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 § 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.
Claim 17 is 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 17 requires “all fingers in the rear region have a slenderness of 3.0”. However, claim 17 depends from claim 1 which requires “the rear slenderness is in the range of 3.5 to 5.5”. Therefore, it is not possible for all fingers in the rear region to have a slenderness of 3 while also providing fingers in the rear region with a slenderness of 3.5 to 5.5. Given the contradictory nature of claim 17 art cannot be applied to the claim.
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 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kikkawa (US 20220087796) and Schar (US 20150335141).
Regarding claim 1, Kikkawa discloses an interdental cleaner (Refer to Figures 1-7) comprising: rod-like support (10,12) made of a first plastic (Refer to paragraph 0024), which has a handle part (11) at a rear end region and a cover (21) made of a soft flexible second plastic (Refer to paragraph 0031) at an opposite front end region, several radially protruding fingers (22) are situated on an outside of the cover and having a base region integrally joined to the cover, the cover facing away from the handle part of the interdental cleaner has a tip region having a length in the range of 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm (See annotated Figure below and paragraph 0026), on a front end thereof, and a functional region (Refer to annotated Figure below) which adjoins the tip region in the direction of the handle part and extends up to a rear finger closest to the handle part, the functional region being divided into a front region (Refer to annotated Figure below) which is directly adjacent to the tip region and has a length in the range of 1-2.5 mm, a rear region (Refer to annotated Figure below) which extends forward from the rear finger and has a length in the range of 1-2.5 mm and a central region (Refer to annotated Figure below) which is arranged between the front region and the rear region.
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However, Kikkawa does not disclose a slenderness defined as the axial length of the finger divided by a maximum diameter in the base region, where in the front region, at least one of the fingers has a front slenderness of at least 3.0 and in the rear region, at least one of the fingers has a rear slenderness of at least 3.0, wherein the front slenderness of at least one of the fingers in the front region of the cover is less than the rear slenderness of at least one of the fingers arranged in the rear region, where front slenderness is 3% to 15% less than the rear slenderness, the front slenderness is in the range of 3 to 5 and the rear slenderness is in the range of 3.5 to 5.5.
Kikkawa teaches the fingers have a length between 0.1 and 5 mm, where the fingers decrease in size (length and diameter) from the rear region toward the front region. Kikkawa is silent regarding the diameter at the base region of the fingers. Schar et al. disclose a similar interdental cleaner (Refer to Figures 1-43) where the fingers are disclosed as having a base diameter of 0.05-0.3 mm or 0.1-0.2 mm (Refer to paragraph 0168). 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 fingers of the interdental cleaner of Kikkawa to have a maximum diameter in the base region between 0.05 and 3mm or between 0.1 and 0.2 mm as Schar et al. demonstrate it is well-known and conventional for such fingers to have the aforementioned diameter dimension. The combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. provide the claimed front and rear slenderness; for example, when the front region fingers are 0.311 mm in length and 0.1mm in diameter, the slenderness is 3.1 and when the rear region fingers are 1.1 mm in length and 0.3 mm in diameter, the slenderness is 3.667 and the front slenderness is about 15% less than the rear slenderness. As another example, when the front region fingers are 0.9 mm in length and 0.2 mm in diameter, the slenderness is 4.5 and when the rear fingers are 1.5 mm in length and the diameter is 0.3 mm, the slenderness is 5 and the front slenderness is 10% the rear slenderness.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1, wherein the front slenderness is 5% to 10% less than the rear slenderness (various combinations of length and diameter values within the ranges provided by the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. result in the claimed range of slenderness differences between the front and rear regions).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1, wherein the front slenderness is in the range of 3.5 to 4.7 (various combinations of length and diameter values within the ranges provided by the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. result in the claimed range of slenderness differences between the front and rear regions, e.g. d=0.2mm and l=0.7-0.9 mm).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1, wherein the rear slenderness is in the range of 3.9 to 5.1 (various combinations of length and diameter values within the ranges provided by the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. result in the claimed range of slenderness differences between the front and rear regions, e.g. d=0.2mm and l=0.8-1 mm).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1. Although the combination does not explicitly state a maximum diameter in the base region of the fingers arranged in the front region of the cover is 5% to 15% less than a maximum diameter in the base region of the fingers arranged in the rear region of the cover, the combination discloses the general conditions of the claim as the fingers slightly increase in diameter from the front region to the rear region, and the disclosed length and diameter ranges of the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. provide various combination which result in the claimed range of 5 to 15% decrease in maximum diameter between the fingers of the rear region and the fingers of the front region.
