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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 14, lines 7-8, recites "in response to a sensed a sensed resistance"--the repeat of "a sensed" appears to be a typographical error.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 5, 12-15, 19, and 20 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 5 recites "the thermo-conductive polymeric element is configured to provide a constant temperature feedback loop." It is unclear as to how the element itself is configured to provide "a constant temperature feedback loop." The element disclosed in the instant specification is a passive resistor with variable temperature coefficient (e.g., PTC thermistor). A constant temperature feedback loop would appear to require additional elements such as a controller/power source. It is unclear as to what additional structure is required by the limitation of claim 5.
Claims 12, 13, 15, 19, and 20 each recite a "low threshold resistance value." The term “low” in claims 12, 13, 15, 19, and 20 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “low” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7-9, 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiu (CN 204317506, with English machine translation) in view of Han (EP 3838014).
Regarding claim 1, Qiu discloses an aerosol generating consumable (electronic cigarette 100, 200) comprising:
a liquid reservoir configured to hold an aerosol generating liquid and defining a liquid outlet aperture (see liquid cavity 12, 22; one end of guide element 131,232 extending into liquid cavity, [0042], thus an aperture is present); and
a heater assembly fixed to the liquid outlet aperture (see atomizing device 13,23), the heater assembly comprising:
a capillary body defining a porous outer surface, the capillary body configured to flow aerosol generating liquid from the liquid outlet aperture to the porous outer surface (see first and second guide elements which guide cigarette liquid via capillary action, [0042]);
an electrically resistive heating element fixed to two sides of the porous outer surface (see heating element 133,233); and
a thermo-conductive polymeric element fixed to two sides of the porous outer surface (see temperature sensitive element 134,234, which is composed of polymer based PTC material, [0043]).
As to the heating element and thermo-conductive polymeric elements being fixed to two sides of the porous outer surface, Qiu discloses the elements as wound around or sleeved on the guiding elements ([0042,0050]) and thus would be considered to be on multiple side surfaces of the guiding element. Examiner also notes that a "side" can refer to "a place, space, or direction with respect to a center or to a line of division" (see Merriam-Webster dictionary). Besides upper/lower/end surfaces, the heating element can be viewed as having left/right sides, upper/lower sides, and/or center/outer sides.
comprising a porous ceramic body. For example, the heating and thermos-conductive elements in Fig. 2 are fixed to the left and right sides of the porous ceramic body. In Fig. 6, the heating and thermo-conductive elements are on the top, bottom, and surfaces extending therebetween.
Qiu discloses liquid guiding elements that guide the cigarette liquid via capillary action ([0042,0050]). Qiu does not disclose the elements as formed of porous ceramic; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the guiding elements as porous ceramic since Han, similarly directed towards an aerosol generator, teaches that ceramic heaters have advantages of improved dimensional accuracy that is more easily processed that cotton or silica wicks and high thermal conductivity ([0020-0021]).
Regarding claim 2, Qiu discloses the ceramic heater is a PTC resistive element ([0012,0014,0043-0044]).
Regarding claim 4, the thermo-conductive element and heating element are electrically in series with each other (see Qiu, Fig. 2, 6).
Regarding claim 5, Qiu discloses the thermo-conductive polymeric element is part of a temperature control feedback system ([0044]).
Regarding claims 7, 8, and 16, the elements are wound or sleeved on the second guiding element ([0050], Fig. 6)--the elements are present on the top, bottom, and side surfaces of the guiding element.
Regarding claims 9, 17, and 18, heating element is wound (curvilinear) and the thermo-conductive polymeric element is linear in Fig. 2 embodiment (polymeric element is fixed to left and right sides of the guiding element or left, center, right sides).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiu (CN 204317506, with English machine translation) in view of Han (EP 3838014) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Qiu-2 (US 10757977).
Regarding claim 6, Qiu does not disclose the thermo-conductive element and electrically resistive element as electrically isolated from each other; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the elements as electrically isolated since Qiu-2, similarly directed towards an atomizing device, teaches providing temperature sensors 134 and heating members 133 on separate circuits instead of in a series (Fig. 5, 6; col 12, lines 53-col 16, line 7). One would have been motivated to independently measure the temperature without supplying power to the heating element.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7-9, 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 20170079332) in view of Qiu (CN 204317506, with English machine translation).
