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 .
Status of Claims
The present Office action is responsive to the application as filed on 04-16-2024. As directed, claims 1-8 are currently pending examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-2 and 4 are objected to because of the following informalities:
At claim 1, line 9, it is suggested that “causes” be replaced with “is configured to cause” to avoid recitation of positive method steps in an apparatus claim.
At claim 2, line 4, it is suggested that “causes” be replaced with “is configured to cause” to avoid recitation of positive method steps in an apparatus claim.
At claim 2, lines 4-5, it is suggested that “which in turn causes” be replaced with “which in turn is configured to cause” to avoid recitation of positive method steps in an apparatus claim.
At claim 4, line 2, it is suggested that “an outer circumferential surface of the drive shaft” be replaced with “the outer circumferential surface of the drive shaft”, as the limitation is introduced in claim 2, lines 2-3.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-2 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Luo (US 2023/0277408).
Regarding claim 1, Luo discloses a massage device (“massager”) having an end opening (see open end in the device created by accommodating hole 13) (paragraph 52, lines 1-8; Fig. 1), comprising:
a housing (1) (paragraph 52, lines 1-4; Fig. 1);
a massage chamber sleeve (6) disposed in the housing (1), the massage chamber sleeve (6) defining a longitudinal axis and having an open end in air communication with the end opening (see open end in the device created by accommodating hole 13 in Fig. 1) of the massage device (“massager”) (paragraph 60, lines 1-12; Fig. 2, note that sleeve 6 is shown within one of the shells of housing 1; Fig. 15, note that the longitudinal axis runs left/right through the device as shown in this view) and;
a massage chamber plug (2+3) slidably fitted within the massage chamber sleeve (6) (paragraph 52, lines 1-14; paragraph 62, lines 12-17, see “telescopic”; paragraph 67, lines 1-3; Figs. 7, 10, and 15); and
a driving component (10) including a drive shaft (cylindrical body of 10, as seen in Fig. 10) at least partially disposed in the massage chamber sleeve (6), the drive shaft (cylindrical body of 10, as seen in Fig. 10) being rotatable about the longitudinal axis, wherein the rotation of the drive shaft (cylindrical body of 10, as seen in Fig. 10) about the longitudinal axis causes the massage chamber plug (2+3) to move axially along the longitudinal axis relative to the massage chamber sleeve (6) (paragraph 60, lines 1-12; paragraph 61, lines 1-19; paragraph 62, lines 5-17; paragraph 63, lines 7-21; Figs. 10-11).
Regarding claim 2, Luo discloses the massage device according to claim 1, as discussed above.
Luo further discloses a sliding block (15) fixedly connected with the massage chamber plug (2+3), wherein the drive shaft (cylindrical body of 10, as seen in Fig. 10) is coupled on its outer circumferential surface with the sliding block (15), and wherein the rotation of the drive shaft (cylindrical body of 10, as seen in Fig. 10) about the longitudinal axis causes the sliding block (15) to move axially along the longitudinal axis which in turn causes the massage chamber plug (2+3) to move axially along the longitudinal axis (paragraph 60, lines 1-12; paragraph 61, lines 1-19; paragraph 62, lines 5-17; paragraph 63, lines 7-21; Figs. 10-11; note that sleeves 2+3 are fixedly connected with inner sleeve 10 and positioning member 15 is also stated to be fixedly arranged on inner sleeve 10, and thus member 15 is indirectly fixedly attached to sleeves 2+3 by virtue of the connection between sleeve 10 and sleeves 2+3, also note that 15 rides along groove 101 which is circumferentially disposed on sleeve 10, and includes different heights as seen in Fig. 12 such that 15 moves axially along the longitudinal axis via groove 101).
Regarding claim 8, Luo discloses the massage device according to claim 1, as discussed above.
