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
Claims 1-15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 begins “Hair cutting unit…”, and should instead begin “A hair cutting unit…”.
Claims 2-11 begin “Hair cutting unit…”, and should instead begin “The hair cutting unit…”.
Claim 4 states “…configured to disable the adjustment actuator to act…”, which is improper grammar. This portion of claim 4 should instead read “…configured to disable the ability of the adjustment actuator to act…”.
Claim 12 begins “Shaving assembly…”, and should instead begin “A shaving assembly…”.
Claim 13 states “…the following element of the at least one set of a guiding channel and a following element is enabled…”, essentially stating twice that the same following element is enabled to reach the initial position. For purposes of clarity, examiner recommends rephrasing to “…the following element of the at least one set of a guiding channel is enabled…”.
Claims 13-14 begin “Shaving assembly…”, and should instead begin “The shaving assembly…”.
Claim 15 begins “Rotary electric shaver…”, and should instead begin “A rotary electric shaver…”.
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 and 6 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 limitations "the driven gear wheel" and “the driving gear wheel” without first introducing a driven gear wheel and a driving gear wheel. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in claim 5, or any claims on which claim 5 depends. Claim 6 is rejected as depending on claim 5
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.
(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 1, 2, 4, 7, 10-13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hendrik Paauw et al. (US 20200361104 A1 – hereinafter Paauw).
Regarding claim 1, Paauw teaches a hair-cutting unit for a rotary electric shaver, comprising: an external cutting member (Fig. 3, External Cutting Member 21a) with a shaving track having hair-entry openings (Fig. 3, Hair Entry Openings 31); an internal cutting member (Fig. 3, Internal Cutting Member 23a) which is covered by and rotatable relative to the external cutting member about a central axis (Fig. 3, Axis of Rotation 41) of the hair-cutting unit; a supporting member (Fig. 3, supporting member comprising Retaining Component 27a and Supporting Member 25a) surrounding and supporting the external cutting member; and an adjustment system (Figs. 4 and 5, adjustment system comprising Guiding Elements 59, Abutment Elements 57, Guiding Surfaces 61 and 63, Locking Element 77, and Finger-grip Portions 75) to adjust an exposure distance (Fig. 6a, Exposure Distance E) over which a skin-contacting surface of the shaving track protrudes relative to an upper surface of the supporting member, comprising an adjustment actuator (Fig. 4, Finger-grip Portions 75) and an adjustment transmission system (Figs. 4 and 5, adjustment transmission system comprising Guiding Elements 59, Abutment Elements 57, Guiding Surfaces 61 and 63, and the vertical wall at the right at the end of the channel extending from Guiding Surface 63) via which the adjustment actuator is enabled to adjust the exposure distance through mutually relative rotation of the external cutting member and the supporting member about the central axis ([0044]), wherein the adjustment transmission system comprises a conversion mechanism (Figs. 4 and 5, adjustment transmission system comprising Guiding Elements 59, Abutment Elements 57, and Guiding Surfaces 61 and 63) to convert a mutually relative rotation of the external cutting member and the supporting member about the central axis into a mutually relative axial movement of the external cutting member and the supporting member in an axial direction parallel to the central axis ([0043]); wherein: the conversion mechanism comprises at least one set of a guiding channel (Fig. 4, guiding channel defined by Guiding Surfaces 61 and 63) and a following element (Fig. 5, Abutment Element 57) engaging the guiding channel; the guiding channel is inclined relative to an imaginary surface perpendicular to the central axis (Fig. 4, Guiding Surface 61 is inclined) and is provided on one an inner surface (Fig. 4, the guiding channel is located on a surface of the support member which is on an inner surface of the support member, inner being defined according to Merriam Webster as “situated farther in”. The surface is an inner surface since it is located father in than other parts of the support member, namely, it is farther in than 25a) of the supporting member surrounding the external cutting member; the following element is provided on an inner surface of the supporting member (Fig. 3); the guiding channel comprises a stop arrangement (Fig. 4, Locking Element 77) defining an initial position for the following element in the guiding channel corresponding to one of a minimum and a maximum of the exposure distance (Fig. 6a-6c, where Fig. 6b and 6c demonstrates the initial position and maximum exposure distance); the adjustment actuator is operable in a first active state (Fig. 6a-6c, where a first active state is a user exerting force on Portions 75 which could result in rotation of 27a and 21a clockwise relative to 25a) to realize mutually relative rotation of the external cutting member and the supporting member in a first rotational direction (Fig. 6a-6c, clockwise) about the central axis whereby displacement of the following element in a direction towards the initial position in the guiding channel is obtained (Fig. 6b and 6c), and in a second active state (Fig. 6a-6c, where a first active state is a user exerting force on Portions 75 which could result in rotation of 27a and 21a counter-clockwise relative to 25a) to realize mutually relative rotation of the external cutting member and the supporting member in a second rotational direction (Fig. 6a-6c, counter-clockwise) about the central axis that is opposite to the first rotational direction; and the adjustment transmission system further comprises an initial position setting system (Fig. 6a-6c, the vertical wall at the right at the end of the channel extending from Guiding Surface 63) configured to stop the mutually relative axial movement of the external cutting member and the supporting member, and, thereby, to maintain said one of the minimum and the maximum of the exposure distance (Fig. 6b-6c; the vertical stops rotation even when the user is exerting the appropriate force and maintains the maximum exposure distance), during continued operation of the adjustment actuator in the first active state, when the following element reaches the initial position in the guiding channel (Fig. 6b and 6c).
