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
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xie (US 2003/0180676 A1) in view of Carson et. al (US 2015/0253179 A1).
With respect to claim 1 Xie discloses a flame producing assembly comprising: a sealed body1 [reference character 10] comprising a proximal and distal end aligned on a longitudinal axis [see annotated Fig. below], wherein the sealed body comprises a void [reference character 11] and a visible portion [see exterior of 10]; a fuel supply [reference character 31] comprising liquid fuel accommodated in the void within the sealed body [see Fig. 1]. Xie further discloses a fuel release assembly [reference characters 331, 332, 32, 321, 341, 343, and 34].
Xie does not disclose a fuel indicator configured to indicate a remaining amount of liquid fuel contained in the sealed body to a user of the flame producing assembly, wherein at least a portion of the fuel indicator is capable of changing appearance of the visible portion of the sealed body when in proximity to a magnetic field; and a level tracking member comprising at least one magnet supported by a buoyant member; wherein the at least one magnet is configured to apply a magnetic field to the fuel indicator, thereby causing the fuel indicator to indicate an amount of liquid fuel remaining in the sealed body to the user.
Carson discloses a liquid level indicator [reference character 100] accommodated within a sealed body [reference characters 134 and 144] configured to indicate a remaining amount of liquid contained in a sealed body to a user, wherein at least a portion [reference characters 150 and 200] of the fuel indicator is capable of changing appearance of the visible portion of the sealed body when in proximity to a magnetic field [see Abstract]; and a level tracking member [reference characters 136, 138, and 140] comprising at least one magnet [reference character 140] supported by a buoyant member [reference character 136]; wherein the at least one magnet is configured to apply a magnetic field to the indicator, thereby causing the indicator to indicate an amount of liquid fuel remaining in the sealed body to the user [see Abstract].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the lighter taught by Xie by including a liquid level indicator taught by Carson in order to allow the user to determine the level of fuel in the fuel cartridge [see Abstract of Carson].
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With respect to claim 2 the combination of Xie and Carson discloses that the buoyant member is configured to translate the at least one magnet from a first position to a second position relative to the longitudinal axis as the amount of the liquid fuel in the sealed body decreases [see Abstract of Carson].
With respect to claim 3 the combination of Xie and Carson disclose that wherein the fuel indicator is distributed along at least a portion of an outer surface of the sealed body flame producing assembly [see Fig. 1 of Carson].
With respect to claim 4 the combination of Xie and Carson disclose that the buoyant member is a buoyant capsule [see Fig. 2 of Carson].
With respect to claim 6 the combination of Xie and Carson disclose that an interior of the sealed body comprises at least one confinement member [reference character 134] to confine a path of the level tracking member within the sealed body.
With respect to claim 11 the combination of Xie and Carson disclose that wherein the fuel indicator is configured to display feedback to the user of the approximate amount of fuel remaining in the sealed body via one or more indicator labels [reference character 170 of Carson].
With respect to claim 12 the combination of Xie and Carson disclose that wherein the fuel indicator indicates the current amount or level of fuel remaining relative to the proximal and distal ends of the sealed body to a user [see Fig. 1 of Carson].
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xie (US 2003/0180676 A1) in view of Carson et. al (US 2015/0253179 A1).
With respect to claim 14 the combination of Xie and Carson do not disclose that wherein the liquid fuel is methane, acetylene, propane, propylene, hydrogen, or isobutane, or combinations thereof. Note that Xie does disclose butane [paragraph 0006]. However, in the same field of lighters it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the invention to modify Xie and Carson by fueling the lighter with methane, acetylene, propane, propylene, hydrogen, or isobutane, or combinations thereof, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known component or material on the basis of suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious mechanical design expediency. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. Also see MPEP 2144.07. Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp. states "Reading a list and selecting a known compound to meet known requirements is no more ingenious than selecting the last piece to put in the last opening in a jig-saw puzzle." 325 U.S. at 335, 65 USPQ at 301.). Since Xie discloses butane, the designation of a specific liquid lighter fuel does nothing to enhance the patentability of a design.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xie (US 2003/0180676 A1) in view of Carson et. al (US 2015/0253179 A1).
With respect to claim 15 Xie discloses a method for using a flame producing assembly, comprising: aligning a flame producing assembly comprising a sealed body2 [reference character 10] having a proximal and a distal end aligned on a longitudinal axis such that the longitudinal axis of the sealed body is substantially vertical [see annotated Fig. above associated with claim 1]. Finally, Xie discloses that the sealed body contains a liquid fuel supply [reference character 31].
Xie does not disclose that a fuel indicator of the flame producing assembly is configured to indicate a remaining amount of liquid fuel contained in the sealed body to a user of the flame producing assembly, wherein at least a portion of the fuel indicator is capable of changing appearance when in proximity to a magnetic field, wherein the sealed body contains a liquid fuel supply; and monitoring a level tracking member of the flame producing assembly comprising at least one magnet supported by a buoyant member and configured to apply a magnetic field to the fuel indicator, thereby causing the fuel indicator to indicate an amount of liquid fuel remaining in the sealed body to a user, thus causing the fuel indicator to change appearance such that the remaining level of liquid fuel is reported to the user.
Carson discloses a liquid indicator [reference character 100] configured to indicate a remaining amount of liquid contained in sealed body [reference characters 134 and 144] to a user, wherein at least a portion [reference characters 150 and 200] of the fuel indicator is capable of changing appearance when in proximity to a magnetic field [see Abstract of Carson]; and monitoring a level tracking member [reference characters 136, 138, and 140] of the flame producing assembly comprising at least one magnet [reference character 140] supported by a buoyant member [reference character 136] and configured to apply a magnetic field to the indicator, thereby causing the indicator to indicate an amount of liquid remaining in the sealed body to a user, thus causing the indicator to change appearance such that the remaining level of liquid fuel is reported to the user [see Abstract and Fig. 2].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date of the invention to modify the method taught by Xie by including a liquid level indicator taught by Carson in order to allow the user to determine the level of fuel in the fuel cartridge [see Abstract of Carson].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5, 7-10, and 13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VIVEK K SHIRSAT whose telephone number is (571)272-3722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:20AM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven B McAllister can be reached at 571-272-6785. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VIVEK K SHIRSAT/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
1 The casing is sealed at 343 and at valve 32 (see paragraph 0037). “Sealed” is interpreted as requiring that the body includes a seal.
2 See footnote 1.