DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 3/10/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the communications filed on 3/10/2026.
The Examiner notes claims 1-6 & 10-22 are currently pending and have been examined; claim(s) 8 is/are canceled without prejudice, claim(s) 1, 20, & 22 is/are currently amended; all other claims are original or previously presented. Please see the Response to Amendments and Response to Arguments sections below for more details.
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 1-22 is/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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1 & 20. The claims state “…wherein an optical axis of the first positioning component is deflected outward…” It is unclear if this is a new optical axis of the first positioning component or the same one that was recited just above this limitation. For examining purposes the limitation will be interpreted as “…wherein [[an]]the optical axis of the first positioning component is deflected outward…”
All dependent claims are similarly rejected.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 8, & 10-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PESACH et al. (US 20200359777), hereinafter Pesach.
Regarding claim 1. (Each claim status is listed above in the Status of Claims section). Pesach discloses an oral care position identification method applied to an oral care device [Fig 1A-2; Abstract, ¶171-¶174, & ¶187], comprising steps:
acquiring human body feature information of a user during an oral care process through a single first positioning component of the oral care device [Fig 1A-2; ¶171-¶174, & ¶187-¶188; a first position component (106) of 102 acquires human body feature information during brushing (Steps 202-203 in Fig 2); Step 202 corresponds to ¶193-¶206 and Step 203 corresponds to ¶207-¶210]; and
determining a current oral care position corresponding to a care element of the oral care device based on the human body feature information [Fig 1A-2; ¶211-¶233; specifically in ¶212 the image from 106 is used to determine the spatial relationship between the brush head (oral care device) and the identified user body portion(s) (human body feature information)];
wherein the oral care device comprises a handle [103], the care element disposed on the handle [Fig 1A-1B; 104 is disposed on 103], and the first positioning component disposed on the handle [Fig 1A-1B; 106 is disposed on 103];
wherein the care element is within an energy field of the first positioning component [Fig 1A-1B; the position of the care element (104) in relation to the camera (106) is determined in relation to the user’s body features; therefore the camera has the care element in its energy field (i.e. image capture field)], so that the first positioning component is able to acquire feature information of at least part of the care element when the first positioning component is turned on [Fig 1A-2; ¶194 & ¶202; the position of the oral care device in the field of view of the camera is to determine location and angle of the user’s facial features],
wherein the handle defines an axis [Fig 1A-1B], the first positioning component defines an optical axis [Fig 1A-1B; 106 has an optical axis; it is noted that the Fig is a schematic view of the toothbrush and that the axis’ of the handle and 106 are generally shown], …;
wherein the care element extends along a first axis [Fig 1A-1B; 104 extends along an axis], the optical axis of the first positioning component is located on a second axis [Fig 1A-1B; the optical axis of 106 is located on a second axis], ….
Pesach may not explicitly disclose the axis of the handle intersects the optical axis of the first positioning component at the handle, wherein an optical axis of the first positioning component is deflected outward relative to the care element to adjust a center of the energy field in a direction away from the care element; and an included angle between the first axis and the second axis is less than a half of the energy field of the first positioning component.
However Pesach further teaches and the axis of the handle intersects the optical axis of the first positioning component at the handle [Figure 1 of this action & Fig 8B; the positioning component (806) has a field of view, hereinafter FOV, that angles away from the toothbrush thereby having the optical axis intersect the handle; it is noted that even though the cylinder used in the schematic drawing is aligned and/or parallel with the handle axis it’s FOV is not; this is also true of item 842 in the same Fig], wherein an optical axis of the first positioning component is deflected outward relative to the care element to adjust a center of the energy field in a direction away from the care element [Figure 1 of this action]; wherein the care element extends along a first axis [Fig 8B; 804 extends along an axis], the optical axis of the first positioning component is located on a second axis [Fig 1A-1B; the optical axis of 806 is located on a second axis], and an included angle between the first axis and the second axis is less than a half of the energy field of the first positioning component [Figure 1 of this action & Fig 8B; there is an included angle between the axis of 806 and the axis of 804 that is less than half of FOV of 806].
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Figure 1
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the FOV as disclosed by Pesach to have the axis of the handle intersect the optical axis of the first positioning component at the handle, wherein an optical axis of the first positioning component is deflected outward relative to the care element to adjust a center of the energy field in a direction away from the care element; and an included angle between the first axis and the second axis is less than a half of the energy field of the first positioning component as taught by Pesach as adjusting the angle of the FOV of first positioning component in relation to the angle of the care element as disclosed by Pesach to be less than half of the energy field (FOV) of the first positioning component would not make the first positioning component nor the toothbrush operate differently with the claimed angle. Therefore the device would function appropriately have the claimed angle and the modification would be obvious since it has been held that "where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimension would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device" MPEP 2144.04-IV-A.
