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 § 102
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 11 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by GB 2533602A cited by applicant. Regarding claim 1, GB 2533602A discloses hair styling appliance (1) comprising a pair of electrodes (6a, 6b); and a drive unit (23, 24)for applying an alternating voltage to the electrodes to heat dielectrically hair located between the electrodes (claim 1), wherein the drive unit comprises a voltage source inverter for generating the alternating voltage (page 18, lines 10-15). Regarding claim 3, GB 2533602A discloses the alternating voltage has a frequency of at least 10 MHz (page 13, last paragraph). Regarding claim 11, GB 2533602A discloses the appliance comprises a pair of arms having an open position and a closed position, the arms gripping the hair when in the closed position (Figure 1). Regarding claim 16, GB 2533602A discloses the electrodes are coated with or housed within a thermally insulating material (page 14, lines 21-22).
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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GB 2533602A, in view of GB 2569647A both cited by applicant. Regarding claim 2, GB 2533602A discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention except the alternating voltage has a constant frequency. GB 2569647A discloses an alternating voltage has a constant frequency (page 40, lines 13-14). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to utilize in GB 2533602A the alternating voltage has a constant frequency as taught by GB 2569647A in order to reduce dielectric loss during heat treating.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GB 2533602A, in view of Piel et al (US 2020/0085084) both cited by applicant. Regarding claim 4, GB 2533602A discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention except the inverter comprises one or more resonant networks. Piel discloses one or more resonant networks (par. 0100-par. 0104). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to utilize in GB 2533602A one or more resonant networks as taught by Piel in order to provide the maximum energy transfer into heating object.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GB 2533602A, in view of Yahnker et al (US 2011/0108051) both cited by applicant. Regarding claim 5, GB 2533602A discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention except a single pair of switches that are switched to generate the alternating voltage. Yahnker discloses a single pair of switches that are switched to generate the alternating voltage (par. 0060). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to utilize in GB 2533602A a single pair of switches that are switched to generate the alternating voltage as taught by Yahnker in order to generate an AC output drive signal based on the high DC voltage input.
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GB 2533602A, in view of Edwards (US 4,647,025) both cited by applicant. Regarding claims 6-7, GB 2533602A discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention except the drive unit comprises a first voltage source inverter for generating a first alternating voltage and a second voltage source inverter for generating a second alternating voltage, and the drive unit applies the first alternating voltage to a first of the pair of electrodes and the second alternating voltage to a second of the pair of electrodes. Edwards discloses a drive unit comprises a first voltage source inverter for generating a first alternating voltage and a second voltage source inverter for generating a second alternating voltage, and the drive unit applies the first alternating voltage to a first of the pair of electrodes and the second alternating voltage to a second of the pair of electrodes (Figure 1). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to utilize in GB 2533602A a drive unit comprises a first voltage source inverter for generating a first alternating voltage and a second voltage source inverter for generating a second alternating voltage, and the drive unit applies the first alternating voltage to a first of the pair of electrodes and the second alternating voltage to a second of the pair of electrodes as taught by Edwards in order to provide heat to different loads with different pair electrodes.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GB 2533602A, in view of Choi (US 2010/0101599) both cited by applicant. Regarding claim 15, GB 2533602A discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention except at least one of the arms comprises a gripping portion for gripping the hair, the gripping portion being formed of a resiliently deformable material. Choi discloses at least one of the arms comprises a gripping portion for gripping the hair, the gripping portion being formed of a resiliently deformable material (par. 0021 and par. 0032). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to utilize in GB 2533602A at least one of the arms comprises a gripping portion for gripping the hair, the gripping portion being formed of a resiliently deformable material as taught by Choi in order to hold hair smoothly and hair damage can be prevented.
Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GB 2533602A cited by applicant. GB 2533602A discloses substantially all features of the claimed invention except the electrodes have a spacing no greater than 10 mm when the arms are in the closed position and the electrodes have a spacing no less than 1 mm when the arms are in the closed position. It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to have the electrodes have a spacing no greater than 10 mm when the arms are in the closed position and the electrodes have a spacing no less than 1 mm when the arms are in the closed position in order to suit user specific application.
Claims 8-10 and 14 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Aldhaher (US 2024/0225228) discloses hair styling appliance. Wandke et al (US 9,038,645) discloses method for treating human or animal hair and apparatus for carrying out the method.
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/QUANG T VAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761 August 17, 2026
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