DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsushita et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2015/0150599, hereinafter “Matsushita”) in view of Avrahami et al (U.S. Patent Number: US 6708060, hereinafter “Avrahami”) OR Nekhendzy et al (U.S. Patent Number: US 6567702, hereinafter “Nekhendzy”).
Regarding claim 1, Matsushita teaches a skin inflammation treatment device (e.g. 1 Figs. 3,4) comprising:
a case (e.g. 10 Fig.1);
at least one electrode (i.e. working electrode e.g. 11 Figs.3-5,[0011]) located in the case and configured to receive a driving signal and provide electromagnetic waves corresponding to the driving signal; and
a signal supply module (e.g. [0089],302Fig. 5) located in the case and configured to generate the driving signal and to supply the driving signal to the electrode (e.g. [0056]: various waveforms can be adopted such as a DC current having constant current and voltage, a pulse current, a sine wave AC current, and the like, and some of these waveforms may be combined.).
While Matsushita teaches combining some of the waveforms as discussed above, they do not specifically teaching mixing the AC and DC signals. In a similar field of endeavor, Avrahami teaches adding a high-frequency AC current with a DC current to be applied between closely-spaced electrodes in a skin treatment device (e.g. Fig. 13 Col. 4 lines 18-20). Nekhendzy teaches another system that comprises applying electrodes to a skin of the patient and delivering a combined DC and AC current (e.g. abstract ) to elicit analgesia. Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of device of Matsushita to mix AC and DC signal waveforms of Matsuhita as taught by Avrahami OR Nekhendzy in order to provide the predictable results of providing analgesia and a more effective therapy.
Regarding claims 8 and 9, Matsushita in view of Avrahami OR Nekhendzy teaches the claimed invention as discussed above Matsuhita further teaches a control section 301 that is configured to control a current supplied from the electrode to the skin of the user based on whether the working and counter electrode are in contact with the body (e.g. [0089]) and therefore they teach that the controller is configured to control the signal supply module to change at least the driving signal amplitude based on a user's control (Note: the device is handheld and if the user isn’t holding the device properly, the controller changes the current supplied to the electrode).
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsushita et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2015/0150599, hereinafter “Matsushita”) in view of Avrahami et al (U.S. Patent Number: US 6708060, hereinafter “Avrahami”) OR Nekhendzy et al (U.S. Patent Number: US 6567702, hereinafter “Nekhendzy”) and further in view of Cook et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2008/0046027, hereinafter “Cook”).
Regarding claims 2 and 3, Matsushita in view of Avrahami OR Nekhendzy teaches the claimed invention as discussed above and Matsuhita further teaches that the case 10 includes: a first case (designated by a as shown below) having a protrusion region, and an opening is formed in the protrusion region and that the opening (designated by b as shown below) that exposes at least a portion of the electrode (i.e. working electrode e.g. 11 Fig. 4 as shown below); and a second case (designated by c as shown below)
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They do not specifically teach that the second case is provided with a switch that controls the operation of the skin inflammation treatment device. Cook teaches a handheld skin and hair treatment device that comprises a first and second case and a selection switch (e.g. 54 Fig 3A) on the second case that is used for selection of various mode (e.g. [0063],[0076],[0077],[0080], [0082]-[0084]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Matsushita in view of Avrahami OR Nekhendzy to include a user interface with a selection switch as taught by Cook on the second case of Matsuhita in order to provide the predictable results of providing a more user-friendly device that can be easily controlled by the user.
Regarding claim 4, Matsushita in view of Avrahami OR Nekhendzy teaches the claimed invention as discussed above and Matsuhita further teaches a first circuit board (designated by d as shown below) on which the electrode (e.g. 11 Fig.4 as shown below) is mounted on a front surface thereof; a second circuit board (e.g. 3 Figs. 4, 5 and designated by e as shown below) connected to the first circuit board through a connection line and on which the signal supply module is mounted (e.g. Fig.4); and a battery (e.g. 33 Fig. 4, 5 as shown below, [0084]) configured to supply a battery voltage to the signal supply module.
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Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsushita et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2015/0150599, hereinafter “Matsushita”) in view of Avrahami et al (U.S. Patent Number: US 6708060, hereinafter “Avrahami”) OR Nekhendzy et al (U.S. Patent Number: US 6567702, hereinafter “Nekhendzy”) and Cook et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2008/0046027, hereinafter “Cook”) and further in view of Nichols (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2012/0165710, hereinafter “Nichols”).
