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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/13/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment/Arguments
Applicant's amendment filed on 4/13/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1 and 16 have been amended.
Claims 3-15, 17-18, and 20-22 are as previously presented.
Claims 2, 19, and 23-32 were previously cancelled.
Claims 1, 3-18, and 20-22 are still pending in this application, with claim 1 being independent.
Applicant’s amendment overcomes the previously set-forth 1/13/2026 objection to claim 16.
Applicant’s amendment overcomes the previously set-forth 1/13/2026 rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) of claims 1, 3-18, and 20-22.
Applicant’s amendment overcomes the previously set-forth 1/13/2026 rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 of claims 1, 3-18, and 20-22. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 and its dependents 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. In this case, claim 1 has been amended to further require “a flow path fluidly connecting the liquid supply to the brew chamber… a liquid conditioner disposed along the flow path… wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to provide the liquid to the brew chamber via the flow path at a first flow rate during a first portion of a dispensing operation and to provide the liquid to the brew chamber via the flow path at a second flow rate…”. It has been presented below that Anthony discloses the flow path, and Carr teaches the benefit of a singular pump fluidly connected thereto, thereby providing different flow rates so as to control a brewing result, according to the brewing preferences of a user.
Specification
The amendment filed 3/3/2022 is objected to under 35 U.S.C. 132(a) because it introduces new matter into the disclosure. 35 U.S.C. 132(a) states that no amendment shall introduce new matter into the disclosure of the invention. The added material which is not supported by the original disclosure is as follows: The incorporation by reference of International Patent Application No. PCT/US2020/051238 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/903,309 is ineffective as it was added on the date of entry into the national phase, which is after the filing date of the instant application. The filing date of this national stage application is the filing date of associated PCT, in this case 9/17/2020, see MPEP 1893.03(b). Therefore the specification amendment of 3/3/2022 to include the incorporation by reference is new matter, per MPEP 608.01(p). For the purposes of this office action, Examiner will interpret the disclosure as reciting “. Applicant is required to cancel the new matter in the reply to this Office Action.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: reference character 123 is used for both a conductive probe and a heating element, see p. 16. Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because reference character “123” in fig. 3 has been used to designate both a conductive probe [p. 16: “the control circuit 16 may detect that the heater tank 118 is completely filled when a pressure sensor (not shown) detects a rise in pressure indicating that the water has reached the top of the heater tank 118, when a conductive probe 123 detects the presence of liquid in an upper portion of the tank 118”] and a heating element [p. 16: “Water in the tank 118 may be heated by way of a heating element 123”]. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 21 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 1. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m). In this case, it seems the limitations of claim 21 have been incorporated into the limitations of claim 1.
Claim Interpretation
“liquid supply” will be interpreted as conventional structure known in the art [i.e., known structure for the controlled delivery of liquid through coffee grounds, e.g., water storage, pipes, pumps; pp. 3: “As an example, a liquid supply may include a water storage tank or reservoir, a pump to move water, conduits to carry the flow of water or other liquid, flow meters and/or other sensors to detect liquid, valves for controlling flow, etc.”]
“liquid conditioner” will be interpreted as an electric heater or refrigeration system, and equivalents thereof as recognized in the art [pp. 4, lines 2-5].
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.
Claims 1, 3-18, and 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claim 1:
The recitation of “a beverage” in lines 3-4 renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear if this is intended to be distinct from the beverage recited in lines 2 and 10.
Lines 3-4 will be interpreted as reciting “[[a]]the beverage”
The recitation of “a dispensing operation” in line 17 renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear if this is intended to be distinct from the dispensing operation recited in lines 9 19.
Line 17 will be interpreted as reciting “[[a]]the dispensing operation”
Claim 18:
The recitation of “a user interface” renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear if this is intended to be distinct from the user interface recited in claim 1.
Claims 3-18 and 20-22 are also rejected due to dependence on a rejected claim.
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.
Claims 1, 3-18, and 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anthony (U.S. Patent No. 10,028,615 B2) in view of Carr et al. (U.S Patent No. 10,045,656), hereinafter Carr.
