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.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2012 206759 (Yamada) (provided by applicant) in view of JP 2021 160792 (Soji) (provided by applicant).
Translations of Yamada and Soji were provided with this action. Page numbers below refer to this translation.
In Re claim 1 Yamada discloses a refillable aerosol system comprising a parent container (C1) and a child container (C) that are aerosol containers with an attached valve unit having a stem (S S1), the refillable aerosol system allowing the child container to be filled with liquid content from inside of the parent container (shown in Figure a), the parent container having an internal pressure that is at least higher than an internal pressure of the child container without the liquid content therein (inherently required by the filling), wherein the child container is filled with the liquid content ejected from the parent container through the parent stem via a child stem that is the stem of the child container (shown in Figure a, described on Page 2).
Yamada fails to disclose the parent container including a plurality of divided storage spaces, parent stems that are the stems corresponding to the storage spaces, and the valve unit with a seal member provided for each of the parent stems to open and close the parent stems, at least one of the plurality of storage spaces being a liquid content storage part that stores the liquid content, at least one of the other of the plurality of storage spaces being a propellant storage part that stores a propellant, the parent stems including a first parent stem corresponding to the liquid content storage part and a second parent stem corresponding to the propellant storage part, the liquid content storage part being configured to be pressed by a pressure of the propellant in the propellant storage part.
Soji discloses an aerosol container wherein the container includes a plurality of divided storage spaces (bags 12 and 22), parent stems that are the stems corresponding to the storage spaces (41 and 42), and the valve unit with a seal member provided for each of the parent stems to open and close the parent stems (130), at least one of the plurality of storage spaces being a liquid content storage part that stores the liquid content, at least one of the other of the plurality of storage spaces being a propellant storage part that stores a propellant (described on Page 2), the parent stems including a first parent stem corresponding to the liquid content storage part (41) and a second parent stem corresponding to the propellant storage part (42), the liquid content storage part being configured to be pressed by a pressure of the propellant in the propellant storage part (Page 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the Yamada apparatus by filling the child container using the container from Soji, since the substitution of one known element for another known element to achieve predictable results requires only ordinary skill in the art.
In Re claim 2 Soji further discloses a press stop cover (element 144 in Figure 4C) which surrounds the second parent stem (42).
In Re claim 3 Soji discloses a second parent stem which is shorter than a first stem (shown in Figure 4D).
In Re claim 4 Yamada in view of Soji discloses many limitations, but doesn’t disclose constructing the second parent stem to be removably attached. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to manufacture the second stem to be removably attached, since it has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art. Nerwin v. Erlicnrnan, 168 USPQ 177, 179.
In Re claim 5 Yamada discloses the parent stem and the child stem connected by an assist adapter (portion of child container containing element 15).
In Re claim 6 Yamada further discloses a child actuator which fits to the child stem (10).
In Re claim 7 Yamada in view of Soji discloses many limitations, but doesn’t disclose a child container having an internal pressure of 0.1 MPa or more in a state not filled with the liquid content. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to manufacture the child container to have an internal pressure of 0.1 MPa or more in a state not filled with the liquid content, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
In Re claim 8 Yamada discloses a child can formed as a double-structure having an inner bag filled with liquid and an area around the bag filled with propellant (Pages 6 and 7).
In Re claim 9 Yamada discloses a propellant comprising a compressed gas (Pages 6 and 7).
In Re claim 10 Yamada discloses a propellant comprising a liquid phase (Page 7).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Patent 6,332,563 discloses an aerosol can having a double-structure with an inner bag and a surrounding propellant area.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON KAROL NIESZ whose telephone number is (571)270-3920. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 EST.
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/JASON K NIESZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753