DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-7 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rome (US 2013/0312739).
Regarding claim 1, Rome [Fig. 1] teaches an aerosol delivering system for an aerosol generating device and/or a cartridge, the aerosol delivering system comprising a main reservoir 10 storing a liquid vaporisable material [0009], a vaporising unit 30/50 configured to vaporise the vaporisable material [0015-0019] and a priming bulb 20 arranged between the main reservoir and the vaporising unit, the priming bulb comprising a bulb inlet connected to the main reservoir and a bulb outlet connected to the vaporising unit, and being configured, upon its actuating, to expel a predetermined quantity of the liquid vaporizable material from the bulb outlet and suck an equal quantity of the liquid vaporizable material from the bulb inlet [0010-0014].
Regarding claims 2-3, Rome teaches a secondary reservoir 30 arranged between the vaporising unit 50 and the priming bulb 20, the secondary reservoir being connected to the bulb outlet, the secondary reservoir defines an internal volume configured to receive the predetermined quantity of vaporisable material [0013, Fig. 1].
Regarding claims 4-5, Rome teaches the predetermined quantity of vaporisable material corresponds to a dose of the vaporisable material for a single vaping session and the priming bulb is configured to be actuated by a user before starting a vaping session [0012-0014].
Regarding claim 6, Rome teaches the priming bulb 20 comprises a housing defining an internal volume of the priming bulb [Fig. 1].
Regarding claim 7, Rome teaches the priming bulb further comprises an inlet valve 60 allowing a flow passage from the bulb inlet to the internal volume of the priming bulb and an outlet valve 80 allowing a flow passage from the internal volume of the priming bulb to the bulb outlet [0010-0017].
Regarding claim 12, as shown in Fig. 1 of Rome, the bulb inlet and the bulb outlet, in which valves 60 and 80 are located, are formed by two concentric conduits.
Regarding claims 13-14, Rome teaches the aerosol delivering system is housed in a casing [0008], which is interpreted as an aerosol generating device or cartridge configured to operate with an aerosol generating device
Claims 1-7 and 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Patoret (US 2018/0154092).
Regarding claim 1, Patoret [Fig. 1] teaches an aerosol delivering system for an aerosol generating device and/or a cartridge, the aerosol delivering system comprising a main reservoir 6 storing a liquid vaporisable material, a vaporising unit 13 configured to vaporise the vaporisable material and a priming bulb 16 arranged between the main reservoir and the vaporising unit, the priming bulb comprising a bulb inlet 18 connected to the main reservoir and a bulb outlet 8 connected to the vaporising unit, and being configured, upon its actuating, to expel a predetermined quantity of the liquid vaporizable material from the bulb outlet and suck an equal quantity of the liquid vaporizable material from the bulb inlet [0049-0052].
Regarding claims 2-3, Patoret teaches a secondary reservoir 2 arranged between the vaporising unit and the priming bulb, the secondary reservoir being connected to the bulb outlet 8, the secondary reservoir defines an internal volume configured to receive the predetermined quantity of vaporisable material [0049-0051; Fig. 1].
Regarding claims 4-5, Patoret teaches the predetermined quantity of vaporisable material corresponds to a dose of the vaporisable material for a single vaping session and the priming bulb is configured to be actuated by a user before starting a vaping session [0049-0052].
Regarding claim 6, Patoret teaches the priming bulb 16 comprises a housing defining an internal volume of the priming bulb [Fig. 1].
Regarding claim 7, Patoret teaches the priming bulb further comprises an inlet valve allowing a flow passage from the bulb inlet to the internal volume of the priming bulb and an outlet valve allowing a flow passage from the internal volume of the priming bulb to the bulb outlet [0049-0051].
Regarding claims 10-11, Patoret teaches the housing of the priming bulb is made at least partially from an elastic material and actuating the priming bulb corresponds to a compression of the housing of the priming bulb [0049-0051].
Regarding claim 12, as shown in Fig. 1 of Patoret, the bulb inlet 18 and the bulb outlet 8 are formed by two concentric conduits.
Regarding claims 13-14, Patoret teaches a cartridge configured to operate with an aerosol generating device, the cartridge comprising the aerosol delivering system according to claim 1, or aerosol generating device comprising an aerosol delivering system according to claim 1 [0027-0028].
Claims 1-7 and 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schuler (US 2005/0051162).
Regarding claim 1, Schuler [Fig. 3A-3B] teaches an aerosol delivering system for an aerosol generating device and/or a cartridge, the aerosol delivering system comprising a main reservoir 105 storing a liquid vaporisable material [0026], a vaporising unit 145 configured to vaporise the vaporisable material [0028] and a priming bulb 165 arranged between the main reservoir and the vaporising unit, the priming bulb comprising a bulb inlet connected to the main reservoir and a bulb outlet connected to the vaporising unit, and being configured, upon its actuating, to expel a predetermined quantity of the liquid vaporizable material from the bulb outlet and suck an equal quantity of the liquid vaporizable material from the bulb inlet [0032].
Regarding claims 4-5, Schuler teaches the predetermined quantity of vaporisable material corresponds to a dose of the vaporisable material for a single vaping session and the priming bulb is configured to be actuated by a user before starting a vaping session [0032].
Regarding claim 6, Schuler teaches the priming bulb 165 comprises a housing 180 defining an internal volume of the priming bulb [Fig. 3A-3B].
Regarding claim 7, Schuler teaches the priming bulb further comprises an inlet valve 140 allowing a flow passage from the bulb inlet to the internal volume of the priming bulb and an outlet valve 135 allowing a flow passage from the internal volume of the priming bulb to the bulb outlet [0027].
Regarding claims 10-11, Schuler teaches the housing of the priming bulb is made at least partially from an elastic material and actuating the priming bulb corresponds to a compression of the housing of the priming bulb [0032].
Regarding claim 12, as shown in Fig. 3A-3B of Schuler, the bulb inlet and the bulb outlet, in which valves 140 and 135 are located, are formed by two concentric conduits.
Regarding claims 13-14, Schuler teaches a cartridge configured to operate with an aerosol generating device, the cartridge comprising the aerosol delivering system according to claim 1, or aerosol generating device comprising an aerosol delivering system according to claim 1 [0025-0026].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9 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: There is no teaching or reasonable suggestion in the prior art to modify any of the aerosol delivering system applied above with respect to claim 7 such that the inlet valve and the outlet valve are formed as one single piece.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC YAARY whose telephone number is (571)272-3273. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/ERIC YAARY/Examiner, Art Unit 1755
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