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 the Claims
Claims 1-12, 14, 16-22 are pending and are subject to this office action. Claim 22 is withdrawn as being directed to a non-elected invention. This is the first Office Action on the merits of the claims.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-12, 14, 16-21 in the reply filed on 07/24/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claim 22 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/24/2026.
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 12, 18-19 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.
The term “rigid” in claim 12 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “rigid” 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. For the purposes of examination, rigid in claim 12 will be interpreted as capillary element that resists bending.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the first support” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because it is the first mention of a first support. The drawings do not appear to show a first support. The specification appears to disclose a second channel portion (R32) formed between the support (70d) and first liquid guide element (50d, Fig. 36, [0266], refer to published application, US 20240381933 A1). For the purposes of examination, claim 18 will be interpreted as a second channel portion formed between the support and the first liquid guide element.
Claim 19 is also rejected by virtue of its dependence on claim 18.
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 1-11, 14, 16-18, 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (CN 104366694 B, hereinafter referring to the English translation previously provided with the restriction dated 07/21/2026) in view of Lei (US 20220218038 A1, as cited on IDS dated 04/02/2026).
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Regarding claim 1, Chen discloses an atomization assembly (10, Fig. 12, [0072]), comprising:
A sleeve (300, “an outer housing”), an atomizer (100) arranged within the sleeve (300, Fig. 13, [0073]), the atomizer (100) comprising:
A liquid storage chamber (125) for storing liquid substrate ([0051]),
A heating wire (172) for atomizing the liquid substrate stored in a liquid guiding rope (150, “capillary element”, Fig. 8, [0053-0054, 0065]),
The liquid guiding rope (150, “capillary element”) comprising a first portion (central portion) coupled to the heating wire (172) and a second portion (end portions) extending from the first portion toward the liquid storage chamber (125, Fig. 3, Fig. 8, [0054]),
The second portion (end portions) absorbs liquid from the liquid storage chamber (125) and delivers liquid to the first potion (central portion) where the heating wire (172) is disposed (Fig. 3, Fig. 8, [0054]),
An atomization seat (160, “support”) comprising a groove and bottom wall (1621, 164, “a recess”) for holding the liquid guiding rope (150, Fig. 3, Fig. 6, [0059, 0061]), the groove (1621, 164, “recess”) is positioned adjacent to the outer surface of the second portion (Fig. 3).
Chen does not explicitly a first trench formed on a surface of the recess, the first trench extending parallel to the second portion and adjacent to an outer surface of the second portion.
However, Lei, directed to an atomizer (Fig. 4, [0048]), discloses:
An atomizer base (20) comprising guide grooves (233, “a first trench”) disposed on the inner sidewall of the base (20), the guide grooves (233) have a capillary function and direct liquid into the liquid absorbing grooves (231) on the floor of the base (20) in order to prevent leakage (Fig. 4, Fig. 8 [0048, 0053-0055]).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would be obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chen by providing guide grooves on the inner surface of the atomization seat/support and liquid absorbing grooves of the bottom surface of the atomization seat/ support as taught by Lei because both Chen and Lei are directed to atomizers, Lei teaches the groove structure prevents leakage, and this involves applying a grooved surface to a similar atomization set to a similar device to yield predictable results.
Lei discloses guide grooves (233, “a first trench”) which extend parallel to the longitudinal direction of the device (Fig. 4, Fig. 8). Therefore, providing the guide grooves (233) disclosed by Lei on the inner surface of the atomization seat (160) disclosed by Chen, would result in the guide grooves (Lei: 233) extending in a direction parallel to the second portion of the liquid guiding rope (Chen: 150) and positioned adjacent to the outer surface of the second portion of the liquid guiding rope (Chen: 150).
Regarding claim 2, Chen discloses the recess (1621, 164) comprising a first holding recess (bottom wall 164) configured to accommodate at least part of the first portion (central portion) of the liquid guiding rope (150, “capillary element”), and;
and second holding recess (groove 1621) configured to accommodate at least part of the second portion (end portion) of the liquid guiding rope (150, “capillary element”, Fig. 3, Fig. 6, [0061]).
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Regarding claim 3, Lei discloses guide grooves (233, “a first trench”) disposed on the inner sidewall of the base (20) which extend from the top end to bottom end of the inner sidewall such that the guide groove (233, “a first trench”) extends from the sidewall to the bottom wall of the base (20, Fig. 4, Fig. 8 [0048, 0053-0055]).
Therefore, the guide grooves (Lei: 233, “a first trench”) are considered to extend from a surface of the second holding recess (Chen: 1621 on sidewall) to the first holding recess (Chen: bottom wall 164, Fig. 6, [0061]).
Regarding claim 4, Chen discloses a first holding recess (bottom wall 164) and second holding recess (groove 1621 on sidewall) which are formed on 2 separate surfaces of the atomization seat (160, “support”, Fig. 6) and therefore are considered to be discrete.
