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.
Claims 1-4 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Deutsch (US 5,097,828).
Regarding claim 1, Deutsch discloses a portable skin cooling device (fig.1; therapy device 10), comprising: housing (the housing of therapy device 10), wherein the housing (100) has a chamber formed inside (the chamber formed inside therapy device 10); thermoelectric module (thermo module 52), fixed within the chamber of the housing (fig.1), wherein the thermoelectric module (200) is provided with a cooling surface (the cooling side of thermos module facing the contact plate 54); cooling head (fig.1; contact plate 54, see also col.3, line 50-59), embedded on the surface of the housing (fig.1), wherein the cooling head (fig.1) is connected to the cooling surface of the thermoelectric module (fig.1); power source (fig.1; batteries 20), located inside the housing (fig.1), wherein the power source (batteries 20) is used to supply power to the thermoelectric module (fig.4, see also col.2, line 34-39); PCB board (controller board 28), located inside the housing (the housing of therapy device 10), said PCB board (fig.1 and fig.4) connected to both the thermoelectric module (fig.4) and the power source (fig.4); wherein, the thermoelectric module (controller board 28) is used for cooling (abstract), the PCB board (fig.5) is provided with a central control module (col.3, line 31-41), the said central control module is configured to control the cooling temperature of the thermoelectric module (col.3, line 31-41), and the cooling head (thermo module 52) is used for contact with the skin for cold therapy.
Regarding claim 2, Deutsch discloses the portable skin cooling device according to claim 1, characterized in that the thermoelectric module (thermo module 52) comprises a thermoelectric cooler (co1.2, line 61-67, see also claim 1) .
Regarding claim 3, Deutsch discloses the portable skin cooling device according to claim 2, characterized in that the thermoelectric module (thermo module 52) comprises one or multiple thermoelectric coolers arranged by stacking cold and hot surfaces or in a planar array (claim 1).
Regarding claim 4, Deutsch discloses the portable skin cooling device according to claim 1, further comprising a cooling temperature sensor, the cooling temperature sensor being located inside the housing (the housing of therapy device 10) and connected to the PCB board (500), wherein the cooling temperature sensor is used to monitor temperature data of the cooling head (300) and feed back to the central control module (fig.5, see col 3, line 32-41).
Regarding claim 8, Deutsch discloses the portable skin cooling device according to claim 1, further comprising a vibration module, said vibration module fixed inside the housing (100) and connected to the central control module (col.4, line 22-25).
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Reinstein (US 2008/0300529).
Regarding claim 1, Reinstein discloses a portable skin cooling device (fig.2), comprising :housing (the housing thermoelectric Peltier device in fig.2), wherein the housing (100) has a chamber formed inside (the chamber formed thermoelectric Peltier device), thermoelectric module (thermoelectric (TE) module 14) fixed within the chamber of the housing (fig.2), wherein the thermoelectric module (thermoelectric (TE) module 14) is provided with a cooling surface (cool surface or substrate 3); cooling head (fig.2; cool plate 13), embedded on the surface of the housing (fig.2), wherein the cooling head (fig.2) is connected to the cooling surface of the thermoelectric module (fig.1, see also [0068]); power source (fig.1; batteries 20), located inside the housing (fig.1), wherein the power source (batteries 20) is used to supply power to the thermoelectric module (fig.4, see also col.2, line 34-39); PCB board ( electronic controller 33), located inside the housing (fig.2), said PCB board (fig.1 and fig.4) connected to both the thermoelectric module (fig.4) and the power source (fig.4); wherein, the thermoelectric module (thermoelectric (TE) module 14) is used for cooling (abstract), the PCB board (fig.2) is provided with a central control module (electronic controller 33), the said central control module is configured to control the cooling temperature of the thermoelectric module (fig.1), and the cooling head (fig.1) is used for contact with the skin for cold therapy [0068].
Regarding claim 2, Reinstein discloses the portable skin cooling device according to claim 1, characterized in that the thermoelectric module (thermoelectric (TE) module 14) comprises a thermoelectric cooler (fig.1; cool surface 3, see also [0067]).