Regarding claim 2. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 1, wherein the first positioning component is configured to acquire images or light energy; and/or the first positioning component comprises a camera or a photoelectric sensor; and/or the care element is within a field of view (FOV) of the first positioning component [Fig 1A-1B; ¶171 & ¶177; 106 is an optical and/or infrared imager with a FOV].
Regarding claim 3. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 1, wherein the human body feature information comprises mouth feature information [¶174; facial features includes mouth features].
Regarding claim 4. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 3, wherein the human body feature information further comprises chin feature information or nose feature information [¶174; facial features includes chin and nose features].
Regarding claim 5. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 1, wherein oral care position identification method further comprises steps: acquiring care element feature information during the oral care process through the first positioning component; and determining the current oral care position corresponding to the care element based on the human body feature information and the care element feature information [Fig 1A-2; Steps 204 & 206 in Fig 2; ¶211-¶214; as the brush head position is located by the camera and the facial features position is also located by the camera, the current brush head location is determine by both position information].
Regarding claim 6. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 5, wherein the step of determining the current oral care position corresponding to the care element based on the human body feature information and the care element feature information comprises steps: determine a first subarea based on the human body feature information, determine a second subarea based on the care element feature information [¶212; multiple body portions are identified], and determine the current oral care position corresponding to the care element based on the first subarea and the second subarea; or determine the current oral care position corresponding to the care element based on the care element feature information and relative positioning information between the care element and at least one human body feature [Fig 1A-2; Steps 204 & 206 in Fig 2; ¶211-¶214; the imager takes an image of the user’s facial features which includes the toothbrush and the image is used to identify multiple body portions and the location of the toothbrush in relation to the user’s face].
Regarding claim 10. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 1, wherein the handle comprises a transition section and a holding section, a cross-sectional area of a connecting end of the handle connected to the care element is less than a cross-sectional area of the holding section, the transition section connects the holding section to the connecting end of the handle, and the first positioning component is disposed on the transition section [Fig 1A-1B; the connecting end of the handle (103) is the portion of the end of the handle directly under the care element (104) and the transition section is the flat surface surrounding the end of 104 extending out to the outer cylindrical surface of 103 which is the holding section].
Regarding claim 11. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 1, wherein the care element comprises a connecting end and a free end opposite to the connecting end [Fig 1A-1B], and the connecting end of the care element is connected to the handle [Fig 1A-1B]; wherein when the first positioning component is turned on, the first positioning component is able to acquire at least an image of the care element from the connecting end of the care element to a first predetermined range toward the free end of the care element [Fig 1A-1B; ¶123 & ¶172; at least a portion of 104 is in the FOV and that encompasses both the connecting end and the free end of 104 being in the FOV]; and/or when the first positioning component is turned on, the first positioning component is able to at least acquire an image of the care element from the free end of the care element to a second predetermined range toward the connecting end of the care element [Fig 1A-1B; ¶123 & ¶172; at least a portion of 104 is in the FOV].
Regarding claim 12. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 11, wherein a position of the care element of a predetermined distance from the connecting end to the free end of the care element is located at a center of each images acquired by the first positioning component, or the position of the care element of the predetermined distance from the connecting end to the free end of the care element intersects the optical axis [Figure 1 of this action & Fig 1A-1B & 8B; ¶123 & ¶172; the free end of the care element can be located in the center of each image as the end of the brush is directly in front of 106 and/or the axis formed from the free end to the connecting end of 104 can intersect the optical axis].
Regarding claim 13. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 1, wherein in a circumferential dimension of the handle, when one side where a buttons is located or a care- oriented surface of the care element is defined as a front side of the handle, the first positioning component is disposed on a rear side of the handle [Fig 1A-1B; the buttons on 103 can be located on a side opposite 106; additionally Fig 7A-7C show a plurality of camera positions located on the front and rear of the toothbrush handle].
Regarding claim 14. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 1, wherein the oral care device further comprises a light source, and the light source is configured to provide supplementary light for the first positioning component [Fig 5 & 7A-7B, & 8B; ¶53, ¶177, ¶189, & ¶215; the toothbrush can have at least one projector to provide supplementary light].
Regarding claim 15. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 1, wherein the oral care device further comprises a second positioning component configured to acquire motion information of the oral care device [¶126, ¶137, ¶231, & ¶357-¶358; the toothbrush can have position and/or accelerometer sensors to provide motion information]; wherein the step of determining the current oral care position corresponding to the care element based on the human body feature information comprises: determining the current oral care position corresponding to the care element based on the human body feature information and the motion information [¶357-¶358; both the image date and motion data combined and used together to provide a more accurate position tracking].