Regarding claims 5 and 6, Matsushita in view of Avrahami OR Nekhendzy and Cook teaches the claimed invention as discussed above except for the electrode including a first electrode and a second electrode arranged to be spaced apart from each other, and wherein the first electrode includes a first insertion protrusion formed to protrude from one surface of the first electrode, the second electrode includes a second insertion protrusion formed to protrude from one surface of the second electrode, and the first circuit board includes a first receiving groove configured to receive the first insertion protrusion and a second receiving groove configured to receive the second insertion protrusion and wherein the first circuit board includes: a first connection terminal located on a rear surface of the first circuit board and electrically connected to the first electrode; and a second connection terminal located on the rear surface and electrically connected to the second electrode.
Nichols teaches a handheld therapy device that comprises two electrodes spaced apart ( e.g.22A Fig.1, 3, [0029]) and separated by an insulation element ( e.g. 9 Fig.1, 3) wherein the first electrode includes a first insertion protrusion formed to protrude from one surface of the first electrode, the second electrode includes a second insertion protrusion formed to protrude from one surface of the second electrode and a circuit board that includes a first receiving groove configured to receive the first insertion protrusion and a second receiving groove configured to receive the second insertion protrusion and wherein the first circuit board includes a first connection terminal located on a rear surface of the first circuit board and electrically connected to the first electrode; and a second connection terminal located on the rear surface and electrically connected to the second electrode (e.g. [0029]: the two separate electrodes 10 are connected to associated circuitry within the housing 12). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Matsushita in view of Avrahami OR Nekhendzy and Cook to have two separate electrodes that are separately connected to the first circuit board as taught by Nichols in order to provide the predictable results of covering a larger surface area while treating the skin and providing a more effective treatment
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsushita et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2015/0150599, hereinafter “Matsushita”) in view of Avrahami et al (U.S. Patent Number: US 6708060, hereinafter “Avrahami”) OR Nekhendzy et al (U.S. Patent Number: US 6567702, hereinafter “Nekhendzy”) and Cook et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2008/0046027, hereinafter “Cook”) and further in view of Nathanson et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2016/0361539, hereinafter “Nathanson”).
Regarding claim 7, Matsushita in view of Avrahami OR Nekhendzy and Cook teaches the claimed invention as discussed above except for a first indicator provided on the second case and configured to indicate a charging status of the battery; and a second indicator provided on the second case and configured to indicate an operation time of the skin inflammation treatment device. Nathanson teaches hand-held skin therapy device that comprises a display provided on a case for displaying a first indicator configured to indicate a charging status of the battery and a second indicator to indicate an operation time of the skin treatment device (e.g. Fig.3, [0046]). Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the case in the teachings of Matsushita in view of Avrahami OR Nekhendzy and Cook to include a display to indicate a battery status and the operation time for the treatment as taught by Nathanson in order to provide the predictable results of providing a more user friendly device.
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsushita et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2015/0150599, hereinafter “Matsushita”) in view of Avrahami et al (U.S. Patent Number: US 6708060, hereinafter “Avrahami”) OR Nekhendzy et al (U.S. Patent Number: US 6567702, hereinafter “Nekhendzy”) and further in view Cole et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number: US 2008/0195181, hereinafter “Cole”)
Regarding claims 8 and 9, Matsushita in view of Avrahami OR Nekhendzy teaches the claimed invention as discussed above and while Matsuhita teaches a control section 301 that is configured to control a current supplied from the electrode to the skin of the user based on whether the working and counter electrode are in contact with the body (e.g. [0089]), they do not specifically teach that the controller is configured to control the signal supply module to change at least one of characteristics of the driving signal under a user's control and wherein the characteristics of the driving signal include amplitude and DC offset.
Cole teaches a hand-held skin stimulator that comprises a potentiometer on a circuit board and is mechanically coupled to a rotary adjustment dial (e.g. 21 Fig. 3, [0026]) that protrudes through the housing for user-adjustment of the output signal amplitude and a controller that is configured to control the signal supply module to change at amplitude of a driving signal under a user's control (e.g. [0029]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Matsushita in view of Avrahami OR Nekhendzy to include a user control for adjustment of amplitude and controlling the output signal as taught by Cole in order to provide the predictable results of providing a more user-friendly device that can be used to easily customize the therapy by the user.
Conclusion
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/MALLIKA D FAIRCHILD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3792