Regarding claim 3, Reinstein discloses the portable skin cooling device according to claim 2, characterized in that the thermoelectric module (thermoelectric (TE) module 14) comprises one or multiple thermoelectric coolers arranged by stacking cold and hot surfaces or in a planar array (fig.1, see also [0067]).
Regarding claim 4, Reinstein discloses the portable skin cooling device according to claim 1, further comprising a cooling temperature sensor, the cooling temperature sensor being located inside the housing (electronic controller 33) and connected to the PCB board (electronic controller 33), wherein the cooling temperature sensor is used to monitor temperature data of the cooling head ( cool plate 13) and feed back to the central control module (fig.2, see also [0068]).
Regarding claim 5, Reinstein discloses the portable skin cooling device according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing (fig.2) is provided with a heat sink module (fig.1; heat sink 12, see also [0066]), the thermoelectric module (thermoelectric (TE) module 14) comprises a cooling surface (cool side 1) and a heating surface (hot side 2), and the heat sink module is connected to said heating surface (fig.1).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reinstein (US 2008/0300529) in view of KIM (US 2021/0113365).
Regarding claim 6, Reinstein the portable skin cooling device according to claim 5, characterized in that the heat sink module comprises a heat pipe (fig.1, see also [0068]), connected to the heating surface of the thermoelectric power source [0068] fixed inside the housing (fig.2). However, Reinstein does not disclose a phase change material sealed inside the heat pipe. Arnold teaches a medical cooling device including a cooling medium configured to cool a target region through thermal contact with the target region (abstract). The device includes heat transfer medium 116 may connect the cooling generator 113 and the heat dissipation unit 114 to transfer the heat of the cooling generator 113 to the heat dissipation unit 114. The heat transfer medium 116 may comprise a heat pipe or a vapor chamber and may include a pipe body and phase change material (PCM) provided inside the pipe body. The pipe body may be made of material having the high thermal conductivity so as to effectively transfer the heat from the cooling generator 113 that is in contact with the heat transfer medium 116 to the PCM therein. The PCM is the material that is able to store a great amount of thermal energy or release the stored thermal energy through the phase change . Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was effectively filed to modify as taught by Reinstein with heat pipe that includes phase changing material as taught by KIM for the purpose of effective heat transfer.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reinstein (US 2008/0300529) in view of KIM (US 2021/0113365) in further view of Schaefer (US 2016/0022477).
Regarding claim 7, Reinstein/ KIM does not disclose further comprising a heat sink module temperature sensor, said heat sink module temperature sensor fixed inside the housing and connected to the central control module, said heat sink module temperature sensor used to monitor the temperature of the heat sink module and feed back to the central control module.
Schaefer teaches treatment methods for providing thermal contrast therapy, and systems for providing and managing thermal contrast therapy treatments. Schaefer further teaches the temperature of the heat sink may be monitored via heat sink temperature sensor 160. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was effectively filed to modify as taught by Reinstein/ KIM with heat sink module temperature sensor as taught by Schaefer for the purpose of monitoring the temperature.
Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reinstein (US 2008/0300529) in view of Ella (US 2003/0032900).
Regarding claim 9, Reinstein does not disclose the portable skin cooling device according to claim 1, further comprising LED light therapy module and radio frequency therapy electrodes and further comprising electrotherapy electrodes, said electrotherapy electrodes fixed on the surface of the housing and connected to the central control module, said electrotherapy electrodes used for electrotherapy.
Ella teaches the system includes a portable control-and-power console and a light-weight portable device having a plurality of spouts, designed for different portions of the body, and comprising different features. The different features are adapted for different modes of therapy, such as suction massage therapy, warming light therapy, UV light therapy, LLLT, ultrasound therapy, pulsating magnetic field therapy, constant magnetic field therapy, electrostimulation therapy, cooling-diode therapy, and warming-diode therapy (abstract). The system includes cooling-diode therapy and an electrode pair, for applying a electrostimulation therapy [0079]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was effectively filed to modify as taught by Reinstein light and electrode therapy as taught by Ella for the purpose of providing multiple therapy with one device.
Conclusion
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/TIGIST S DEMIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3794
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