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)(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.
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu (US 20140352088 A1).
Regarding claim 22, Wu discloses a control method, comprising:
transmitting a first control instruction to a peristaltic pump, the first control instruction being used to indicate the peristaltic pump to be in a working state for a first duration so as to push toothpaste in a toothpaste chamber to a toothbrush head (¶ [0088] – [0092]);
and transmitting a second control instruction to a motor after the first duration, the second control instruction being used to indicate the motor to be in a working state for a second duration (¶ [00932]).
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.
Claims 1, 11-12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (CN 217908060 U; translation attached) in view of Wu (US 20140352088 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Gao discloses a core assembly applied to an electric toothbrush, the electric toothbrush comprising a toothbrush head (item 50, figure 1), a toothbrush handle (item 40, figure 1), and a toothpaste chamber (item 60, figure 1), the core assembly comprising:
a motor (item 15, figure 1) comprising a hollow rotating shaft (item 12, figure 1), a first end of the hollow rotating shaft being coupled to the toothbrush head (figure 1; ¶[0025]);
a
and a control assembly electrically coupled to the
However, Gao does not teach that the pump is peristaltic.
Wu discloses an electric toothbrush comprising a toothbrush head (item 120, figure 1), a toothbrush handle (item 110, figure 1), and a toothpaste chamber (item 502, figure 1), the core assembly comprising:
a motor (item 202, figure 1) and a peristaltic pump (item 400, figure 1), a first end of the peristaltic pump being coupled to the toothpaste chamber (¶ [0059]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have substituted the pump of Gao with the peristaltic pump as taught by Wu as it is a simple substitution of one known pump for another to obtain the predictable result of transferring toothpaste from the toothpaste chamber to the toothbrush head (see MPEP §2143 (I)(B)).
Regarding claim 11, Gao discloses the core assembly according to claim 1, wherein the electric toothbrush further comprises a sealing gasket (item 1331, figure 4) sleeved onto the hollow rotating shaft and in interference-fit connection with the hollow rotating shaft (¶ [0035]).
Gao is silent on the interference-fit width between the sealing gasket and the hollow rotating shaft is within a range of 4mm to 5mm.
However, supplying the width of the interference-fit within a range of 4 and 5 mm would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component (see MPEP §2144.04(IV)). A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 12, Gao discloses the core assembly according to claim 1, but is silent on the conditions of the peristaltic pump.
Wu discloses the peristaltic pump meets at least one of the following conditions:
a motor speed of the peristaltic pump is within a range of 12000r/min to 18000r/min (¶ 0071]), or a gear reduction ratio of the peristaltic pump is within a range of 30:1 to 50:1 (¶ [0076]).
Although Gao or Wu do not explicitly disclose the ranges of the motor speed or gear reduction ratio, supplying the peristaltic pump with a motor speed within a range of 12000 – 18000r/min or a gear reduction ratio within a range of 30:1 to 50:1 would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art, since such a modification would have involved routine optimization of the pump in order to find a workable range to deliver toothpaste (see MPEP §2144.05(II)).
Regarding claim 14, Gao as modified discloses an electric toothbrush, comprising a t toothbrush head (item 50, figure 1), a toothbrush handle (item 40, figure 1), a toothpaste chamber (item 60, figure 1), and the core assembly according to claim 1, wherein the core assembly is arranged in the toothbrush handle (figure 1);
wherein the toothbrush handle comprises an accommodation space and a cavity, the cavity forms the toothpaste chamber (item 60, figure 1), and the accommodation space is configured to receive he core assembly (assembly within handle 40, figure 1).
However, Gao does not teach a button assembly to control the toothbrush.
Wu discloses a button assembly (items 114 and 201, figure 1) further arranged on an outer surface of the toothbrush handle, and comprises a first button configured to control the pushing of the toothpaste (item 114, figure 1; ¶ [0084]) and a second button configured to turn on and turn off the electric toothbrush and switch a tooth-brushing mode (item 201, figure 1; ¶ [0051]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have included the button assembly as taught by Wu in the electric toothbrush of Gao in order to allow controllable actuation of the tooth-brushing mode and pumping of toothpaste.
Claims 2-3 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (CN 217908060 U; translation attached) in view of Wu (US 20140352088 A1), and further in view of Chen (CN 109464206 A; translation attached).
Regarding claim 2, Gao as modified discloses the core assembly according to claim 1, wherein the peristaltic pump comprises:
a pump body (item 30, figure 1) provided with a transmission passage (item 31, figure 4);
a first interface being coupled to the toothpaste chamber (item 33, figure 4; ¶ [0032]);
and a hose (item 13, figure 4), a first end of the hose being coupled to a second interface (item 134, figure 4; ¶ [0035]), a second end of the hose being coupled to the second end of the hollow rotating shaft (item 133, figure 4; ¶ [0035]).
Although Gao teaches a first interface (item 33, figure 4) and a second interface (item 34, figure 4), Gao does not teach these interfaces are provided opposite to each other in an extending direction of a central line of the toothbrush handle.