Regarding claim 5, Chen discloses the recess comprises a first holding recess (bottom wall 164) and second holding recess (groove 1621 on sidewall) which are formed on 2 separate surfaces of the atomization seat (160, “support”, Fig. 6) and therefore are considered to be discrete portions.
Regarding claim 6, Lei discloses the guide grooves (233) have a capillary function (Fig. 4, Fig. 8 [0048, 0053-0055]).
Regarding claim 7, Chen discloses a liquid flow path passing from the liquid storage chamber (125) to a storage layer (140) to the liquid guide rope (150, “capillary element”, Fig. 3, [0062-0063]).
Since the guide grooves (Lei: 233, “a first trench”) formed on the inner surface of the atomization seat (Chen: 160, “support”) are in direct physical contact with the liquid guide rope (Chen: 150, “capillary element”), the guide grooves (Lei: 233, “a first trench”, Fig. 8) are considered to be in fluid communication with the liquid storage chamber (Chen: 125, Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 8, Chen, in view of Lei, discloses guide grooves (Lei: 233, “a first trench”) formed on the inner surface of the atomization seat (Chen: 160, “support”), and Chen discloses a portion of the inner surface the atomization seat (Chen: 160, “support”) is curved (Chen: annotated Fig.6).
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Therefore at least part of the guide grooves (Lei: 233, “a first trench”) are considered to be bent.
Regarding claims 9 and 10, Lei discloses liquid absorbing grooves (231, “a second trench”) on the floor of the base (20, Fig. 4, Fig. 8 [0048, 0053-0055]).
Lei discloses liquid absorbing grooves (231, “a second trench”) which extend along a floor of the base (20, Fig. 4, Fig. 8). Therefore, providing the liquid absorbing grooves (231, “a second trench”) disclosed by Lei on the bottom surface of the atomization seat (160) disclosed by Chen, would result in the liquid absorbing grooves (231, “a second trench”) extending in a direction perpendicular to an extension direction (e.g. the direction along the width) of the first (central) portion of the liquid guiding rope (Chen: 150, “capillary element”).
Regarding claim 11, Lei discloses guide grooves (233, “a first trench”) are connected the liquid absorbing grooves (231, “a second trench”, Fig. 8, [0054]) such that they are in communication with one another.
Regarding claim 14, Chen discloses the first (central) portion of the liquid guiding rope (150, “capillary element”) has an atomization surface (bottom surface) facing away from the (“liquid storage cavity”), the heating wire (172) is coupled to the atomization surface (annotated Fig. 3 above, Fig. 8, [0065]).
Regarding claim 16, Chen discloses a storage layer (140, “a first liquid guide element”) which extends in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the outer housing (300, Fig. 16), and is positioned between the liquid storage chamber (125) and the liquid guide rope (150, “capillary element”) in the longitudinal direction of the outer housing (300, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 16, [0053]), and;
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The storage layer (140, “a first liquid guide element”) has a first surface close to the liquid storage chamber (125) and a second surface facing away from the first surface (annotated Fig. 2 above), where the first surface is in fluid communication with the liquid storage chamber (125) to absorb liquid substrate in the liquid storage chamber (125, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, [0053]), and;
The second (end) portion of the liquid guiding rope (150, “capillary element”) is in contact with the second surface of the storage layer (140, “first liquid guide element”) to absorb liquid substrate (annotated Fig. 2 above, Fig. 3, [0053, 0062]).
Regarding claim 17, Chen, in view of Lei, discloses an air channel (shown by arrow in annotated Fig. 3 of Chen below) extending from through hole (Chen: 163) in the support (Chen: 160) to liquid guide hole (Chen: 132), the air channel is configured to provide a fluid path for air to cross the storage layer (Chen: 140, “first liquid guide element”) in the longitudinal direction of the outer housing (Chen: 300) to enter the liquid storage cavity (Chen: 125), wherein the guide grooves (Lei: 233, “a first trench”) are in fluid communication with the air channel to form fluid communication with the liquid storage cavity (Chen: 125, Fig. 2, Fig. 5, Fig. 6, [0053, 0059]).
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Regarding claim 18, Chen, in view of Lei, discloses the air channel comprises a first channel portion formed between the first liquid guide element (Chen: 140) and the outer housing (Chen: 300), and a second channel portion formed between the support (Chen: 160) and the first liquid guide element (Chen: 140), and the first trench (Lei: 233) formed on the inner sidewall of the support (Chen: 160) is in communication with the second channel portion, as illustrated in annotated Fig. 3 above.
