein the flavor component (C11, tobacco sheet) contains a tobacco component.
Claim 10: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 9, wherein the second segment (C11, second segment) includes one or more tobacco materials selected from among a mesophyll, vein, stalk, flower, and root of a tobacco plant (mesophyll, vein, stalk, flower, and root are essential components of tobacco; one of ordinary skill would immediately envisage a tobacco sheet comprising one or more of mesophyll, vein, stalk, flower, and root).
Claim 11: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 10, wherein the tobacco material contains a flavoring (tobacco comprises volatile flavor compounds).
Claim 2, 6, 17-18, and 20-21 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493525 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claims 1 and 4 in view of Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1).
Claim 2: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Modified ‘525 does not teach that the aerosol-source material is at least one selected from the group consisting of glycerin, propylene glycol, and 1,3-butanediol.
One of ordinary skill would immediately envisage using, as the generic aerosol-source material, three commonplace aerosol-source materials of glycerin, propylene glycol, and/or 1,3-butanediol. For example, Jeong teaches an aerosol-source material comprising glycerin and/or propylene glycol [76].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as ‘525’s generic aerosol-source material, Jeong’s specific glycerin and/or propylene glycol, because doing so would be immediately envisaged by one of ordinary skill as generating aerosol.
Claim 6: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4.
Modified ‘525 does not teach a wrapper that is a metal foil, a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper, a polymer film, a laminated sheet of polymer film and paper, or paper on a surface of which a coating agent selected from the group consisting of modified cellulose, modified starch, polyvinyl alcohol, and vinyl acetate is applied,
and an outer wrapper connecting the first segment and the second segment and including a heat transfer raw material.
Jeong teaches a wrapper (fig. 2 and [86], #62) that is a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper (metal thin film and wrapping paper laminated together),
connecting a first segment (58) and a second segment (56) and including a heat transfer raw material (metal foil), such that the wrapper prevents a substrate wrapped therein from escaping [86].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as ‘525’s generic wrapper, Jeong’s specific wrapper of a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper, because doing so would prevent a substrate wrapped therein from escaping.
Claims 17-18 and 20-21: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Modified ‘525 does not teach a heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system comprising the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1 and a heating device including a heater that heats the aerosol-generating rod of the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article,
wherein the heater includes a first circumferential heater that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein the heater includes an internal heater that heats an inside of the columnar first segment entirely in an axial direction and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein a heating temperature of the heater ranges from 200°C to 350°C.
Jeong teaches a heat-not-burn [51] flavor inhaling system (fig. 10 and [136]) comprising: a heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article (50); and a heating device (100) including a heater (136) that heats the aerosol-generating rod (56 and 58) of the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article,
wherein the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) includes a first circumferential heater (136e) that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment (58) and that does not heat the second segment (56),
wherein the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) includes an internal heater (136b) that heats an inside of the columnar first segment (58) entirely in an axial direction and that does not heat the second segment (56),
wherein a heating temperature of the heater (fig. 10 and [136], #136) ranges from 250°C to 350°C [140], such that the heater can heat the inhaling article without burning the inhaling article [51].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to combine Jeong’s heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system comprising the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1 and a heating device including a heater that heats the aerosol-generating rod of the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article,
wherein the heater includes a first circumferential heater that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein the heater includes an internal heater that heats an inside of the columnar first segment entirely in an axial direction and that does not heat the second segment,
wherein a heating temperature of the heater ranges from 250°C to 350°C, because doing so would heat the inhaling article without burning the inhaling article.
Claim 5 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493525 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 4 in further view of Yamada (US 20200120981 A1).
Claim 5: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4, wherein multiple pieces of the sheet nonwoven fabric are stacked (C12, the nonwoven fabric fills the wrapper, so the nonwoven fabric is stacked onto itself to some extent).
Modified ‘525 does not teach that the multiple pieces of the sheet nonwoven fabric are folded in an S-shape.
Yamada teaches a heat-not-burn [5] flavor inhaling article (fig. 3 and [89]) comprising multiple pieces of a tobacco [58] sheet nonwoven fabric (fig. 2D and [79], #10) that are stacked and fill the inside of a wrapper ([53], wrapper) in a state of being folded in an S-shape (fig. 2D), such that the stacked pieces yield efficient heat transfer between contacting portions while maintaining efficient airflow [78].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to stack ‘525’s tobacco sheet nonwoven fabric into Yamada’s S-shape folds, because doing so would yield efficient heat transfer between contacting portions while maintaining efficient airflow.
Claim 7 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493525 in view of in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 4 in further view of Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) and Rosales (US 0829296 A).
Claims 7: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 4.
Modified ‘525 does not teach a wrapper that is a laminated body of a paper layer forming an outer surface and a liquid impermeable layer forming an inner surface, the liquid impermeable layer is made up of a layer of a metal foil, a polymer film, or a layer of a coating agent selected from the group consisting of modified cellulose, modified starch, polyvinyl alcohol, and vinyl acetate, and the wrapper is formed in a cylindrical shape in a manner such that the liquid impermeable layer of the wrapper is bonded at one end and the other end of the wrapper.
