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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-18 in the reply filed on 10/07/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 19-36 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 10/07/2025.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made final.
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.
Claims 1-3, and 6-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fracassi et al. (US2008/0289646) in view of Mast et al. (US4751935).
Regarding claim 1, Fracassi discloses an artificial nail tip (100, Figures 1-11) for attaching onto a nail (refer to Paragraph [0002]), comprising:
a nail bed end (120) and a free end (122) that are connected by a middle nail portion (not labeled but is the portion disposed between 120 and 122);
wherein the thickness of the artificial nail tip is a gradient that is thinnest at the nail bed end and thickest at the free end and gradually increases in thickness in the middle nail portion from the nail bed end to the free end (best shown in Figure 8);
wherein the artificial nail tip comprises a consistent (“consistently uniform throughout”, refer to Paragraph [0036]) translucent (“the artificial nails can be…translucent”, refer to Paragraph [0038]) mixture throughout the artificial nail tip (Fracassi’s artificial nail tip is formed by molding “shot of material…into the mold”, refer to claim 18, wherein molding introduces a consistent mixture into the mold in order to form the finished part).
Fracassi does not explicitly disclose wherein due to a balancing of the thickness gradient and the translucent mixture, the artificial nail tip has a color gradient that conveys a clear color at the nail bed end and an opaque color at the free end and increases in opacity in the middle nail portion from the nail bed end to the free end. However, Fracassi does disclose that the artificial nail can be “opaque, translucent, transparent…can be provided in various colors and glosses that simulate painted fingernails…formed in different colors and patterns” (refer to Paragraph [0038]), thereby demonstrating that modifying the coloring and appearance of the artificial nail tip is within the scope of Fracassi’s invention.
Mast discloses a similar fingernail tip (7, 7’, Figures 1-5) of a molded transparent plastic material (refer to Column 4, line 41), wherein the transparent plastic may additionally include a pigment/coloring within the transparent plastic (refer to Column 4, lines 49-51) to enhance the appearance of the fingernail tip, wherein, in one embodiment the thickness of the nail increases from a first side (1), the first side being “as thin as possible” (refer to Column 4, lines 35-36), to a second (2) opposing side, distal to a user’s nail bed (refer to Figure 4), wherein in one embodiment, the molded fingernail tip has a variation in thickness (refer to Figure 2c), this thickness directly affecting how clear or opaque the fingernail appears (“because the front portion 2 of the strip is more thick than rear proximal portion 1, there is more pigment in this area, which adds to the opaqueness”, refer to Column 5, lines 4-7), with the first side/thin portion is “more transparent” (refer to Column 5, line 9). Thus, Mast teaches including pigment/coloring in a molded transparent plastic material for use as an artificial nail tip, wherein the amount of pigment may be modified to tailor the appearance of the nail tip “to ones desired color” (refer to Column 4, lines 55-56), and when the colored thermoplastic material is injected into a mold, the thickness of the mold and the resultant molded product affects the depth of color, where the desired effect is a clear/transparent first portion affected by being as thin as possible with an opposing portion exhibiting a more opaque color, in order to provide a more natural looking artificial nail tip (“minimize the…visible”, refer to Column 4, lines 35-40). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Fracassi’s artificial nail tip such that the nail tip has a clear color at a first end/nail bed end and an opaque color at the free end, as taught by Mast, since such a modification provides the advantage of providing a more natural looking artificial nail tip.
