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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 8 in figure 6.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: “said thermal member” in line 4 should read “said thermal member ([[10]]2)”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: “off-centred” in line 2 should read “off-centered”. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-2, 5, 7-11, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kukreja (US 20180279740).
Regarding Claim 1, Kukreja discloses an applicator head (10; figures 1-13) for applying a cosmetic product (paragraph [0058]) comprising: a thermal member (2; figures 3-5) defining at least a portion of a sidewall of said applicator head (figure 3); a non-thermal member (3; figure 3-5) defining at least a distal surface of said applicator head (figure 3); wherein said thermal member comprises a proximal portion (see illustrated figure 3) and a distal portion (see illustrated figure 3); said proximal (figure 3) portion is formed as a shank defining a longitudinal axis (figure 3), and said distal portion (figure 3) is formed as a first applicator portion (see illustrated figure 3) that is accessible to a user for application (figures 1-13); wherein said first applicator portion (figure 3-5) includes a front face (see illustrated figure 3 see); wherein said front face includes a proximal surface (see illustrated figure 3) and a distal surface (5b); wherein said distal surface (see illustrated figure 3) is an inclined surface (figure 3), in respect of said longitudinal axis (figure 3), that extends from a distal end (figure 3) of said thermal member (figure 3) along at least part said front face (figure 3); wherein said thermal member includes a cavity (6; figure 6-8) extending at least through a portion of a length of said thermal member (paragraph [0065] discloses the cavity extends through all of 2; figures 6-8); wherein an opening of said cavity is defined on said distal surface (5; figure 7) of said first applicator portion (2; figures 6-8); wherein the non-thermal member comprises an connection portion (13) and a second applicator portion (11, 16, 15; figures 9-11); wherein said second applicator portion (see illustrated figure 11) extends along a plane that enables said second applicator portion (figures 3-11) to closely match at least part of said distal surface (figure 3) of said first applicator portion; wherein said second applicator portion includes an upper surface (13; figure 11) and a bottom surface (see illustrated figure 11); when said non-thermal member is received and retained within said cavity of said thermal member (paragraph [0065]), a major portion of said connection portion is housed within the cavity of said thermal member (figure 1) and the second applicator portion (figure 1) extends out from said opening such that said bottom surface (figure 1) of said second applicator portion (figure 1) closely contacts said distal surface (figure 1) of said first applicator portion of said thermal member (figure 1).
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Regarding Claim 2, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses said thermal member is made of a thermal storage material is metal (paragraph [0087]); and wherein the non-thermal member is an insulator fabricated from wood (paragraph [0086], the examiner notes plastic is inherently an insulator, additionally “fabricated” is being treated as a product-by-process and only the end result such as wood is given patentable weight).
Regarding Claim 5, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses said second applicator portion of said non-thermal member and said distal surface of said thermal member are both drop shaped (figures 1-11); and wherein the second applicator portion is shaped and dimensioned to fit over and cover the distal surface of the first applicator portion (figures 1-11).
Regarding Claim 7, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses said distal surface extends from a distal end of said thermal member along at least part 40% of a length of said front face (figures 1-11).
Regarding Claim 8, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses at least a part of said upper surface (figure 10) of said second applicator portion comprises flocking (paragraph [0076]).
Regarding Claim 9, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses said upper surface of said second applicator portion is one of a convex surface (figure 11 depicts the outer portion of 13 to be convex; figure 11) and a flat surface (figure 11 depicts the portion of 13 where it connects to 12 is flat; figure 11).
Regarding Claim 10, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 9. Kukreja discloses the elongated rod portion of the non-thermal member is retained within the cavity of the thermal member by snap-fitment (paragraph [0078]); wherein the thermal member includes an annular projection (14; figure 1) on its inner surface projecting inside said cavity of thermal member (figure 1; paragraph [0078]) and said elongated rod portion of said non-thermal member includes an annular recess (15; figure 1) and an annular flange (16; figure 9-11) adjacent to said annular recess (Figures 9-11); and wherein said annular projection of said thermal member is snap fitted into the corresponding annular recess of the non-thermal member (paragraph [0078]).
Regarding Claim 11, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses said non-thermal member is oriented so that an apex of the non-thermal member is always in line with an apex of said thermal member (figures 1-5).
Regarding Claim 13, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses the distal end of the thermal member is off-centered with respect to said longitudinal axis towards said rear face of said first applicator portion (figure 3).
Regarding Claim 14, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 13. Kukreja discloses configurated to be associated with a cosmetic package (1; figure 1); wherein said cosmetic package comprises a receptacle (100; figure 1) for holding a product and an applicator assembly (figure 1); wherein said applicator assembly comprises said applicator head (Figure 1), a stem (20; figure 1), and a cap (30; figure 1); and wherein said applicator head is retained at a distal end of the stem for applying the product (Figure 1); and the cap is located at a proximal end of the stem (figure 1).
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 3-4 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kukreja (US 20180279740) in view of Bianco (US 20200329846).
