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
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 1, “plugs accessible” should read --plugs are accessible--
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 11-13 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.
In regards to claim 11, line 2 recites “a second drawer”. However, the preceding claims claim 11 is dependent upon do not recite a first drawer. Therefore, it is unclear how many drawers applicant intends to claim. It appears claim 11 should be dependent upon claim 10. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected based on their respective dependencies.
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lipsey (US Pub. No. 2022/0167761 A1) in view of Maldonado (US Pat. No. 10,172,484 B2), Kim et al. (US Pat. No. 10,702,060 B2), and Duncan (US Pat. No. 3,828,588).
In regards to claim 1, Lipsey teaches a wig storage cabinet for maintaining wigs, the wig storage cabinet comprising: a housing (12) having a top wall (70), a bottom wall (26), a pair of side walls (22),; a first storage member (40); a second storage member (40); wherein said first storage member having a first hinged door (20) hingedly coupled to said housing; wherein said second storage member having a second hinged door (20) hingedly coupled to said housing; wherein said housing having a bottom surface including a plurality of wheels (24) mounted thereunder for wheeled movement of said housing; wherein at least one of said first storage member and said second storge member having a first wig dowel (60) for storing a first wig.
Lipsey does not teach a plurality of power plugs; said first storage member and said second storage member having a partition therebetween; wherein said partition selectively positionable to adjust a size of said first storage member and said second storage member; and further wherein at least one of said first storage member and said second storage member having a mister for misting the first wig.
Maldonado teaches a wig storage cabinet having a housing with a plurality of power plugs (68, Fig. 8B; 68, Fig. 9C) (Col 38, Lines 32-42). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date and with reasonable expectation of success to modify Lipsey’s cabinet to include a plurality of power plugs. The motivation would be for the purpose of providing multicolored lighting as taught by Maldonado (Col 39, Lines 33-39).
Kim teaches a cabinet having a selectively positionable partition (e.g.; 340, Fig. 5) to adjust a size of a first storage member (301) and a second storage member (302). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date and with reasonable expectation of success to modify Lipsey’s cabinet to include each storage member having a selective positionable partition between the storage members to adjust a size of the first storage member and the second storage member. The motivation would be for the purpose of having various sizes of the storage spaces as taught by Kim (Col 8, Lines 50-52).
Duncan teaches a cabinet having at least one of a first storage member (52) and a second storage member (54) having a mister (94, 98) for misting a first wig (Col 4, Lines 56-64). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date and with reasonable expectation of success to modify Lipsey’s cabinet such that at least one of said first storage member and said second storage member having a mister for misting the first wig. The motivation would be for the purpose of conditioning the wig as taught by Duncan (Col 4, Lines 56-64).
In regards to claim 2, in modifying Lipsey, Duncan teaches said mister having a fan (Duncan: 224) capable of circulating air and mist in said at least one of said first storage member and said second storage member.
In regards to claim 3, in modifying Lipsey, Duncan teaches said mister having a repository (176, Fig. 2) of the conditioning material (Duncan: Col 6, Lines 35-38), and further wherein said conditioning material is dispensed with said mist through said mister (Duncan: Col 4, Lines 56-64). The examiner takes OFFICIAL NOTICE that conditioners associated with hair commonly include a fragrant material, and it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date and with reasonable expectation of success to include a fragrant material in the conditioning fluids. The motivation would be for the purpose of allowing a user to choose a particular smell for their wigs similar to how a user purchases a particular smelling shampoo and conditioner from a store.
In regards to claim 4, in modifying Lipsey, Duncan teaches the conditioning/fragrant material is replenishable (i.e.; the conditioning agent is mixed in a mixing chamber; Col 6, Lines 35-38; via user access; Col 6, Lines 58-63 of Duncan).
In regards to claim 5, in modifying Lipsey, Duncan teaches said mist is dispensed in predetermined intervals for misting the wig (i.e.; the conditioning cycle occurs in a predetermined sequence of time; Col 9, Lines 3-5, 20-25).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duncan (US Pat. No. 3,828,588).
In regards to claim 20, Duncan teaches a wig storage cabinet comprising: a housing (22) having a top wall (38), a bottom wall (40), and a pair of side walls (34, 36); a first storage member (52); a second storage member (54); wherein said first storage member having a first hinged door (24) hingedly coupled to said housing; wherein said second storage member having a second hinged door (26) hingedly coupled to said housing; wherein at least one of said first storage member and said second storge member having a first wig dowel (56) for storing a first wig; wherein at least one of said first storage member and said second storage member having a mister (94, 96) for misting the first wig; wherein said mister having a fan (224) capable of circulating air and mist in said at least one of said first storage member and said second storage member; wherein said mister having a repository (176) of conditioning material (Duncan: Col 6, Lines 35-38); wherein said conditioning material is dispensed with said mist through said mister (Duncan: Col 4, Lines 56-64); and further wherein said mist is dispensed in predetermined intervals for misting the first wig (i.e.; the conditioning cycle occurs in a predetermined sequence of time; Col 9, Lines 3-5, 20-25).
The examiner takes OFFICIAL NOTICE that conditioners associated with hair commonly include a fragrant material, and it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date and with reasonable expectation of success to include fragrant material in the conditioning fluids. The motivation would be for the purpose of allowing a user to choose a particular smell for their wigs similar to how a user purchases a particular smelling shampoo and conditioner from a store.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-19 are allowed. Claims 6-10 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. Claims 11-13 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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:
Regarding claim 6, Bonin (US Pub. No. 2003/0034459 A1) teaches the closing of a door (15) activates sanitization of items in the cabinet. The prior art or record does not teach further modifying Lipsey such that a mister is automatically deactivated upon opening one of the first and second hinged doors in combination with the structural and functional limitations of Applicant’s claimed invention.
Regarding claim 7, the prior art of record does not teach further modifying Lipsey to include the combination of structural and functional limitations of Applicant’s claimed invention.
Regarding claim 14, the closest prior art of record is discussed above. The prior art of record does not teach a wig storage cabinet having the combination of structural and functional limitations of Applicant’s claimed invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see the PTO-892 for additional prior art related to Applicant’s disclosed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STANTON L KRYCINSKI whose telephone number is (571)270-5381. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 10:00AM-5:00PM ET.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Liu can be reached at (571)272-8227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Stanton L Krycinski/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3631