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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because some lines are indistinct and some lines are missing. The drawings fail to comply with 37 C.F.R. 1.84(l), which requires that every line, number, and letter must be durable, clean, black (except for color drawings), sufficiently dense and dark, and uniformly thick and well-defined. The weight of all lines and letters must be heavy enough to permit adequate reproduction. This requirement applies to all lines however fine, to shading, and to lines representing cut surfaces in sectional views. Lines and strokes of different thicknesses may be used in the same drawing where different thicknesses have a different meaning.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 3 recites the limitation “the plastic snap comprises a base.” The word “base” should be amended to read “pedestal” (see paragraph [0035] of the specification as filed).
. 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 1-10 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 1, lines 4-5, recite the limitation “an upper end of the center rod is protruded on the outer cylinder”. It is not clear if the upper end of the center rod protrudes from an upper end of the outer cylinder or if it protrudes from another part of the outer cylinder.
Claims 2-10 ultimately depend from and inherit the indefiniteness of claim 1, send are also rejected.
International Search Report
No International Search Report was found corresponding to the instant application.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Claims 2-10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the nearest prior art is Carfield et al (US 2024/0298702). Carfield et al discloses a personal vaporizer comprising a releasable mouthpiece locking mechanism comprising one or more pairs of flexible, hooked arms that can engage and lock the mouthpiece to a vaporization cartridge, and the arms can be radially displaced to release the vaporization cartridge. The device reads on a pluggable locking-type electronic cigarette structure.
Referring to figures 1-4, the device comprises a suction nozzle assembly (100), a center tube, or rod (210), an outer cylinder (290) and a base assembly (not numbered) connected to the lower end of the outer cylinder. The center rod is disposed in the outer cylinder with the upper end protruding from the top end of the outer cylinder, and the suction nozzle assembly is connected to the upper end (230) of the center rod.
The suction nozzle assembly comprises a suction nozzle comprising a mouthpiece housing (150) having a hole (120) in the top end (104) connected to a through passage (cavity 110) running up and down. The mouthpiece housing comprises a support structure (130) permanently attached thereto and which supports a sealing cap ring (140). The support structure further comprises two or more flexible doubly hooked arms (180) extending longitudinally from the support structure (130) toward the first end of the support structure and toward the passage (110). Each flexible doubly hooked arm (180) includes two differently sized hooked portions, a first hooked portion (180A) and a second hooked portion (180B), each hooked portion extending radially inwardly toward the longitudinal axis (300).
The center rod comprises a radially outwardly extending shoulder (220) disposed circumferentially around an upper end of the tube (210) and which defines a circumferential gap into which the hooked portions (180A) fit to releasably lock the suction nozzle assembly to the device [0035]-[0045].
Carfield et al fails to disclose a plastic snap and an elastic silica gel, that the first through-cavity is provided with a first mounting position for mounting the plastic snap, the plastic snap is mounted at the firs mounting position, and a second mounting position for mounting the elastic silica gel is maintained between the plastic snap and the suction nozzle; the elastic silica gel is mounted at the second mounting position; further, an upper side of the plastic snap is extended with claw buckles, the center rod is provided with a claw groove adapted to the claw buckles.
The prior art fails to a device as currently claimed. The prior art further fails to provide suggestion or motivation to modify the device of Carfield et al to obtain the claimed device.
.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DENNIS R CORDRAY whose telephone number is (571)272-8244. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8 AM-5 PM (EST).
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, Abbas Rashid can be reached at (571) 270-7457. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DENNIS R CORDRAY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1748
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