Regarding Claim 3, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses the connection portion is an elongated rod portion (figures 9-11); however, Kukreja does not disclose the connection portion is an elongated rod portion of said non-thermal member has a length greater than a length of said cavity of said thermal member such that a distal portion of said elongated rod portion extends out from a proximal end of said cavity.
Bianco discloses an applicator head (figure 7), a thermal portion (40; figure 4) and a non-thermal portion (50; figure 4), the connection portion (122, 123, 124; figures 4-7) is an elongated rod portion of said non-thermal member (figure 4) has a length greater than a length of said cavity of said thermal member (figure 7) such that a distal portion of said elongated rod portion extends out from a proximal end of said cavity (figure 7 depicts the elongated rod extending through 40 into 60 which is not part of the thermal portion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the connection rod of Kukreja to extend a greater length than the cavity of the thermal portion as taught by Bianco in order to ensure the connection is strong enough during use and resilient to forces applied.
Regarding Claim 4, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses said first applicator portion includes a rear face (figure 5), a right side face (figure 3), and a left side face (figure 3) and said rear face (figure 4) of said first applicator portion (figure 3)
Kukreja does not disclose said first applicator portion includes a rear face, a right side face, and a left side face and said rear face of said first applicator portion is curved along a longitudinal axis of said applicator head as well as in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the applicator head.
Bianco discloses a first applicator portion (figure 7), said first applicator portion (106; figures 4-7) includes a rear face (figures 4-7), a right side face (figure 5), and a left side face (figure 5) and said rear face (figure 4-6) of said first applicator portion (figure 4 and 7) is curved along a longitudinal axis (shown in figure 7 where 50 sits within) of said applicator head (figure 7) as well as in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the applicator head (figure 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the first applicator of Kukreja to have includes a rear face, a right side face, and a left side face and said rear face of said first applicator portion is curved along a longitudinal axis of said applicator head as well as in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the applicator head as taught by Bianco to follow a curve similar to that of a user’s lip.
Regarding Claim 16, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses said rear face is lip-shaped along a length direction of the applicator head (Figures 1-11). Kukreja does not disclose wherein said rear face includes a proximal convex portion followed by a central recessed area and a distal convex portion.
Bianco discloses wherein said rear face includes a proximal convex portion followed by a central recessed area and a distal convex portion (figure 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the rear face of the applicator of Kukreja to be wherein said rear face includes a proximal convex portion followed by a central recessed area and a distal convex portion as taught by Bianco as it is well known to modify the shape in order to match the curvature of the user’s facial features.
Claims 6 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kukreja (US 20180279740) in view of Roman et al. (US 20240358141, hereinafter Roman).
Regarding Claim 6, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja does not disclose at least a part of the upper surface of the second applicator portion is concavely curved; wherein the upper surface of the second applicator portion creates a volume reservoir; wherein the volume reservoir serves as a reservoir for the cosmetic product which is available to be applied to the user’s skin or keratinous substrate.
Roman discloses at least a part of the upper surface of the second applicator portion (124; figure 2) is concavely curved (figure 2 shows the curvature); wherein the upper surface of the second applicator portion creates a volume reservoir (figure 2); wherein the volume reservoir serves as a reservoir for the cosmetic product which is available to be applied to the user’s skin or keratinous substrate (figure 2, the Examiner notes that the structure of the curvature of the second applicator portion allows for the collection of product and is capable of performing the function as claimed).
Regarding Claim 12, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 11. Kukreja does not disclose the elongated rod portion of said non-thermal member has a rectangular located close to said second applicator portion that corresponds to a rectangular portion of the cavity near the opening which helps to orient and prevent the rotation of the second applicator portion with respect to the thermal member.
Roman disclose an applicator head (112; figure 1-2), a thermal member (120; figure 2) and a non-thermal member (122; figure 2), the elongated portion (140; figure 2) of said non-thermal member has a rectangular portion located close to said second applicator portion that corresponds to a rectangular portion of the cavity near the opening which helps to orient and prevent the rotation of the second applicator portion with respect to the thermal member (figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the elongate portion of Kukreja to have a rectangular portion located close to said second applicator portion that corresponds to a rectangular portion of the cavity near the opening which helps to orient and prevent the rotation of the second applicator portion with respect to the thermal member as taught by Roman to aid in the coupling of the two portions while maintaining the correct orientation that is desired.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kukreja (US 20180279740) in view of Liu (FR3136639 and corresponding machine translation of description).
Regarding Claim 15, Kukreja discloses the applicator of claim 1. Kukreja discloses said second applicator portion includes one or more through cavities.
Liu discloses an applicator head (112; figure 7) with one or move cavities (144, 142; figure 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have modified the second applicator portion of Kukreja to have one or more through cavities as taught by Liu in order to evenly disperse the product.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sydney J Pulvidente whose telephone number is (571)272-8066. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday, 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eric Rosen can be reached at (571) 270-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SYDNEY J PULVIDENTE/Examiner, Art Unit 3772 /ERIC J ROSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3772