Alternatively, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the interdental cleaner of the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. such that the maximum diameter in the base region of the fingers arranged in the front region be 5 to 15% less than a maximum diameter in the base region of the fingers arranged in the rear region of the cover, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1. Although the combination does not explicitly state the axial length of the fingers arranged in the front region of the cover is 5% to 15% less than the axial length of the fingers arranged in the rear region of the cover, the combination discloses the general conditions of the claim as the fingers slightly increase in length from the front region to the rear region, and the disclosed length and diameter ranges of the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. provide various combination which result in the claimed range of 5 to 15% decrease in length between the fingers of the rear region and the fingers of the front region.
Alternatively, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the interdental cleaner of the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. such that the length of the fingers arranged in the front region be 5 to 15% less than the length of the fingers arranged in the rear region of the cover, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1 above, Kikkawa further discloses the tip region has a length in the range of 1 mm to 1.5 m on the front end region thereof (Refer to annotated Figure above).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1 above, Kikkawa further discloses the front region, which is directly adjacent to the tip region, has a length in the range of 1.5 mm to 2.0 mm, and the rear region, which extends forward from the rear finger, has a length in the range of 1.5 mm to 2.0 mm (Refer to annotated Figure above).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1 above, wherein at least 50% of all fingers in the front region have a slenderness of 3.0. Refer to annotated Figure above, where various combinations of length and diameter values result in a slenderness of 3 and the fingers in the front region have minimal variation in dimensions. Alternatively, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the interdental cleaner of the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. to provide at least 50% of all fingers in the front region have a slenderness of 3.0, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1 above, wherein at least 80% of all fingers in the front region have a slenderness of 3.0. Refer to annotated Figure above, where various combinations of length and diameter values result in a slenderness of 3 and the fingers in the front region have minimal variation in dimensions. Alternatively, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the interdental cleaner of the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. to provide at least 80% of all fingers in the front region have a slenderness of 3.0, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1 above, wherein all fingers in the front region have a slenderness of 3.0. Refer to annotated Figure above, where various combinations of length and diameter values result in a slenderness of 3 and the fingers in the front region have minimal variation in dimensions. Alternatively, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the interdental cleaner of the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. such that all fingers in the front region have a slenderness of 3.0, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1 above, wherein at least 50% of all fingers in the rear region have a slenderness of 3.0. Refer to table above and annotated Figure above, where various combinations of length and diameter values result in a slenderness of 3 and the fingers in the rear region have minimal variation in dimensions. Alternatively, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the interdental cleaner of the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. to provide at least 50% of all fingers in the rear region have a slenderness of 3.0, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. disclose the interdental cleaner of claim 1 above, wherein at least 80% of all fingers in the rear region have a slenderness of 3.0. Refer to table above and annotated Figure above, where various combinations of length and diameter values result in a slenderness of 3 and the fingers in the rear region have minimal variation in dimensions. Alternatively, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the interdental cleaner of the combination of Kikkawa and Schar et al. to provide at least 80% of all fingers in the rear region have a slenderness of 3.0, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/1/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Argument: Kikkawa does not disclose the specific amount that the heights that the projections decrease. Kikkawa does not disclose the diameter of the base of the projections.
Response: Kikkawa does not need to specifically disclose the amount by which the projections decrease. Kikkawa depicts the heights/lengths decreasing from the rear region toward the front region and Kikkawa provides a range of length values. The rejection acknowledges that Kikkawa does not disclose the diameter of the base of the projections/fingers. Schar et al. is relied upon for the teaching of conventional diameter dimensions.
Argument: Schar et al. any slenderness that differs in a front section and a rear section as claimed.
Response: Kikkawa discloses the range of length dimensions being between 0.1 mm and 5 mm and the length and diameter decreasing from the rear region to the front region. Schar et al. disclose a similar interdental cleaner where the diameter at the base of the projections/fingers is 0.05 mm to 3 mm. These combinations of dimension result in slenderness values within the claimed ranges. As explained in the rejection above, when the front region fingers are 0.311 mm in length and 0.1mm in diameter, the slenderness is 3.1 and when the rear region fingers are 1.1 mm in length and 0.3 mm in diameter, the slenderness is 3.667 resulting in the front slenderness being about 15% less than the rear slenderness. Similarly, when the front region fingers are 0.9 mm in length and 0.2 mm in diameter, the slenderness is 4.5 and when the rear fingers are 1.5 mm in length and the diameter is 0.3 mm, the slenderness is 5 and the front slenderness is 10% the rear slenderness. Various combinations of length and diameter dimensions achieve the claimed slenderness values and percentage difference, while following the general conditions provided for in Kikkawa where the values of length and diameter are smaller in the front region than in the rear region.
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 TATIANA L NOBREGA whose telephone number is (571)270-7228. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-4pm.
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/TATIANA L NOBREGA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799