Chen discloses an electric toothbrush core assembly wherein the pump comprises:
a pump body (item 15, figure 1) provided with a transmission passage, the transmission passage being provided with a first interface (item 23, figure 2) and a second interface (item 24, figure 2) opposite to each other in an extending direction of a central line of the toothbrush handle;
the first interface being coupled to the toothpaste chamber (item 112, figure 2);
and a hose (item 54, figure 8), a first end of the hose being coupled to the second interface (¶ [0114]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have oriented the interfaces of Gao opposite to each other in an extending direction of a central line of the toothbrush handle as taught by Chen in order to align the passage with the direction of flow to create a shorter and straighter path for the toothpaste within a narrow handle. This would have also been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art, since such a modification would have involved a mere rearrangement of parts (see MPEP §2144.04(VI)).
Regarding claim 3, Gao as modified discloses the core assembly according to claim 2, further comprising at least one of a first connection base (item 28, figure 4) or a second connection base (lower end of item 11, figure 4);
wherein the first end of the peristaltic pump is coupled to the toothpaste chamber through the first connection base (¶ [0032]);
and the second end of the hollow rotating shaft is coupled to the second end of the hose through the second connection base (¶ [0036]).
Regarding claim 8, Gao as modified discloses the core assembly according to claim 3, wherein the first connection base comprises:
a first inlet through which the toothpaste chamber is in communication with the first end of the peristaltic pump (¶ [0032] and ¶ [0025]);
However, Gao does not teach a threaded unit in connection with the toothpaste chamber on the connection base or an anti-leakage rubber member enclosing the first inlet.
Wu discloses a first inlet through which the toothpaste chamber is in communication with the first end of the peristaltic pump (item 504, figure 1);
a threaded unit in connection with the toothpaste chamber (¶ [0065]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have relocated the threaded unit of Gao from the handle to be placed on the connection base as taught by Wu so that the toothpaste chamber may be easily replaceable (see Wu ¶ [0065]).
Furthermore, Chen discloses an anti-leakage rubber member (items 25 and 26, figure 2) enclosing the first inlet.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have modified the connection base of Gao with an anti-leakage rubber member as taught by Chen in order to prevent leakage of toothpaste in the joint between the pump and toothpaste chamber.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (CN 217908060 U; translation attached) in view of Wu (US 20140352088 A1), and further in view of Luo (US 11351016 B2).
Regarding claim 13, Gao as modified discloses the core assembly according to claim 1, further comprising:
a core bracket on which the motor, the peristaltic pump and the control assembly are arranged (items 11 and 21, figure 1; ¶ [0029])
a battery arranged on the core assembly and configured to supply power to the motor and the peristaltic pump (item 70, figure 1).
However, Gao as modified does not teach a charge coil configured to charge the battery in a wireless manner.
Luo discloses an electric toothbrush core comprising a core bracket (item 2, figure 1) and a charge coil (item 26, figure 1) arranged on the core bracket and configured to charge the battery in a wireless manner.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have modified the core assembly of Gao with a charge coil as taught by Luo in order to allow easy and convenient charging of the electric toothbrush battery.
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu (US 20140352088 A1) in view of Luo (US 11351016 B2).
Regarding claim 23, Wu discloses the control method according to claim 22, but does not teach a third control instruction to a light plate.
Luo discloses a control method for a toothbrush transmitting a control instruction to a light plate, wherein the control instruction is used to indicate the light plate to emit light in accordance with a predetermined strategy (col. 4, lines 18-29).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have modified the control method of Wu to include a third control instruction to a light plate to emit light as taught by Luo. Luo teaches emitting lights on a toothbrush aid in oral health care (col. 4, lines 3-12).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7, 9-10, 16, 18-19, and 21 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 4 is allowed primarily because the prior art of record cannot anticipate Applicant’s claimed invention by a single reference nor render Applicant’s claimed invention obvious by the combination of more than one reference.
The prior art of record, Gao, Wu, Luo, or Chen do not teach an electric toothbrush core assembly wherein the first connection base comprises: “a sealing cover provided with a first via-hole, the first via-hole extending from a first side surface to a second side surface of the sealing cover, the first side surface being depressed to form a transition groove in communication with the first interface, the second side surface extending outward to form an interface member in communication with the first via-hole; and a first sealing ring sleeved onto the interface member, the first sealing ring being provided with a slot in communication with the toothpaste chamber” as within the context of the claimed invention as disclosed and within the context of the other limitations present in claim 4.
Claim 19 is allowed primarily because the prior art of record cannot anticipate Applicant’s claimed invention by a single reference nor render Applicant’s claimed invention obvious by the combination of more than one reference.
The prior art of record does not teach “a chip arranged in the vial opening and configured to store information about the toothpaste” as within the context of the claimed invention as disclosed and within the context of the other limitations present in claim 19.
Therefore, the prior art of record cannot anticipate Applicant’s claimed invention by a single reference nor render Applicant’s claimed invention obvious by the combination of more than one reference.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art cited on PTO-892 disclose subject matter related to various types of electric toothbrush core assemblies.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NOAH J ARIF whose telephone number is (571)272-9620. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Paul R Durand can be reached at (571)272-4459. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NOAH JACOB ARIF/Examiner, Art Unit 3754
/PAUL R DURAND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754 August 17, 2026
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