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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 28 August 2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-16 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baines (US 8961048) in view of Seager (US 4915528).
Regarding claim 1, Baines teaches an application device for applying a cosmetic product, said application device having a main longitudinal axis and comprising: a container (2) forming a reservoir of cosmetic product and extending axially from an open lower bottom towards an upper dispensing opening for dispensing the cosmetic product, a support (30) movable axially inside the container and configured to be linked to the cosmetic product, a drive screw (51) whose a rotational movement causes an axial displacement of the movable support inside the container, an actuating means (3) accessible to the user to cause the rotational movement of the drive screw, and a connecting skirt (15) extending from the actuating means towards a lower end of the drive screw, the connecting skirt being funnel-shaped towards the drive screw (frustoconical, see col. 13, ll. 13-21), wherein the actuating means and the connecting skirt form a duct for the passage of the fluid cosmetic product from the outside towards the inside of the container when filling the container with cosmetic product (col. 14, ll. 50-55).
Baines does not teach that the actuating means is housed in a cavity formed in the open lower bottom of the container.
Seager teaches an actuating means (32) that is housed in a cavity (50) formed in the open lower bottom of a container (24).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device of Baines such that the actuating means is housed in a cavity formed in the open lower bottom of the container as taught by Seager, wherein doing so would merely be a matter of selecting a known alternate shape for the actuating means and container without changing the function or operation thereof.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting skirt and the drive screw are linked by at least one material bridge (Baines 58), the at least one material bridge being inclined towards the upper dispensing opening of the container (Baines Fig. 14).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein the actuating means, the connecting skirt and the drive screw are integral and formed in one-part (Baines col. 9, ll. 4-16 discloses that the rotor wheel, which includes both the actuating means and the connecting skirt, may be integral with the drive screw).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein an upper edge of the connecting skirt comprises at least one indentation (Baines, formed between sidewalls 21) increasing the cross-sectional area through which the fluid cosmetic product passes when filling the container with cosmetic product.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 4, wherein the at least one material bridge is linked to the upper edge of the connecting skirt in an area without indentations (Baines, the material bridges are linked to the connecting skirt at 24).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 5, wherein the connecting skirt and the drive screw are linked by at least two material bridges (Baines Fig. 17), the at least two material bridges are linked to the upper edge of the connecting skirt between two adjacent indentations (Fig. 14).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein the actuating means is blocked axially in the open lower bottom of the container and free to rotate relative thereto (Baines, the actuating means is held in place by lip 17, see Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein an external end of the drive screw is ogive-shaped (Baines 53).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Baines and Ogive teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein the movable support comprises a transverse wall (Baines, formed by 32, 34 and the beam connecting them) equipped with openings (Baines 60) for the passage of the fluid cosmetic product when filling the container with cosmetic product.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein the movable support comprises a central skirt (Baines 32) through which the drive screw passes, an internal wall of the central skirt of the movable support comprising a thread (Baines col. 13, ll. 46-47) cooperating with a thread of the drive screw so that the rotational movement of the drive screw causes the axial displacement of the movable support inside the container.
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 10, wherein an external wall of the central skirt of the movable support has a chamfer (Baines Fig. 12) in an extension of an ogive shape of the lower end of the drive screw, when the movable support is in abutment with the ogive shape of the lower end of the drive screw (Baines Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the transverse wall of the movable support is a grid (Baines, Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 12, wherein the container is cylindrical and/or the grid is bean-shaped (Baines Fig. 11 shows a ‘bean-shaped’ grid).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein the actuating means has a circular cross-section and/or the container has an oblong cross-section (Baines, container has an oblong cross-section, see Fig. 9).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein the movable support has a cross-sectional shape similar to the cross-section of the container (Baines, see Figs. 4 and 5).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein the actuating means is closed by a cap (Baines 27).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, wherein the application device is a stick of cosmetic product (Baines, deodorant, col. 1, ll. 26-33).
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baines and Seager as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Crowley (US 4605330).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Baines and Seager teaches the application device according to claim 1, made from a single material (Baines col. 14, ll. 35-36).
The combination does not teach that the single material is polypropylene.
Crowley teaches forming an application device from polypropylene (col. 3, ll. 2-9).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have made the combination of Baines and Seager from polypropylene as taught by Crowley, wherein doing so would merely be a matter of selecting a known material known to be suitable for use as an application device.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-10 and 12-16 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADLEY S OLIVER whose telephone number is (571)270-3787. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7-3 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Angwin can be reached at (571)270-3735. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRADLEY S OLIVER/Examiner, Art Unit 3754
/DAVID P ANGWIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3754
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