Regarding claim 1,
Anthony teaches:
A beverage forming system [Anthony fig. 1: coffee machine 100] comprising:
a liquid supply [Anthony fig. 1: water reservoir 105] arranged to provide a liquid for forming a beverage [Anthony p. 8, col. 5, lines 18-20];
a brew chamber [Anthony fig. 1: brew chamber 135] arranged to hold a beverage material for mixing with the liquid to form a beverage [Anthony p. 8, col. 5, lines 37-42];
a flow path fluidly connecting the liquid supply to the brew chamber [Anthony fig. 1: conduits 115A-C];
a liquid conditioner disposed along the flow path [Anthony fig. 1: heater/boiler 125] and arranged to heat or cool the liquid that is provided to the brew chamber [Anthony p. 8, col. 6, lines 52-61]; and
a control circuit [Anthony fig. 1 and p. 8, col. 5, lines 47-65: controller 145] arranged to control the liquid supply and the liquid conditioner to operate automatically according to one or more brew parameters during a dispensing operation to deliver heated or cooled liquid to the brew chamber to form the beverage [Anthony fig. 1 and p. 8, col. 5, lines 47-65 and col. 6, lines 26-40],
wherein the control circuit includes a user interface [Anthony fig. 1: controls 150/155] arranged to receive the user's input indicating the dispensed beverage is to be combined with ice [Anthony figs. 1-2 and p. 6, col. 2, lines 49-55 and p. 8, col. 5, lines 47-67 and col. 6, lines 1-3];
wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to
provide the liquid to the brew chamber via the flow path at a first flow rate during a first portion of a dispensing operation [i.e., the conventional step in coffee brewing wherein the liquid is allowed to contact coffee grounds before being dispensed to the user, e.g., at a first flow rate corresponding to the controlled operation of the boiler; Anthony col. 6, lines 52-61: “After allowing the bloom water to presoak the ground coffee for the bloom time, the controller 145 turns the heater/boiler 125 back on to heat and direct the remaining volume of water, as measured by the flow meter 120, to be used to brew the amount of coffee desired by the user (the brew water) to the brew chamber 135 (act 235). The heated brew water enters the brew chamber 135 to produce coffee which is directed from the brew chamber 135 into the container 140, completing the brew cycle (act 240).”]
However, although
Anthony discloses it is known to control a volume of water supplied to brew coffee so as to control a brewing result [col. 5, lines 10-15],
Anthony does not disclose:
wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to:
provide the liquid to the brew chamber via the flow path at a second flow rate different from the first flow rate during a second portion of the dispensing operation that is after the first portion in response to a user's input indicating the beverage is to be combined with ice.
Carr, in the same field of endeavor [beverage preparation; col. 1, lines 15-20], teaches:
a liquid supply further including at least a pump [col. 5: “Volume control is provided by use of a flow meter or by controlling the number of pump cycles of a positive displacement pump. The beverage machine comprises a microprocessor control linked to the heater, pump, flow meter, temperature sensor(s) and also to a barcode reader of the brew head.”], and
wherein according to a user’s preference [col. 2, lines 35-45: “Advantageously… The modified beverage may differ from the standard beverage in one or more of the following group of parameters: volume of beverage dispensed, temperature of beverage dispensed, and flow rate of beverage dispensed.”],
the strength of the beverage result can be controlled by different flow rates [col. 6, lines 13-18: “One reason may be to alter the strength of the beverage by altering the volume of beverage dispensed or the flow rate of water. Another reason may be to provide improved iced or cold beverages using cartridges 10 normally configured to dispense hot beverages.”].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Anthony such that: the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to provide the liquid to the brew chamber via the flow path at a first flow rate during a first portion of a dispensing operation and to provide the liquid to the brew chamber via the flow path at a second flow rate different from the first flow rate during a second portion of the dispensing operation that is after the first portion in response to a user's input indicating the beverage is to be combined with ice, e.g., by connecting a pump to the flow path and controller of Anthony, since Carr teaches that a liquid supply can be arranged to provide different flow rates in order to provide different beverage strengths.
Regarding claim 3, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony further discloses:
wherein the user interface includes a button touchable by a user to provide the user's input [col. 6, lines 26-29].
Regarding claim 4, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony further discloses:
wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to provide liquid to the brew chamber to dispense a beverage having a volume less than or equal to a threshold volume [col. 5, lines 55-65], and wherein the user interface includes a plurality of buttons that are each touchable by a user to indicate a corresponding final beverage volume, at least one of the beverage volumes corresponding to one of the plurality of buttons being greater than the threshold volume [col. 6, lines 26-29].
Regarding claim 5, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony further discloses:
wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to provide liquid to the brew chamber to dispense a beverage having a volume less than or equal to a threshold volume, and wherein the threshold volume is 8 ounces or less [col. 7, lines 15-30].
Regarding claim 6, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony as modified by Carr further discloses:
wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to provide liquid to the brew chamber to dispense a beverage having a volume less than or equal to a threshold volume, and wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to provide liquid to the brew chamber to form a dispensed beverage having a volume equal to a default volume in the absence of a user input to define a beverage volume, and wherein the default volume is larger than the threshold volume [i.e., Carr describes a default recipe for hot beverage being adjusted by a user to be a cold beverage instead; Carr col. 6, lines 4-18; col. 2, lines 3-11].
