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 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.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki et al. (US 8,013,274).
Regarding claim 1, Suzuki et al. disclose a hair treating device comprising two hair treatment jaws (1, 3) that are movable relative to one another between a spaced-apart configuration for inserting hair to be treated between said jaws (1, 3) and a moved-together configuration for treating the hair, an external hair treatment member having at least one external surface (13) for heating the hair, which extends over one of the two jaws (1, 3) towards the exterior of the two jaws, a thermal protection cover (15) mounted removably by being clip-fastened (clip as defined by Merriam-webster as to hold in a tight grip) on the device so as to at least partially cover the external heating surface (13), the cover (15) having a recess (recess as defined by Merriam-Webster as an indentation; indents between 24) configured to form a preferential deformation zone of the cover (15) when it is fitted on the device (see Figures 1-6).
Claim 2, the device has two external treatment members (13) that each extend over one of the jaws (1, 3) and each have at least one external hair heating surface extending over the respective jaw towards the exterior of the device, the device having two thermal protection covers (15) that are mounted removably on the device and are each arranged on one of the two external heating surfaces so as to at least partially cover the external heating surface (Figure 6), each cover having a recess (space between 24) configured to form a referential deformation zone on the cover when it is fitted on the device (see Figure 6).
Claim 3, wherein the cover (15) covers the entire corresponding external heating service by having a shape complementary to that of the corresponding external heating surface (see Figure 6).
Claim 4, wherein the cover extends along a longitudinal axis, the recess being elongate along a direction forming a nonzero angle with the longitudinal axis of the cover (see Figure 6; col. 6, lines 1-10).
Claim 5, wherein the cover (15) has a gripping protrusion (19) extending from the external surface of the cover when it is mounted on the jaw (see Figure 5).
Claim 6, wherein the cover (15) and the jaw (1, 3) have complementary reliefs (17, 19) for fastening the cover to the jaw (see Figure 5).
Claim 7, wherein the cover is symmetric with respect to a longitudinal median plane (see Figure 6).
Claim 8, having on the or each jaw an external hair guiding portion delimited laterally in the proximal or distal part of the jaw by a stop surface (22) (see Figure 3).
Claim 10, having at least one internal treatment member (11) having an internal surface for heating the hair to be treated, which extends over one of the two jaws towards the other of the jaws and the move together configuration of the two jaws and is configured to come into contact with the hair extending between the two jaws in the moved together configuration (see Figures 3).
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.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki et al. (US 8,013,274).
Suzuki et al. disclose the claimed invention except for the cover has a thickness between 0.5 mm and 2 mm. However, one having ordinary skill in the art would find the parameters of the thickness of the cover to be deemed matters of design choice, will within the skill of the ordinary artisan, obtained through routine experimentation in determining optimum results. In this instance case, creating a cover that is too thick would create an unwanted bulky surface.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki et al. (US 8,013,274) in view of McKay (US 7,309,182).
Suzuki et al. disclose the claimed invention except that the cover is removably mounted by clip fastened instead of snap fit with a through recess. McKay shows that clip fit and snap fit with a through recess (972) is an equivalent structure known in the art. Therefore, because these two attachments were art-recognized equivalents at the time the invention was made, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to substitute clip fit for snap fit with a through recess.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/8/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument that Suzuki is not a thermal protection cover since the auxiliary case is designed to modify the curling characteristics of the device and such necessarily conducts heat, is not persuasive. Suzuki discloses the outer surface 13 is made of a heat-resistant resin material (col. 3, lines 45-50) “The curling part 13 is made of a heat-resistant resin material.” (see Figure 3). Therefore, applicant assertion of the cover conducts heat is not persuasive since the outer surface of the hair curler is made from a heat resin material. The having a different auxiliary shape changes the curling characteristics without it conducting heat.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RACHEL RUNNING STEITZ whose telephone number is (571)272-1917. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm EST.
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/RACHEL R STEITZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3772
5/4/2026
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