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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on applications filed in South Korea on 5/31/2023 and 8/22/2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed certified copes of the KR10-2023-0069694 and KR10-2023-0109520 applications as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 1, 5-7, 9, 10, and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (KR 2021-0155238 A, with English Machine Translation Provided).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches an aerosol generating device (Fig. 1, Ref. Num. 5) comprising a chamber configured to contain an aerosol generating material (Fig. 10, Ref. Num. 10) and a heater configured to heat the aerosol generating material (Fig. 10, Ref. Num. 10). The heater comprises a substrate (Fig. 10, Ref. Num. 30) comprising a first end portion (top end), a second end portion (bottom end) opposite to the first end portion, a side portion extending between the first end portion and the second end portion (left and right sides), an outer surface at least partially facing the chamber (surface facing the chamber 10), and an inner surface opposite to the outer surface (surface facing airway 12). Finally, Lee teaches a plurality of metal particles disposed on the inner surface (Para. [0043]) and configured to generate heat by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) (Para. [0043]) and a wick configured to transmit the aerosol generating material from the chamber to the heater (Fig. 2, Ref. Num. 17; Para. [0120]).
Regarding claim 5, Lee teaches that the first end portion is a closed surface (Fig. 10, Ref. Num. 30).
Regarding claim 6, Lee teaches that the heater can have a hole on the second end (Para. [0079]).
Regarding claim 7, Lee teaches that the heater can be detached from the chamber (Para. [0077]).
Regarding claim 9, Lee teaches that the absorbent can be placed on the heating element (Para. [0113]).
Regarding claim 10, Lee teaches a reflective layer disposed on the outer surface (Para. [0053]).
Regarding claim 12, Lee teaches the heater (Fig. 5, Ref. Num. 30) extending beyond an end point of the chamber.
Regarding claim 13, Lee teaches that the absorbent (wick) can be placed on the outer surface of the heating element (Para. [0113]).
Regarding claim 14, Lee teaches a cartridge (Fig. 1, Ref. Num. 7) comprising the chamber.
Regarding claim 15, Lee teaches the aerosol generating material comprises a liquid (Para. [0030]).
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.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (KR 2021-0155238 A).
Regarding claim 2, Lee teaches, in a different embodiment, the chamber being divided into a first and second reservoir (Fig. 6a), so it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the embodiment of figure 10 of Lee to split the chamber into a first and second reservoir as it allows you to put heating elements inside the tank to make direct contact with the aerosol generating material to improve generation rate (Para. [0077]).
Regarding claim 3, Lee teaches a first airflow channel (Fig. 10, Ref. Num. 12) between the first and second reservoir.
Regarding claim 4, Lee teaches a second airflow channel (Fig. 10, Ref. Num. 12p) between the reservoirs and opposite the substrate.
Claims 8 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (KR 2021-0152238 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Batista et al. (US 2020/0375253 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Lee does not teach an optical fiber connected to the second end portion.
In an analogous art, Batista teaches an aerosol generating device where there is an optical fiber connected to an end of the heating element (Para. [0049]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Lee with Batista to attach an optical fiber to the second end of the heating element. This modification will help focus light from a light source onto the heating element (Batista; Para. [0049]).
Regarding claim 11, Lee does not teach a heat transfer plate between the substrate and the wick.
In an analogous art, Batista teaches an aerosol generating device teaches a thermally conductive layer between the heating element (substrate) and wick (Para. [0163]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Lee with Batista to add a thermally conductive layer between the substrate and the wick. This modification will facilitate the heat transfer from the substrate to the aerosol generating article (Batista; Para. [0163]).
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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