Regarding claim 2, Paauw further teaches the hair-cutting unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the external cutting member (Fig. 3, External Cutting Member 21a) is rotatable relative to the supporting member (Fig. 3, supporting member comprising Retaining Component 27a and Supporting Member 25a) about the central axis ([0045]).
Regarding claim 4, Paauw further teaches the hair-cutting unit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the initial position setting system (Fig. 6a-6c, the vertical wall at the right at the end of the channel extending from Guiding Surface 63) is configured to disable the ability of the adjustment actuator (Fig. 4, Finger-grip Portions 75) to act on the external cutting member (Fig. 3, External Cutting Member 21a), during continued operation of the adjustment actuator in the first active state (Fig. 6a-6c, first active state being a state where the user is exerting a clockwise force on the Finger-grip Portions 75), when the following element reaches the initial position in the guiding channel (Fig. 6c, initial position shown – 21a can no longer rotate when 57 is against the vertical wall even when the user is applying a clockwise force to 75).
Regarding claim 7, Paauw further teaches the hair-cutting unit as claimed in claim 2, wherein: the guiding channel (Fig. 4, guiding channel defined by Guiding Surfaces 61 and 63) is provided on a carrier portion (Retaining Component 27a) of the supporting member; and the initial position setting system (Fig. 6a-6c, the vertical wall at the right at the end of the channel extending from Guiding Surface 63) is configured to enable rotation of the carrier portion relative to a main portion (Supporting Member 25a) of the supporting member about the central axis together with the external cutting member, during continued operation of the adjustment actuator in the first active state (Fig. 6a-6b, force being applied in the clockwise rotating direction), when the following element reaches the initial position in the guiding channel (Fig. 6a-6b, rotation between 27a and 25a still occurs in the initial position between the following element 57 is between 77 and the initial position setting system).
Regarding claim 10, Paauw further teaches the hair-cutting unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the guiding channel comprises an opening (Fig. 1, leftmost end of the guiding channel) via which the following element can be removed from the guiding channel by manually moving the external cutting member and the supporting member relative to each other in the axial direction (Fig. 3, if 27a is rotated counter-clockwise far enough, 27a and 21a can be vertically separated and removed from 25a).
Regarding claim 11, Paauw further teaches the hair-cutting unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conversion mechanism comprises three sets of a guiding channel and a following element, the three sets being arranged at angular intervals of 120° about the central axis ([0015]).
Regarding claim 12, Paauw further teaches a shaving assembly, comprising at least two hair-cutting units (Fig. 1, Hair Cutting Units 7a, 7b, and 7c) as claimed in claim 1 and a base unit (Fig. 1, Base Structure 9) supporting the at least two hair-cutting units.
Regarding claim 13, Paauw further teaches the shaving assembly as claimed in claim 12, wherein the adjustment actuator of each of the hair-cutting units is configured to be operated in the first active state during an initial operational phase of the shaving assembly (Fig. 6a-6c; [0044] - the initial phase being assembly of the shaving assembly), such that, in each of the hair-cutting units, the following element of the at least one set of a guiding channel is enabled to reach the initial position in the guiding channel (Fig. 6c, initial position shown at the end of the assembly process).