Lu further discloses a battery (8), and a switch assembly (7 in communication with circuit board 9) electrically connected with both the battery (8) and the driving component (10) (paragraph 56, lines 1-8; paragraph 53, lines 1-23, and note each of paragraphs 60-62, where first turbine 42 which is electrically connected with drive motor 17, is responsible for movement of the sleeve 10, and thus 10 is indirectly electrically coupled to the switch via drive motor 17 and turbine 42; Fig. 2).
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 non-obviousness.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo (US 2023/0277408), as applied to claim 1 above, in view of Liu (US 11,833,100).
Regarding claim 7, Luo discloses the massage device according to claim 1, as discussed above.
Luo fails to disclose a soft tube wrapping on an outer side of the massage chamber sleeve.
However, Liu teaches a massage device (100) with an open end (104) (see Figs. 1-3), wherein the housing (106) is formed of a soft tube wrapping in order to provide a soft and flexible housing, as well as ensure the device is recyclable (Col. 5, lines 34-41).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the housing of Luo to be made from a soft tube wrapping, as taught by Liu, in order to provide a soft and flexible housing, as well as ensure the device is recyclable. Based on this modification, since the housing (1) of Luo is contained at an outer side of the massage chamber sleeve (6) (see Luo at Fig. 1) and is tubular at least around the portion defining the accommodating hole (113), the soft tube wrapping as modified (i.e. the housing material surrounding accommodating hole 13 and sleeve 6) is located on an outer side of the massage chamber sleeve.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Luo, relied on for the present rejections of record, explicitly discloses that each of the sleeves (2+3) relied upon for the chamber plug include “through-hole structures” which are shown to be open on each extreme end of their bodies (paragraph 52, lines 12-14 and Figs. 5, 7-8, and 10-11). As such, neither of these structures can be reasonably relied on for the “massage chamber plug includes a closed end” portion of claim 3. Still further, each of the plug portions relied on (2+3) are disposed inside of the drive shaft (see 10) (see Fig. 15), and thus Luo cannot be reasonably relied on for “the drive shaft is circumferentially disposed inside of the side tube wall of the massage chamber plug” limitation required in claim 3.
The prior art is replete with additional examples of massagers with open ends for providing suction massage, as can be seen in each of Liu (US 12,042,459), He (US 2024/0216216), Leng (US 2023/0390144), Zhou (US 2023/0320924), Chen (US 2023/0048210), Yu (US 2023/0022993), Witt (US 2022/0175612), and Cai (US 2022/0160577). In these examples, however, suction is generally created by a piston/plunger-based reciprocation that converts rotary motion from a motor into a linear movement to create oscillating positive and negative pressure conditions at the end opening. Thus, these configurations do not cover the series of limitations specifically as outlined in claims 1-2, wherein the drive shaft is rotatable about the longitudinal axis to cause axial movement of the plug, and further including a sliding block. This is because, in each instance in these documents, the motor and its shaft are generally provided orthogonally to the recited longitudinal axis, and no additional rotating members are provided along such an axis.
Leng (US 11,835,114) is pertinent to the claims and the disclosure for its use of a sliding block (31) and looped groove (21) as shown in Figure 2. Notably, Leng’s device is not shown ot include an open end as required by claim 1.
Zhong (US 2023/0210712) is also cited for its use of a sliding block (42) and looped groove (4121) and its inclusion of an open end (see Figs. 2 and 5-6). Notably though, the massage head (2) effectively plugs the end of the device, and while the head includes an opening, there is not an analogous massage chamber sleeve that is also open to the air as required by claim 1. Even if this were a non-issue, what would be the analogous drive shaft (5) is not a rotating structure.
He (WO 2023/077577) is pertinent art due to its rotating shaft (5), sliding block (6) as shown in Figures 1 and 2, as well as its open end in Figure 1. However, the drive shaft (5) is not disposed within any analogous chamber sleeve as is best seen in Figure 5. For similar reasons and deficiencies as He, Xi (CN 114886751), Wang (CN 110664603), and Leng (CN 109223496) are also cited.
Conclusion
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/PAIGE KATHLEEN BUGG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3785
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