Regarding claim 21, Chen discloses a storage layer (140, “a first liquid guide element”) which extends in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the outer housing (300, Fig. 16), and is positioned between the liquid storage chamber (125) and the liquid guide rope (150, “capillary element”) in the longitudinal direction of the outer housing (300, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 16, [0053]), and;
Fiber filaments (152) provided on the second (end) portion of the liquid guide rope (150, “capillary element”) abut against the storage layer (140, “a first liquid guide element”) such that the second portion of the capillary element (150) at least partially runs through the storage layer (140, “a first liquid guide element”, Fig. 3, [0062-0063]).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (CN 104366694 B) in view of Lei (US 20220218038 A1, as cited on IDS dated 04/02/2026), as applied to claims 1, further in view of Davis (US 20180279672 A1).
Regarding claim 12, Chen discloses the liquid guiding rope (150, “capillary element”) is formed of fiber filaments ([0062]).
Chen does not explicitly disclose the liquid guiding rope (150, “capillary element”) is rigid.
However, Davis, directed to an aerosol delivery device (100, Fig. 1, [0038]), discloses
A fluid transport element (136) for transporting a precursor composition to a heater (134, Fig. 1, [0041]), and;
The fluid transport element is formed of a rigid material such as porous ceramic, which can improve uniformity of heating ([0005, 0041, 0062]).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would be obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chen, in view of Lei, by forming the liquid guide rope/capillary element of a rigid porous ceramic as taught by Davis because both Chen and Davis are directed to an aerosol delivery devices, Davis teaches forming a liquid transport element of a rigid porous ceramic can improve uniformity of heating, and this involves applying a known rigid material to a similar liquid transport element in a similar device to yield predictable results.
Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (CN 104366694 B) in view of Lei (US 20220218038 A1, as cited on IDS dated 04/02/2026), as applied to claim 16 and 18 above, further in view of Jiang (CN 112931974 A, hereinafter referring to English machine translation provided).
Regarding claim 19, Chen, in view of Lei, discloses a second channel portion formed between the support (Chen: 160) and the first liquid guide element (Chen: 140, annotated Fig. 3 above).
Chen or Lei do not explicitly disclose the second channel portion comprises a groove formed on the second surface of the first liquid guide element adjacent to the support.
However, Jiang, directed to an atomization device (1, Fig. 1, [0001]), discloses:
A porous substrate (150, “capillary element”) arranged in contact with a liquid guiding element (130, Fig. 5, [0047, 0054]),
The liquid guiding element (130, 230) comprises at least one air guiding channel (231) forming a groove on both the top and bottom (i.e. second) surfaces of the liquid guiding element (230), the air guiding channel (231) allows the atomizer (10) to achieve a gas-liquid balance state (Fig. 5, Fig. 7, [0042, 0051, 0066]).
The air guiding channel (231) is positioned between the liquid guide element (130) and a support (160, Fig. 5).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would be obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chen, in view of Lei, by forming an air guide channel on the peripheral edge of the liquid guide element as taught by Jiang because both Chen and Jiang are directed to an aerosol delivery devices, Jiang teaches the air guide channel on the liquid guide element allows for gas liquid balance in the atomizer, and this involves applying a known groove to a similar liquid guide element in a similar device to yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 20, Chen discloses the liquid guiding rope (150, “capillary element”) is formed of fiber filaments ([0062]) and a storage element (140, “first liquid guide element”, [0053]).
Chen is silent to the material composition of the capillary element and first liquid guide element and does not explicitly disclose the rigidity of the capillary element is greater than the rigidity of the first liquid guide element.
However, Jiang, directed to an atomization device (1, Fig. 1, [0001]), discloses:
A porous substrate (150, “capillary element”) formed of a porous ceramic, and arranged in contact with a liquid guiding element (130) formed of cotton ([0047, 0054]).
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would be obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art to modify Chen, in view of Lei, by forming the liquid guide rope/capillary element of a porous ceramic and the storage element/ liquid guide element of cotton as taught by Jiang because both Chen and Jiang are directed to an aerosol delivery devices, Chen is silent to the material composition of the capillary element and first liquid guide element, Jiang teaches known materials for a similar capillary element and first liquid guide element, and one having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to look to similar liquid transport structures for suitable materials of construction and this involves applying known materials to a similar liquid transport structures to yield predictable results.
The published application of the instant case (refer to US 20240381933 A1) discloses the capillary element (30) is formed of a porous ceramic ([0021, 01810]) and the first liquid guide element (50) is formed of fiber cotton ([0183]). Therefore, a person having ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect a porous substrate (150, “capillary element”) disclosed by Jiang formed of a porous ceramic to have greater rigidity than a liquid guiding element (130) disclosed by Jiang formed of cotton ([0047, 0054]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MORGAN FAITH DEZENDORF whose telephone number is (571)272-0155. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-430pm EST.
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/M.F.D./Examiner, Art Unit 1755 /PHILIP Y LOUIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1755
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