 "Colgate")
The invention is related to powered toothbrushes, and more particularly, to a toothbrush having a head with two distinct sections that each provides cleaning and massaging oral health benefits to the soft and hard tissues of the mouth. While there are powered toothbrushes available in the market and provide advantages over manual toothbrushes, they are subject to various limitations, said the company in its claims.
The invention the company has claimed now has various embodiments including one embodiment in which head has two distinct movable parts that provide cleaning and massaging oral health benefits since each is adapted to have a number of bristles or elastomeric cleaning members extending therefrom to contact surfaces of the teeth and surrounding areas. The toothbrush has a drive mechanism that imparts movement to the first movable part to deliver a cleaning, polishing, whitening action that supplements the cleaning efficiency of a typical powered toothbrush, it added.
The application was examined and the First Examination Report was issued on January 13, 2011. Considering the response from the company, the authority said that the submissions were not sufficient to comply with the requirements and sent a notice providing an opportunity for hearing was issued on July 8, 2015.
The authority put forward two objections during the hearing on July 22, 2015, that certain claims have been drafted as independent claims and the subject matter of these claims is neither related to a plurality of inter related product or apparatus. It also said that the inventive features should be characterised in the claim one incorporating the all essential novel inventive constructive features described therein.
The company submitted written submissions with amendments and based on this, the Assistant Controller of Patents & Designs proceeded to grant Patent over 14 claims, says the order.
The company document says, the powered toothbrush heads are traditionally compact, generally circular face from which a flat trimmed bristle pattern extends. Alternatively, other head shapes and bristle patterns are available. Powered toothbrushes have advantages over manual (non-powered) toothbrushes in that they impart movement to the bristles at much higher speeds than possible manually. They also may impart different types and directions of motion. These motions, in combination with manual movement of the toothbrush by the- user, generally provides superior cleaning than manual toothbrushes. Typically, powered toothbrushes are powered by disposable or rechargeable batteries that power an electric motor that in turn drives the toothbrush head. Known powered toothbrushes include a brush head with a bristle carrier portion that rotates, oscillates or vibrates in some manner so as to clean the teeth.
However, some of these powered toothbrushes are subject to various limitations and while these compact bristle patterns provide for cleaning, there is minimal whitening and stimulation the unpowered bristle part is less effective in cleaning than the powered part, limiting the overall effectiveness of the toothbrush, it added.
"Thus, there is a need in the art for a powered toothbrush with increased effectiveness through a larger area of powered or driven bristles or bristles that are otherwise movable. There is also a need for a toothbrush having increased whitening and/or stimulation than known toothbrushes. There is further a need for such improved toothbrushes to be comparable in manufacturing and purchasing costs as known powered toothbrushes," it added.