Fracassi already discloses wherein the thickness of the artificial nail tip continually and gradually increases in a direction from the nail bed to the free end. Per the teachings of Mast, the nail tip of Fracassi was modified to be formed of an injection molded pigmented thermoplastic such that the nail bed side is clear/transparent and the free end is opaque. Due to the continual gradual increase in thickness of Fracassi’s nail tip, the color gradient will increase in opacity in the middle nail portion from the nail bed to the free end due to a balancing of the thickness gradient and the translucent mixture, as a thicker material will comprise more pigment therein, thereby contributing to its increased opacity.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Fracassi and Mast disclose the artificial nail tip of claim 1, wherein the color gradient displays an ombre effect (ombre is defined by Oxford Languages as “having tones of color that shade into each other, graduating from light to dark”; per the explanation in claim 1, since the nail tip of the combination of Fracassi and Mast has a continually and gradually increasing thickness in a direction from the nail bed to the free end, and the nail bed end is substantially clear/transparent, whereas the free end is opaque, the nail tip of the combination of Fracassi and Mast provides an ombre effect, per Oxford Languages’ definition).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 1, as applied above. The combination does not thus far disclose wherein the opaque color at the free end is white. Mast discloses the use of different pigments in order to impart a desired aesthetic affect to the nail tip, including the use of titanium dioxide (refer to Column 4, lines 52-53), wherein titanium dioxide is a white pigment. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the artificial nail tip of the combination of Fracassi and Mast such that the opaque color at the free end is white, as taught by Mast, in order to impart a desired aesthetic to the nail tip.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the artificial nail tip affects the color of the artificial nail tip (per the modification addressed in claim 1, the thickness of the artificial nail tip was noted as directly affecting the color since a thicker material comprises more pigment, thereby providing the thickness of the artificial nail tip to affect the color of the artificial nail tip).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 6, wherein the thicker the artificial nail tip is, the more opaque the color of the artificial nail tip (per the explanation provided in claims 1 and 6, a thicker material of the artificial nail tip will comprise more pigment, thereby providing more opacity to the color).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 6, wherein the thinner the artificial nail tip is, the more clear the color of the artificial nail tip (per the explanation provided in claim 1, the thicker the nail tip, the more pigment is present, and the thinner the nail, the less pigment is present; thus, a thinner nail tip appears more clear than a thicker nail tip and Mast explicitly discloses that a thin portion of the nail tip is “more transparent” (refer to Mast Column 5, line 9).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 6, wherein the opacity of the artificial nail tip is directly proportional to the thickness of the artificial nail tip (per the explanation provided in claim 1, the thickness of the artificial nail tip was noted as directly affecting the color since a thicker material comprises more pigment, thereby providing the thickness of the artificial nail tip to affect the color of the artificial nail tip, wherein the thickest portion of the nail is more opaque than a thinner portion of the nail tip, as described in Mast Column 5, lines 4-7).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 1, as applied above, wherein the thickness of the artificial nail tip continually increases in thickness from the nail bed end to the free end, while providing the variation in color throughout a length of the nail tip due to this gradient in thickness.
However, the combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the thickness of the artificial nail tip ranges from 0.05 mm at the nail bed end to 2 mm at the free end, as required by the claim. The combination does however disclose that altering the thickness of the nail bed is “within the purview of the invention” (refer to Fracassi Paragraph [0034]). For at least this reason, there is no evidence of record that establishes that changing the thickness would result in a difference of function of the nail tip of the combination of Fracassi and Mast. Further, a person of ordinary skill in the art, being faced with modifying the nail tip of the combination of Fracassi and Mast would have a reasonable expectation of success in making such a modification and it appears that the nail tip would function as intended being given the claimed thicknesses. Lastly, applicant indicates that the thickness “may” be within the claimed range, and offering other acceptable ranges (“at the nail bed end 11, the nail tip 1 can have a thickness in the range of 0.05mm - 0.2mm. For example, the thickness d11 at the nail bed end may be about 0.1mm…the thickness of the nail tip 1 can have a thickness d13 in the range of 1mm - 2mm…For example…about 1.5mm”, refer to Paragraph [0047] of applicant’s specification) and therefore there appears to be no criticality placed on the range as claimed such that it produces an unexpected result. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the thickness of the artificial nail tip of the combination of Fracassi and Mast to have the claimed thickness as an obvious matter of design choice within the skill of the art.
Regarding claims 11-12, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 1, as applied above. The combination does not disclose wherein the mixture comprises polymethyl methacrylate and a color powder, where the color powder comprises titanium dioxide and a whitening agent. However, the combination does disclose wherein the artificial nail tip may be “made from any suitable material, it may be formed of thermoplastic material” (refer to Fracassi Paragraph [0036]) and that the nails can be provided in various colors (refer to Fracassi Paragraph [0038]). The combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the claimed invention except for disclosing the specific materials of construction to be polymethyl methacrylate and a color powder, where the color powder comprises titanium dioxide and a whitening agent. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the artificial nail tip such that the mixture comprises polymethyl methacrylate and a color powder, where the color powder comprises titanium dioxide and a whitening agent, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. Further, applicant indicates that “the translucent mixture may be made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) transparent plastic particles, as one example material, and a color powder, which includes titanium dioxide powder and a whitening agent, again for example” (refer to Paragraph [0041] of the instant application’s specification). Therefore there appears to be no criticality placed on the materials as claimed such that it produces an unexpected result.