Regarding claims 1 and 2, Li discloses an aerosol generating consumable (atomizer 100) comprising:
a liquid reservoir configured to hold an aerosol generating liquid and defining a liquid outlet aperture (liquid chamber 17 with liquid inlet 132,164, [0019-0020]); and
a heater assembly fixed to the liquid outlet aperture (heating assembly 14, [0022]), the heater assembly comprising:
a capillary body comprising a porous ceramic body defining a porous outer surface, the capillary body configured to flow aerosol generating liquid from the liquid outlet aperture to the porous outer surface (see ceramic substrate 1421, [0023,0026]);
an electrically resistive heating element fixed to two sides of the porous outer surface (see heating element 1422); and
a thermo-conductive element fixed to two sides of the porous outer surface (see thermistor layer 1428).
As to the heating element and thermo-conductive polymeric elements being fixed to two sides of the porous outer surface, Li discloses the heating element and the temperature sensing element can be formed on both surfaces of the ceramic substate ([0023]). Examiner also notes that a "side" can refer to "a place, space, or direction with respect to a center or to a line of division" (see Merriam-Webster dictionary). Besides upper/lower/end surfaces, the heating element can be viewed as having left/right sides, upper/lower sides, and/or center/outer sides.
Li does not disclose temperature sensing element as formed of a thermo-conductive polymer; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the element as claimed since (1) Li discloses the temperature sensing element is a thermistor layer ([0023]) and (2) Qiu, similarly directed towards a aerosol generating device, teaches that temperature sensitive elements are formed from positive temperature coefficient material where the PTC material can be a ceramic-based PTC material or a polymer base PTC material ([0043]). One would have been motivated to select a material known to be suitable for forming a temperature sensing layer on an aerosol heating element.
Regarding claim 3, the thermo-conductive element and heating element are electrically parallel (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, the thermos-conductive element is part of a temperature control feedback loop (see [0028]).
Regarding claim 10, Li discloses an aerosol generating device (see Fig. 6), comprising a consumable receiving surface with device electrical contact (base of atomizer 100 attaches to power supply 200, [0027]; electrical contacts would inherently be present to supply power to the corresponding contacts of the atomizer 100, [0025]); a power supply (see 200); control electronics (see microcontroller, [0028]); and the aerosol generating consumable according to claim 1 (see atomizer 100 discussed above for claim 1).
Li discloses the microcontroller receives signals and provides a temperature feedback loop control by modulating power to the heating element ([0028-0029]).
Regarding claims 11 and 12, Li discloses detecting a change in the resistance of the thermistor layer as temperature increases and turning off or reducing power of the heating element in response to resistance values ([0028]). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the control electronics to sense a threshold resistance value and control the power to the heating element since Li discloses the power reduction is based on a temperature being "too high" ([0028]), the resistance of the thermistor layer is used to determine temperature ([0028]), and it is well-known and conventional to configure a controller with threshold values to trigger specific actions in a feedback control system (e.g., threshold value is set for when temperature is or is not "too high").
Regarding claims 13, 19, and 20, Li does not expressly disclose the body temperature as 275C, 265C, or 255C; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the temperature values as claimed since Examiner takes Official Notice that said temperatures represent well-known and conventional heating temperatures for aerosol devices and a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to select a temperature that corresponds with the type of e-liquid being heated.
Regarding claim 14, Li discloses providing the aerosol generating system, heating the aerosol generating liquid, sensing an electrical resistance, and modulating the power to the electrically resistive heating element in response to a sensed resistance value ([0027-0029]).
Regarding claims 15, Li does not expressly disclose the body temperature as 275C; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the temperature values as claimed since Examiner takes Official Notice that said temperatures represent well-known and conventional heating temperatures for aerosol devices and a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to select a temperature that corresponds with the type of e-liquid being heated.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT C DYE whose telephone number is (571)270-7059. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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/ROBERT C DYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
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