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
Claims 27-28 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group II-III, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/10/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I, claims 15-26 in the reply filed on 6/10/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 15-21 and 24-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Cadieux (US 2018289071).
Regarding claim 15, Cadieux discloses an aerosol-generating device, comprising:
a main body comprising a primary coil (83, fig. 3) and a power supply (1, fig. 3); and
a mouthpiece comprising:
a secondary coil (84, fig. 3), a resistive heating element (82, fig. 3), and a heating chamber configured to receive a solid aerosol-forming substrate ([0028] [0036]), wherein the resistive heating element is arranged at least partly around the heating chamber, wherein the mouthpiece is detachably connectable to the main body (detached as seen on fig. 3), and wherein the aerosol-generating device is configured such that the primary coil and the secondary coil are inductively coupled when the mouthpiece is connected to the main body [0030].
Regarding claim 16. Cadieux discloses wherein there is no wired connection between the main body and the mouthpiece [0030].
Regarding claim 17, Cadieux discloses the primary coil and the secondary coil are arranged at a distal end of the heating chamber with respect to a longitudinal axis of the aerosol-generating device (see fig. 3).
Regarding claim 18, Cadieux discloses wherein the primary coil and the secondary coil are arranged coaxially around a longitudinal central axis of the aerosol-generating device when the mouthpiece is connected to the main body (see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 19, Cadieux discloses wherein the secondary coil is arranged at least partly around the primary coil when the mouthpiece is connected to the main body (see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 20, Cadieux discloses wherein the aerosol- generating device is further configured such that electric power transferred from the primary coil to the secondary coil via inductive coupling is used to heat the resistive heating element [0028].
Regarding claim 21, Cadieux discloses wherein the aerosol- generating device is further configured such that the electric power used to heat the resistive heating element is supplied from the secondary coil to the resistive heating element by a wired connection (81, fig. 1).
Regarding claim 24, Cadieux discloses the primary coil and the secondary coil are helical coils (see fig. 3).
Regarding claim 25, Cadieux discloses the primary coil and the secondary coil have the same number of turns (see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 26, Cadieux discloses wherein the aerosol- generating device is a heat-not-bum device (see fig. 1 [0060]).
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.
Claim(s) 22-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cadieux (US 2018289071) in view of Conley et al. (US 20130220315).
Regarding claim 22, Cadieux discloses the aerosol- generating device is configured to supply power from the secondary coil to the resistive heating element by a circuitry [0028] but does not expressly disclose an alternating current. Conley discloses a circuitry can include an AC/DC converter suitable to allow power delivered from the power source to properly operate heating element [0050]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include an AC/DC converter in the circuitry of Cadieux to allow better power delivery to a heating element as taught by Conley.
Regarding claim 23, as explained above for claim 22, the combination of Cadieux and Conley taken together as a whole discloses wherein the mouthpiece further comprises a AC/DC converter (corresponding to the claimed a rectifier) arranged in electric connection between the secondary coil and the resistive heating element and configured to supply direct current to the resistive heating element.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHU H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-5931. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael H Wilson can be reached at 5712703882. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PHU H NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1747
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