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 .
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-8 in the reply filed on 05/29/2026 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the claim 1, “housing, receiving portion, first power and second power” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 2-3 are 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 2, lines 4-5, “the supplied first power” has no antecedent basis.
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)(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.
Claims 1 and 7, 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a, 2) as being anticipated by Lochtman (U. S. 2023/0404155).
Regarding claim 1, Lochtman discloses an aerosol generating apparatus 100 comprising: a housing 102 comprising a receiving portion 104 into which an aerosol generating article 110 comprising a susceptor 302 is inserted; an induction coil 314, 312 arranged around the receiving portion 104; and a controller 202 configured to control power to be supplied to the induction coil 312, 314, wherein the controller 202 is further configured to detect insertion of the aerosol generating article 110 by controlling first power to be supplied to the induction coil 312, 314, and when the insertion of the aerosol generating article 110 is detected, control the susceptor 302 to be heated by a magnetic field formed by the induction coil 314, 312 by controlling second power, whose magnitude is different from a magnitude of the first power, to be supplied to the induction coil 312, 314.
Regarding claim 7, Lochtman discloses the susceptor 106 has a strip shape, and comprises at least one nickel, cobalt (see paragraph 0071).
Regarding claim 8, Lochtman discloses the induction coil 314, 312 is a solenoid wound along a first accommodation space, and comprises at least one of copper, (see paragraph 0071).
Claims 4-6 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.
None of the references discloses the first power is less than the second power, further comprising a puff sensor located in a path through which external air is introduced, the puff sensor being electrically connected to the controller, wherein the controller is further configured to detect a user's inhalation based on at least one of a temperature change, a flow rate change, and a pressure change in the path, the controller is further configured to control the first power to be supplied to the induction coil in response to a user input for changing the aerosol generating apparatus from an off state to an on state.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHUONG K DINH whose telephone number is (571)272-2090. The examiner can normally be reached M-F from 8:30 am - 5:30 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Riyami A Abdullah can be reached at 571-270-3119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PHUONG K DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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