Regarding claim 16. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 1, wherein the oral care device further comprises a second positioning component configured to acquire motion information of the oral care device [¶126, ¶137, ¶231, & ¶357-¶358; the toothbrush can have position and/or accelerometer sensors to provide motion information]; wherein oral care position identification method further comprises steps: when the first positioning component does not acquire the human body feature information, acquiring current motion information corresponding to the oral care device through the second positioning component; and determining the current oral care position corresponding to the oral care device based on the current motion information [¶358; the motion tracking data is used to identify the position of the toothbrush even in the event that the imager cannot collect data].
Regarding claim 17. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 16, wherein the steps of determining the current oral care position corresponding to the oral care device based on the current motion information comprises a step: determining the current oral care position corresponding to the oral care device based on an initial oral care position acquired by the first positioning component and the current motion information [¶137, ¶231, & ¶357-¶358; the current toothbrush position can be determined by imager data initially collected when the toothbrush was activated which is combined by the current motion data acquired when not imager data was collected].
Regarding claim 18. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 16, wherein the oral care position identification method further comprises a step: determining an initial oral care position corresponding to the oral care device based on historical positioning information acquired by the first positioning component when the first positioning component does not acquire the human body feature information; wherein the historical positioning information is positioning information acquired by the first positioning component before acquiring the human body feature information [¶216, ¶221-¶224, ¶228, & ¶231; particularly shown in ¶231, the location of the toothbrush is determined based on historical position and images when the imager cannot get more data (i.e. the imager is obscured)].
Regarding claim 19. Pesach as modified teaches the oral care position identification method according to claim 16, wherein the oral care position identification method further comprises a step: when the first positioning component does not acquire the human body feature information, determining whether there is an initial oral care position corresponding to the oral care device; wherein the step of acquiring the current motion information corresponding to the oral care device through the second positioning component comprises a step: when there is the initial oral care position, acquiring the current motion information corresponding to the oral care device through the second positioning component [¶231 & ¶357-¶358; if the imager is obscured and cannot collect human body features, the toothbrush position can be determined based on the historical toothbrush position and the current motion information being sent/collected by motion sensors].
Regarding claim 20. Pesach discloses an oral care device [102], comprising:
a memory [112];
a processor [110];
a handle [103];
a care element [104]; and
a first positioning component [106];
wherein the first positioning component is disposed within an energy field of the first positioning component, so that the first positioning component is always able to acquire feature information of at least part of the care element when the first positioning component is turned on [Fig 1A-1B];
wherein the memory is connected to the processor [Fig 1A-1B] and is configured to store executable program codes [¶85, ¶89, ¶179-¶180; the memory (112) stores program code that the processor can execute]; wherein the processor is configured to run a program corresponding to the executable program codes by reading the executable program codes stored in the memory [¶85, ¶89, ¶179-¶180], and
the processor is configured to execute steps: acquiring human body feature information of a user during an oral care process through the first positioning component of the oral care device; and determining a current oral care position corresponding to the care element based on the human body feature information [Fig 2],
wherein the handle defines an axis [Fig 1A-1B], the first positioning component defines an optical axis [Fig 1A-1B; 106 has an optical axis; it is noted that the Fig is a schematic view of the toothbrush and that the axis’ of the handle and 106 are generally shown], …;
wherein the care element extends along a first axis [Fig 1A-1B; 104 extends along an axis], the optical axis of the first positioning component is located on a second axis [Fig 1A-1B; the optical axis of 106 is located on a second axis], ….
Pesach may not explicitly disclose the axis of the handle intersects the optical axis of the first positioning component at the handle, wherein an optical axis of the first positioning component is deflected outward relative to the care element to adjust a center of the energy field in a direction away from the care element; and an included angle between the first axis and the second axis is less than a half of the energy field of the first positioning component.
However Pesach further teaches and the axis of the handle intersects the optical axis of the first positioning component at the handle [Figure 1 of this action & Fig 8B; the positioning component (806) has a field of view, hereinafter FOV, that angles away from the toothbrush thereby having the optical axis intersect the handle; it is noted that even though the cylinder used in the schematic drawing is aligned and/or parallel with the handle axis it’s FOV is not; this is also true of item 842 in the same Fig], wherein an optical axis of the first positioning component is deflected outward relative to the care element to adjust a center of the energy field in a direction away from the care element [Figure 1 of this action]; wherein the care element extends along a first axis [Fig 8B; 804 extends along an axis], the optical axis of the first positioning component is located on a second axis [Fig 1A-1B; the optical axis of 806 is located on a second axis], and an included angle between the first axis and the second axis is less than a half of the energy field of the first positioning component [Figure 1 of this action & Fig 8B; there is an included angle between the axis of 806 and the axis of 804 that is less than half of FOV of 806].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the FOV as disclosed by Pesach to have the axis of the handle intersect the optical axis of the first positioning component at the handle, wherein an optical axis of the first positioning component is deflected outward relative to the care element to adjust a center of the energy field in a direction away from the care element; and an included angle between the first axis and the second axis is less than a half of the energy field of the first positioning component as taught by Pesach as adjusting the angle of the FOV of first positioning component in relation to the angle of the care element as disclosed by Pesach to be less than half of the energy field (FOV) of the first positioning component would not make the first positioning component nor the toothbrush operate differently with the claimed angle. Therefore the device would function appropriately have the claimed angle and the modification would be obvious since it has been held that "where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimension would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device" MPEP 2144.04-IV-A.
