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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 5/18/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Freelander does not teach the cartridges being arranged transversely across the airflow path. This is not found persuasive because Freelander shows that the cartridges would aligned transversely across the airflow path (Fig. 2A, between 210 and 212) due to the orientation of the conveyor belt (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212) and that the cartridge is placed adjacent to the heater (Para. [0049]) which would mean it extends across at least a part of the airflow path.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 37-44 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 5/18/2026.
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.
Claims 23-32 and 34-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Freelander (US 2020/0170303 A1).
Regarding claim 23, Freelander teaches an aerosol generating device (Fig. 2A) for a consumable comprising a plurality of cartridges (Fig. 3A, Ref. Num. 322), each cartridge of the plurality of cartridges comprising an aerosol-forming substrate (Para. [0055]), wherein the plurality of cartridges are interconnected consecutively to form an elongate strip of cartridges (Fig. 3A, Ref. Num. 320). The aerosol generating device comprises an air inlet (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 214) and an aerosol outlet (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 208), being in communication to define an airflow pathway, an aerosolization zone (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 210) configured to aerosolize the aerosol forming substrate and is arranged in the airflow pathway, a holder (Fig. 3A, Ref. Num. 326) configured to receive and hold the elongate strip of cartridges (Fig. 3A, Ref. Num. 320), an indexing mechanism (Para. [0026], [0027]) configured to advance the elongate strip of cartridges a predetermined distance towards the aerosolization zone in a parallel direction so that each cartridge successively enter the zone, and the aerosol-generating device is configured to arrange a cartridge transversely across the airflow pathway when a cartridge is located in the aerosolization zone (Fig. 2A, Para. [0049]) as the cartridge is placed adjacent to the heater (Para. [0049]) which would mean it extends across at least a part of the airflow path.
Regarding claim 24, Freelander teaches a first elongate guide (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212, left side) to hold a first portion of the cartridges comprising unused cartridges.
Regarding claim 25, Freelander teaches that the first elongate guide (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212, left side) is arranged to direct unused cartridges to the aerosolization zone (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 210).
Regarding claim 26, Freelander teaches a second elongate guide (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212, right side) to hold a second portion of the cartridges comprising used cartridges.
Regarding claim 27, Freelander teaches that the second elongate guide (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212, right side) is arranged to direct used cartridges away from the aerosolization zone (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 210).
Regarding claim 28, Freelander teaches that the aerosolization zone (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 210) is disposed between the first (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212, left side) and second (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212, right side) elongate guides.
Regarding claim 29, Freelander teaches that the first (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212, left side) and second (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212, right side) elongate guides are arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction of the aerosol-generating device.
Regarding claim 30, Freelander teaches a slider (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212) configured to engage an indexing component on the consumable that is configured to be actuated by the user to advance a cartridge into the aerosolization zone (Para. [0051]).
Regarding claim 31, Freelander teaches that the slider is connected to a processor (Para. [0057]) which is also connected to the heating element.
Regarding claim 32, Freelander teaches that the airflow pathway (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 214) between the airflow outlet and aerosolization zone is flexible (Fig. 2B, 2C) and can be opened or closed based on a toggle.
Regarding claim 34, Freelander teaches that a first end (Fig. 2A, top half of 214) of the airflow pathway is connected to the aerosol outlet (Fig. 2A, top end of 214 in the mouthpiece 208) and the second end (Fig. 2A, bottom half of 214) is connected to the slider (Fig. 2A, Ref. Num. 212).
Regarding claim 35, Freelander teaches a spool (Fig. 3A, Ref. Num. 318A,B) configured to hold the elongate strip of cartridges.
Regarding claim 36, Freelander teaches that the airflow pathway passes through the holder (Fig. 3A, Ref. Num. 326) when it is adjacent to the heater (Para. [0049]).
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 33 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Freelander (US 2020/0170303 A1) as applied to claim 32 above, and further in view of Potter et al. (US 2022/0232891 A1).
Regarding claim 33, Freelander does not teach that the airflow pathway between the aerosol outlet and the aerosolization zone comprises a corrugated tube.
In an analogous art, Potter teaches a vaporization device where there are ridges formed (Fig. 3B, Ref. Num. 80) in airflow outlet tube. This would make at least a part of the airflow pathway between the aerosol outlet and the aerosolization zone corrugated.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Freelander with Potter to add ridges in an airflow outlet tube. This modification will move condensed liquid away from the opening (Potter; Para. [0079]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS J WEILER whose telephone number is (571)272-2664. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Katelyn Smith can be reached at (571) 270-5545. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/N.J.W./Examiner, Art Unit 1749
/KATELYN W SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1749
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