Regarding claims 13-15, the combination of Fracassi and Mast disclose the artificial nail tip of claim 12, as applied above. The combination does not disclose wherein the mixture comprises between 500 g to 2000 g of the polymethyl methacrylate, between 0.5 g to 2 g of the titanium dioxide powder or between 0.005 g to 0.1 g of the whitening agent. However, the combination does disclose wherein the artificial nail tip may be “made from any suitable material, it may be formed of thermoplastic material” (refer to Fracassi Paragraph [0036]) and that the nails can be provided in various colors (refer to Fracassi Paragraph [0038]). For at least this reason, there is no evidence of record that establishes that changing the materials and relative compositions thereof would result in a difference of function of the nail tip of the combination of Fracassi and Mast. Further, a person of ordinary skill in the art, being faced with modifying the nail tip of the combination of Fracassi and Mast would have a reasonable expectation of success in making such a modification and it appears that the nail tip would function as intended given the claimed materials and relative weight percentages. Lastly, applicant indicates that “the translucent mixture may be made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) transparent plastic particles, as one example material, and a color powder, which includes titanium dioxide powder and a whitening agent, again for example” (refer to Paragraph [0041] of the instant application’s specification). Therefore there appears to be no criticality placed on the materials as claimed such that it produces an unexpected result. The combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the claimed invention except for disclosing the specific materials of construction to be wherein the mixture comprises between 500 g to 2000 g of the polymethyl methacrylate, between 0.5 g to 2 g of the titanium dioxide powder or between 0.005 g to 0.1 g of the whitening agent. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the artificial nail tip such that the mixture comprises the claimed materials within the claimed ranges, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 2, wherein the ombre effect cannot be filed or scraped off the artificial nail tip (per Applicant’s specification, the property of an ombre effect not being filed or scraped off is imparted to the nail tip by molding the color into the nail, where the color increases due to a thickness gradient of the nail tip, see Applicant’s paragraph [0004] as opposed to being painted on a surface of the nail tip. Since the ombre effect of the combination of Fracassi and Mast is imparted to the nail tip via molding and is affected due to a thickness gradient, the nail tip of the combination of Fracassi and Mast will similarly perform in such a way so that the ombre effect cannot be filed or scraped off).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 1, wherein the nail is a fingernail (refer to Fracassi’s Abstract) or a toenail.
Claims 4-5, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Fracassi and Mast as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Nails & Beauty (https://youtu.be/xazcaLguxa4?si=EjME6cBv1WkS-XAO).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 1, as applied above. The combination does not disclose wherein the opaque color at the free end is black; however, the combination does disclose that “the artificial nails can be provided in various colors” (refer to Fracassi Paragraph [0038]).
Nails & Beauty discloses a nail coloring depicted as having a lighter coloring at a portion of the nail proximate the nail bed and an opaque coloring at the free end of the nail, wherein the opacity gradually increases gradually from the nail bed to the free end and wherein the opaque color is black (refer to YouTube video @0:01). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the artificial nail tip such that the opaque color at the free end is black, as taught by Nails & Beauty, since the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses that the color can be changed as a matter of personal preference, and since such a modification provides the advantage of enabling the user to impart a bold design to the artificial nail tip.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 1, as applied above. The combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the opaque color at the free end is a solid color.
Nails & Beauty discloses a nail coloring depicted as having a lighter coloring at a portion of the nail proximate the nail bed and an opaque coloring at the free end of the nail, wherein the opacity gradually increases gradually from the nail bed to the free end and wherein the opaque color is a solid black color (refer to YouTube video @0:01). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the artificial nail tip such that the opaque color at the free end is a solid color, as taught by Nails & Beauty, since the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses that the color can be changed as a matter of personal preference, and since such a modification provides the advantage of enabling the user to impart a bold design effect to the artificial nail tip.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Fracassi and Mast discloses the artificial nail tip of claim 1, as applied above. The combination does not disclose wherein the artificial nail tip is wider at the nail bed end than at the free end; however, it is known to provide nail tips in various shapes in order to affect a desired aesthetic.
Nails & Beauty discloses a false nail tip wherein the free end of the nail tip tapers to provide a stiletto or almond style nail shape in order to meet a user’s preference. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the artificial nail tip of the combination of Fracassi and Mast such that the artificial nail tip is wider at the nail bed end than at the free end, as taught by Nails & Beauty, in order to affect a desired shape and aesthetic to the nail tip.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Oike (WO2021/145313A1) discloses the use of various materials including PMMA and colorants in varying thicknesses (see Figure 2) in order to affect a color gradient in a molded product.
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/SARAH WOODHOUSE/Examiner, Art Unit 3772