Regarding claim 15, Paauw further teaches a rotary electric shaver comprising a main body (Fig. 1, Main Body 3) and a shaving assembly (Fig. 1, Shaving Head 5) as claimed in claim 12, wherein the base unit (Fig. 1, Base Structure 9) of the shaving assembly is connected to the main body.
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 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hendrik Paauw et al. (US 20200361104 A1 – hereinafter Paauw) as applied to claims 2 and 12 above, and further in view of Tetsuhiko Shimizu (EP 3115160 A1 – hereinafter Shimizu).
Regarding claim 3, Paauw does not teach the hair-cutting unit as claimed in claim 2, wherein: the adjustment transmission system comprises a driven gear wheel mounted to the external cutting member and the adjustment actuator comprises a driving gear wheel engaging the driven gear wheel; and the first and second active states of the adjustment actuator involve respective opposite first and second directions of rotation of the driving gear wheel.
However, Shimizu teaches a hair cutting unit with an adjustment transmission system which comprises a driven gear wheel (Fig. 4A, Outer Blade Drive Gear 74) mounted to the external cutting member (Fig. 4A, Outer Blade 22) and the adjustment actuator comprising a driving gear wheel (Fig. 4A, Center Gear 78) engaging the driven gear wheel. Paauw already teaches that the first and second active states of the adjustment activator involve respective first and second directions of rotation of the external cutting member, and the addition of the driven gear wheel of Shimizu attached to the external cutting member and causing rotation of the external cutting member would require that the driven gear wheel also involves rotation in first and second directions corresponding to the first and second active states (See the rejection of claim 1 above).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filing to modify the invention Paauw to include the limitations of claim 3 above as taught by Shimizu as it has been held that providing an automatic or mechanical means to replace a manual activity which accomplished the same result is not sufficient to distinguish over the prior art In re Venner, 262 F.2d 91, 95, 120 USPQ 193, 194 (CCPA 1958).
Regarding claim 14, Paauw does not teach the shaving assembly as claimed in claim 12, wherein the adjustment systems of the hair-cutting units comprise a common adjustment actuator, and wherein the common adjustment actuator comprises a common driving gear wheel arranged centrally between the hair-cutting units.
However, Shimizu teaches a shaving assembly wherein the adjustment systems of the hair-cutting units comprise a common adjustment actuator (Fig. 4A, Center Gear 78), and wherein the common adjustment actuator comprises a common driving gear wheel arranged centrally between the hair-cutting units (Fig. 4A, Blade Unit 16).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filing to modify the invention Paauw to include the limitations of claim 14 above as taught by Shimizu as it has been held that providing an automatic or mechanical means to replace a manual activity which accomplished the same result is not sufficient to distinguish over the prior art In re Venner, 262 F.2d 91, 95, 120 USPQ 193, 194 (CCPA 1958).
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hendrik Paauw et al. (US 20200361104 A1 – hereinafter Paauw) as applied to claims 2 and 12 above, and further in view of Mattheus Van Der Meer (US 7269902 B2 – hereinafter Van Der Meer).
Regarding claim 5, Paauw does not teach the hair-cutting unit as claimed in claim 4, wherein: the initial position setting system comprises, for each set of a guiding channel and a following element, a void section of a driven gear wheel in which no gear teeth are present; and the void section is positioned relative to the one of the guiding channel and the following element which is provided on said outer surface of the external cutting member such that the void section faces a driving gear wheel to disable the driving gear wheel from driving the driven gear wheel when the following element is at the initial position in the guiding channel.
However, Van Der Meer teaches a hair cutting unit wherein the initial position setting system comprises, for each set of a guiding channel and a following element, a void section (Fig. 4, external portion of Cutting Member 54 without Indexing Members 64 – there are two sets of guiding channels/ following elements in Paauw, and Van Der Meer teaches two sets of void sections) of a driven gear wheel (Fig. 4, external portion of Cutting Member 54) in which no gear teeth (Fig. 4, Indexing Members 64) are present, and that when the void section faces a driving gear wheel the void section facing the driving gear wheel disables the driving gear wheel from driving the driven gear wheel (Fig. 4, the Control Member 61 can only influence the driven gear wheel when it is in contact with an Indexing Member 64, which is not the case when the void section faces the driving gear wheel). Van Der Meer does not teach that the void section is positioned relative to the one of the guiding channel and the following element which is provided on said outer surface of the external cutting member such that the void section faces a driving gear wheel to disable the driving gear wheel from driving the driven gear wheel when the following element is at the initial position in the guiding channel. However, it would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filing to modify the position of the void section of Van Der Meer as described above as it has been held that the position of a feature may be in a different location as an obvious matter of design choice as long as it does not modify the operation of the device In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) and In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553, 188 USPQ 7 (CCPA 1975).
