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 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 17-19, 25, 26, and 29-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fallon et al. (US 2022/0218033 A1).
Regarding claim 17, Fallon teaches an aerosol-generating device (Fig. 1) comprising an external housing (Fig. 1, Ref. Num. 102), a tubular heater (Fig. 2, Ref. Num. 161, 162), a top heater casing and a bottom heater casing (See Recreated Fig. 2 below), the tubular heater being enclosed within the top heater casing and the bottom heater casing, and an internal airflow channel (Fig. 2, Ref. Num. 10, 103a, 103b) through the aerosol-generating device extending from an air inlet (Fig. 5a, Ref. Num. 141; Para. [0064]) in the external housing to an air outlet (Fig. 2, Ref. Num. 104) in the external housing, wherein the internal airflow channel passes through the top heater casing, the bottom heater casing, and the tubular heater. Fallon also teaches a first sealing element (See Recreated Fig. 2 below) between the external housing and the bottom heater casing, a second sealing element (See Recreated Fig. 2 below) between the external housing and the top heater casing, a third sealing element (See Recreated Fig. 2 below) between the bottom heater casing and the top heater casing, a heater holder (See Recreated Fig. 2 below) positioned between the tubular heater and the bottom heater casing, the internal airflow channel passing through the heater holder, and a fourth sealing element (See Recreated Fig. 2 below) positioned between the heater holder and the bottom heater casing.
Fallon teaches that the tubular heater is connected to the top heater casing (See Recreated Fig. 2 below), but does not teach explicitly how they are connected. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to connect them via press fitting as Fallon teaches attaching other parts through that method (Para. [0109]) and is a way to connect parts without needing physical connection parts.
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Regarding claim 18, Fallon teaches that the internal airflow channel is defined only by the external housing, the bottom heater casing, the heater holder, the tubular heater, the top heater casing, and the sealing elements (See Recreated Fig. 2 Above).
Regarding claim 19, Fallon teaches that the heater holder is connected to the tubular heater (See Recreated Fig. 2 above), but does not teach explicitly how they are connected. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to connect them via press fitting as Fallon teaches attaching other parts through that method (Para. [0109]) and is a way to connect parts without needing physical connection parts.
Regarding claim 25, Fallon teaches that the sealing elements are shielded from the tubular heater by the heater holder (See Recreated Fig. 2 Above).
Regarding claim 26, Fallon teaches the external housing comprises a device top casing (Fig. 1, Ref. Num. 108) and a device bottom casing (Fig. 1, Ref. Num. 102), the device top casing being fixed to the device bottom casing.
Regarding claim 29, Fallon teaches that the tubular heater comprises a heating element (Fig. 8, Ref. Num. 124, 126) and a thermal insulator (Fig. 8, Ref. Num. 128).
Regarding claim 30, Fallon teaches electrical connection pins (Fig. 3b, Ref. Num. 141) connected to the tubular heater, the electrical connection pins passing through openings in the bottom casing (Fig. 3b, Ref. Num. 140), the openings in the bottom casing being sealed with an adhesive (Para. [0109]).
Regarding claim 31, Fallon teaches control circuitry (Fig. 8, Ref. Num. 122) and a power supply (Fig. 8, Ref. Num. 118) within the external housing, the control circuitry being electrically connected to the power supply and to the tubular heater (Fig. 8, Ref. Num. 122; Para. [0159]).
Regarding claim 32, Fallon teaches that the aerosol- generating device is configured to receive an aerosol generating article (Fig. 1, Ref. Num. 110) containing an aerosol- forming substrate through the air outlet and into the tubular heater.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fallon et al. (US 2022/0218033 A1) as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Reevell (US 2021/0345673 A1).
Regarding claim 20, Fallon does not teach that one or more of the sealing elements comprises an O-ring.
In an analogous art, Reevell teaches an aerosol generating device where the sealing elements (Fig. 2, Ref. Num. 160) are comprised of an O-ring (Para. [0070]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Fallon with Reevell to form the sealing elements of an O-ring. This modification will provide insulation while being able to spring back to its original shape after being deformed (Reevell; Para. [0070]).
Regarding claims 21 and 22, modified Fallon teaches the sealing elements comprise silicone (Reevell; Para. [0070]).
Claims 23, 24, 27, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fallon et al. (US 2022/0218033 A1).
Regarding claim 23, Fallon teaches that the tubular heater is spaced from the sealing elements by a distance greater than 0 (See Recreated Fig. 2 Above), which overlaps the claimed range of at least 4 mm which is a prima facie case of obviousness.
Regarding claim 24, Fallon teaches that the tubular heater is spaced from the sealing elements by a distance greater than 0 (See Recreated Fig. 2 Above), which overlaps the claimed range of at least 5 mm which is a prima facie case of obviousness.
Regarding claim 27, Fallon does not teach that the bottom heater casing (See Recreated Fig. 2 Above) is fixed to the top heater casing (See Recreated Fig. 2 Above); however, connecting the top and bottom heater casings is changing the design within the normal creative work capability range and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to increase the amount of support for the tubular heater.
Regarding claim 28, Fallon teaches connecting parts by mechanical-interlinking (Para. [0104]), which would include screw fastenings and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to connect the top and bottom heater casings with screw fastenings as Fallon teaches attaching other parts through that method (Para. [0109]).
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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/N.J.W./Examiner, Art Unit 1749
/KATELYN W SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1749
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