Claim(s) 21-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pesach in view of Geiss et al. (US 20150163400), hereinafter Geiss.
Regarding claim 21. Pesach discloses the oral care position identification method according to claim 16, but may not explicitly disclose wherein when the first positioning component is not blocked, the first positioning component is controlled to acquire the current positioning information with a first power consumption; when the first positioning component is blocked, the first positioning component is controlled to acquire the current positioning information with a second power consumption less than the first power consumption.
However Geiss teaches an image capturing system that can be used in any apparatus using an image capturing system which includes the oral care position identification method of Pesach using an oral care device with an image capturing system.
Specifically Geiss teaches wherein when the first positioning component is not blocked, the first positioning component is controlled to acquire the current positioning information with a first power consumption; when the first positioning component is blocked, the first positioning component is controlled to acquire the current positioning information with a second power consumption less than the first power consumption [Geiss teaches in ¶95 that if a camera (i.e. positioning component) is occluded (i.e. blocked) the power the camera down to conserve battery power].
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the first positioning component as taught by Pesach to have the first positioning component is not blocked, the first positioning component is controlled to acquire the current positioning information with a first power consumption; when the first positioning component is blocked, the first positioning component is controlled to acquire the current positioning information with a second power consumption less than the first power consumption as taught by Geiss for the purpose of conserving battery power by powering down positioning components when it is detected that it is blocked [Geiss: ¶95].
Regarding claim 22. Pesach discloses the oral care device according to claim 20, when the first positioning component does not acquire the human body feature information, acquiring current motion information corresponding to the oral care device through the second positioning component; and determining the current oral care position corresponding to the oral care device based on the current motion information [This limitation is rejected for the same reasons as claim 16], but may not explicitly disclose wherein when the first positioning component is not blocked, the first positioning component is controlled to acquire the current positioning information with a first power consumption; when the first positioning component is blocked, the first positioning component is controlled to acquire the current positioning information with a second power consumption less than the first power consumption.
However this limitation is rejected for the same reasons as claim 21 by Geiss.
Response to Arguments
35 U.S.C. 102 Rejection
Applicant's arguments, see Pages 8-12, filed 11/5/2025 have been fully considered but are not persuasive.
The Applicant claims that the Examiner misinterprets the term “optical axis”. However Pesach teaches a schematic view of the positioning component and that optical axis of the component does not have to align with its schematical axis as shown in the rejection above for Fig 8A-8B. Additionally because of the figures are in schematic form the technical aspects of the definitions presented in the Applicant’s arguments do not specifically apply.
The Applicant arguments regarding the 102 rejection are moot in light of the 103 rejection.
The Applicant claims that Pesach does not teach the optical axis of the first positioning component intersecting the handle axis at the handle and is deflected outward relative to the care element. However Pesach teaches that an optical axis can extend away from the handle axis from the sensor end that is the start of the optical energy field as shown in the claim 1 rejection and Fig 8B of Pesach. Pesach teaches that the optical field can be angled inward or outward of the handle axis in Fig 8B.
The Applicant claims that Pesach does not disclose or teach “wherein the care element extends along a first axis, the optical axis of the first positioning component is located on a second axis, and an included angle between the first axis and the second axis is less than a half of the energy field of the first positioning component.”However as shown in the rejections above Pesach does teach this limitation.
The responses to the arguments of claim 1 apply to claim 20 as well.
The Applicant claims that Geiss (US 20150163400) does not teach “power consumption switching” but instead teaches “shutdown.”However Geiss in ¶95 says to reduce power consumption to the “camera may be powered down.” This is not shutdown but powered down. The camera must maintain some level of power to us the passive focusing systems of auto-exposure or AF process (these are noted in ¶95 and are described in more detail in ¶60-¶63 & ¶69) to determine when the camera is no longer block and to return to full power.
Conclusion
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/AARON R MCCONNELL/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
/BRIAN D KELLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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