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
This is a first action on the merits for this regular application filed on 01/10/2025
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.
Claim 2 is 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 line 2, Applicant recites “which first air duct the wind”. The examiner is unable to determine what applicant is trying to claim? It is respectfully requested that Applicant delete the term “first air duct” or add “the” before the term “first air duct”.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Akahoshi (US 6,106,786).
Regarding claim 1, Akahoshi discloses an aromatherapy device (Fig.1:1), wherein the aromatherapy device comprises detachably connected two parts (Fig.1:2, 7, and 9; col.3, lines 37-43), the first part being an aromatherapy storage module (Fig.1:9), the aromatherapy storage module comprising a first opening (unlabeled top opening of 9 as shown in Fig.1) for diffusing aromatherapy vapor;
the second part being a host module (Fig.1:2), the host module comprising a support frame (unlabeled outer frame of body 2 as shown in Fig.1) and a fan unit (Fig.1:10) that are matched with the aromatherapy storage module;
wherein, the aromatherapy storage module (Fig.1:9) is installed on the host module (Fig.1:2) to form an air duct unit (Fig.1:3 and the unlabeled air flow arrows) and an energizing unit (Fig.1:12 and col.2, lines 66-67 and col.3, lines 1-9), the air duct unit being configured for the passage of wind generated (col.2, lines 40-65) by the fan unit.
Regarding claim 2, Akahoshi discloses that the host module comprises a first air
Duct (right side openings of 3 as shown in Fig.1), through which first air duct the wind generated by the fan unit enters the aromatherapy storage module (unlabeled arrows in Fig.1).
Regarding claim 3, Akahoshi discloses that the aromatherapy storage module (Fig.1:9) further comprises a storage bin (Fig.1:6) and an atomization bin (Fig.1:7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claims 4-10, the closest prior art found (Akahoshi), and upon additional searches, do not teach or fairly suggest adding the following structures of oil-absorbing units, heating unit, a second energizing unit, and the telescoping connections between the aromatherapy storage module and the host module to the combined structural limitations of the aromatherapy device of claim 1.
Claim 5 is objected to merely due to its dependence from claim 4.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONZER R CHORBAJI whose telephone number is (571)272-1271. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-12:00 and 6:00-9:00.
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, Jill J Warden can be reached at (571)272-1267. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MONZER R CHORBAJI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
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