Therefore, it would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filing to modify the invention of Paauw to include the limitations of claim 5 above as taught by Van Der Meer as it has been held that providing an automatic or mechanical means to replace a manual activity which accomplished the same result is not sufficient to distinguish over the prior art In re Venner, 262 F.2d 91, 95, 120 USPQ 193, 194 (CCPA 1958).
Regarding claim 6, Paauw further teaches the hair-cutting unit as claimed in claim 5, wherein the stop arrangement (Fig. 4, Locking Element 77) of the guiding channel of one of the at least one set of a guiding channel and a following element comprises a resilient element configured to bias the following element out of the initial position in the guiding channel when the following element is at the initial position in the guiding channel (Fig. 4; [0044] – the locking element is elastically deformable, and when the following element 57 contacts 77, 77 biases against the following element. If the force exerted on 77 by 57, when attempting to move 57 across 77 from the left to the right, is not enough to push 57 over locking element 77, locking element 77 would bias the following element out of the initial position, when the initial position of the locking element involves the locking element being on guiding surface 63 and in between contact with the leftmost side of 77 and the vertical wall rightmost extending from guiding surface 63).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hendrik Paauw et al. (US 20200361104 A1 – hereinafter Paauw) as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Marcus Petrelli (US 20210347073 A1 – hereinafter Petrelli).
Regarding claim 8, Paauw already teaches that the initial position setting system enables the carrier portion to rotate relative to the main portion of the supporting member about the central axis when the adjustment actuator operates in the first active state and the following element reaches the initial position in the guiding channel (See the rejection of claim 7 above).
Paauw does not teach the hair-cutting unit as claimed in claim 7, wherein the initial position setting system comprises a holding arrangement to retain the carrier portion in a stationary position in the main portion of the supporting member when the following element is at another position than the initial position in the guiding channel.
However, Petrelli teaches an initial position setting system for a hair-cutting unit which comprises a holding arrangement (Fig. 12, Flexible Tab 550) to retain the carrier portion (Fig. 12, Member 560) in a stationary position in the main portion (Fig. 12, Housing 511) of the supporting member when the following element is at another position than the initial position in the guiding channel ([0079] – 550 keeps 560 in a stationary position at any position, which would include another position than the initial position, when a user attempts to rotate 560 counter-clockwise).
Therefore, it would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filing to modify the invention of Paauw to include the limitations of claim 8 above as taught by Petrelli. Doing so is beneficial as the carrier portion can be rotated counter-clockwise in a stepwise fashion to effect adjustment of the level of the skin contact surface (Petrelli; [0079]).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hendrik Paauw et al. (US 20200361104 A1 – hereinafter Paauw) in view of (US 20210347073 A1 – hereinafter Petrelli) as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Mattheus Van Der Meer (US 7269902 B2 – hereinafter Van Der Meer).
Regarding claim 9, the existing combination of Paauw and Petrelli does not teach the hair-cutting unit as claimed in claim 8, wherein the holding arrangement comprises friction structures in surfaces of the carrier portion and/or the main portion of the supporting member contacting each other and extending in a tangential direction about the central axis.
However, Van Der Meer teaches a holding arrangement which comprises friction structures (Col. 3, lines 13-36; Fig. 1, contacting portions of Internal Cutting Members 6 and External Cutting Members 4) in surfaces of two members (Fig. 1, Internal Cutting Members 6 and External Cutting Members 4) contacting each other and extending in a tangential direction about the central axis (Fig. 1, contacting portions of Internal Cutting Members 6 and External Cutting Members 4 can be seen to extend in the tangential direction).
Therefore, it would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filing to modify the invention of the combination of Paauw and Petrelli to include the limitations of claim 9 above as taught by Van Der Meer. Doing so is beneficial as the shaving apparatus does not need to be switched off to change the orientation of the external cutting members (Van Der Meer; Col. 3, lines 37-46).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELLA LORRAINE KEENA whose telephone number is (571)272-1806. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am - 5:00 pm ET.
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/ELLA L KEENA/Examiner, Art Unit 3724 /BOYER D ASHLEY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3724
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