Jeong teaches a wrapper (fig. 2 and [86], #62) that is a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper (metal thin film and wrapping paper laminated together), such that the wrapper prevents a substrate wrapped therein from escaping [86].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to use, as ‘525’s generic wrapper, Jeong’s specific wrapper of a laminated sheet of metal foil and paper, because doing so would prevent a substrate wrapped therein from escaping.
Rosales teaches an inhaling article (fig. 1) comprising a wrapper (lines 14-22, outer wrapper) bonded at a first end and a second end of the wrapper (the outer wrapper is adhered together), such that the wrapper contains and preserves a shape of material wrapped therein (lines 14-22).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Rosales’s bonding adhesive to a first end and a second end of Jeong’s wrapper, because doing so would help to contain and preserve a shape of material wrapped therein.
Claim 8 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493525 in view of in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 1 in further view of Rich (US 2985175 A).
Claim 8: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 1.
Modified ‘525 does not teach that the first segment further contains a thickener.
Rich teaches an inhaling article (fig. 1-3) comprising a first segment that is an aerosol-source material (col. 2, lines 1-9, #8) comprising a thickener (binder material), such that the thickener strengthens the aerosol-source material in forming a sheet (lines 1-9).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Rich’s thickener to ‘525’s first segment comprising a tobacco sheet, because doing so would strengthen the tobacco sheet.
Claim 12 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493525 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to claim 10 in further view of Ajithkumar (WO 2019122015 A1).
Claim 12: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 10.
Modified ‘525 does not teach that the tobacco material contains a lipid.
Ajithkumar teaches an inhaling article (title) comprising a tobacco material (p. 6, lines 11-19, homogenized tobacco material) comprising a lipid (medium chain triglyceride oil), such that the lipid facilitates transfer of volatile compounds to a user (lines 11-19).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Ajithkumar’s lipid to Jeong’s tobacco material, because doing so would facilitate transfer of volatile compounds to a user.
Claim 19 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493525 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) and Jeong (WO 2020153829 A1 with reference made to national stage translation US 20220175015 A1) as applied to claim 17 in further view of Counts (US 5388594 A).
Claim 19: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling system according to claim 17, wherein (claim 18) the heater includes a second circumferential heater that heats an entire side of the columnar first segment and that does not heat the second segment.
Modified ‘525 does not explicitly teach that the second circumferential heater heats an entire bottom of the columnar first segment.
Counts teaches a flavor inhaling system (fig. 3A and col. 11, lines 3-14) comprising a circumferential heater (89) that heats an entire bottom and an entire side (fig. 6) of a columnar inhaling article (fig. 1 and col. 4, lines 62-67, #23).
Jeong’s heater and Counts’s heater both conductively heat a columnar inhaling article to yield expectation to succeed. The heaters embody different shapes to achieve the same heating outcome.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to substitute Counts’s circumferential heater that heats a bottom and a side for Jeong’s circumferential heater that heats a side, because doing so would be a simple substitution of circumferential heaters between flavor inhaling systems.
Claim 22 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of copending Application No. 18/493525 in view of Batista (WO 2021053029 A1) as applied to instant claim 11 in further view of Potter (US 4955399 A).
Claim 22: modified ‘525 teaches the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article according to claim 11.
Modified ‘525 does not explicitly teach that the agent is potassium carbonate or sodium carbonate.
Potter teaches adding potassium carbonate to tobacco (col. 9, line 67 – col. 10, line 3), such that the tobacco can readily release flavor compounds (col. 10, lines 1-3).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to add Potter’s potassium carbonate to ‘525’s flavor component, because doing so would enable the tobacco to readily release flavor compounds.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments of 2026 July 23 have been carefully considered. Upon further search and consideration necessitated by applicant’s amendments, a new ground of rejection is made for claim 1 over Jeoung in view of Batista.
Applicant argues (p. 7-10) that Jeoung does not anticipate amended claim 1. However, as in the above analysis, Batista teaches a flavor inhaling article (fig. 2 and p. 25, lines 22-24, #12) comprising a columnar first segment (fig. 1 and p. 25, lines 1-2, #38) surrounded by a second segment (40), such that proximity of the columnar first segment to an internal heater and the second segment to an external heater enables releasing contents of the two segments at different temperatures (p. 6, lines 1-10). Applying Batista’s proximity teaching to Jeoung’s segments for Batista’s customized release benefit would yield the heat-not-burn flavor inhaling article of claim 1.
Double Patenting: a complete response to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection is either a reply by applicant showing that the claims subject to the rejection are patentably distinct from the reference claims, or the filing of a terminal disclaimer in accordance with 37 CFR 1.321. See MPEP 804(I)(B)(1).
Applicant has neither shown patentable distinctness nor filed a terminal disclaimer, so the double patenting rejection is iterated.
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 Tobey C. Le whose telephone number is (703)756-5516. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 8:30-18:30 ET.
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, Michael H. Wilson can be reached at 571-270-3882. 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.
/TOBEY C LE/Examiner, Art Unit 1747
/Michael H. Wilson/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1747
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