Regarding claim 7, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony as modified by Carr further discloses:
wherein the control circuit is arranged to change an operation of the liquid supply in response to receipt of the user's input during a beverage dispensing operation indicating the beverage is to be combined with ice [i.e., Carr describes a default recipe for hot beverage being adjusted by a user to be a cold beverage instead; Carr col. 6, lines 4-18].
Regarding claim 8, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony as modified by Carr further discloses:
wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to provide a volume of liquid to the brew chamber to form a dispensed beverage having a volume different from a volume determined at a start of the dispensing operation [i.e., Carr describes a default recipe for hot beverage being adjusted by a user to be a cold beverage instead, wherein a volume may be adjusted; Carr col. 6, lines 4-18].
Regarding claim 9, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony further discloses:
wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply or the liquid conditioner to provide the liquid at a first temperature during a first portion of a dispensing operation and to provide the liquid at a second temperature different from the first temperature during a second portion of the dispensing operation that is after the first portion in response to a user's input indicating the beverage is to be combined with ice [Anthony, fig. 1: temperature control 155; col. 5, lines 47-65].
Regarding claim 10, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 9.
Anthony further discloses:
wherein the second temperature is lower than the first temperature [i.e., the temperature controlled by the user via temperature control 155 so as to produce coffee according to the user’s preference; Anthony col. 5, lines 10-15 ].
Regarding claim 11, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 9.
Anthony further discloses:
the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid conditioner to provide the liquid at a first temperature during a first portion of a dispensing operation and to provide the liquid at a second temperature different from the first temperature during a second portion of the dispensing operation [i.e., the temperature controlled by the user via temperature control 155 so as to produce coffee according to the user’s preference; Anthony col. 5, lines 10-15 ].
Regarding claim 21, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 9.
Anthony as modified by Carr further discloses:
wherein the flow rate less than a threshold flow rate comprises a first flow rate, and wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to provide the liquid at the first flow rate during the first portion of the dispensing operation and to provide the liquid at a second flow rate different from the first flow rate during the second portion of the dispensing operation that is after the first portion in response to a user's input indicating the beverage is to be combined with ice [i.e., the different flow rates as taught by Carr].
Regarding claim 22, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 21.
Anthony as modified by Carr further discloses:
wherein the first temperature is higher than the second temperature [i.e., the temperature controlled by the user via temperature control 155 so as to produce coffee according to the user’s preference; Anthony col. 5, lines 10-15 ], and the first flow rate is slower than the second flow rate [i.e., the different flow rates as taught by Carr, selected so as to produce coffee according to the user’s preference].
Regarding claim 12, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony as modified by Carr further discloses:
wherein the liquid supply includes a pump that is controllable to provide water at different flow rates to the brew chamber [i.e., the pump of Carr].
Regarding claim 13, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 12.
Anthony as modified by Carr further discloses:
wherein the liquid supply includes a cold water reservoir fluidly coupled to an input of the pump [i.e., the water reservoir 105 of Anthony fluidly connected to the pump of Carr].
Regarding claim 14, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 13.
Anthony as modified by Carr further discloses:
wherein the liquid conditioner includes a heater tank having an inlet coupled to an outlet of the pump and arranged to receive liquid provided by the pump, the heater tank including a heating element arranged to heat liquid in the heater tank [i.e., the water heater and reservoir of Anthony connected to the pump of Carr].
Regarding claim 15, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 14.
Anthony further discloses:
wherein an outlet of the heater tank is fluidly coupled to an inlet of the brew chamber [see fig. 1].
Regarding claim 16, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony further discloses:
wherein the control circuit includes a sensor [Anthony fig. 1: flow meter 120] arranged to detect a characteristic of a beverage material in the brew chamber [Anthony, page 8, col. 5, lines 56-61] and the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to provide liquid to the brew chamber to form a beverage having a volume equal to or less than a threshold volume in response to the detected characteristic of the beverage material [Anthony p. 8, col. 5, lines 47-65 and col. 6, lines 26-40 and p. 9, col. 7].
Regarding claim 17, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 16.
Anthony as modified by Carr further discloses:
wherein the characteristic of the beverage material is represented by machine readable information on a capsule containing the beverage material [i.e., Carr describes conventional machine readable information as a primary code and a secondary code; col. 2, lines 3-11].
Regarding claim 18, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony further discloses:
wherein the control circuit includes a user interface arranged to receive the user's input indicating the dispensed beverage is to be combined with ice and to receive an input from the user to indicate a final beverage volume, and wherein the control circuit is arranged to control the liquid supply to provide liquid to the brew chamber to dispense the beverage having a volume less than the final beverage volume [col. 5, lines 55-65].
Regarding claim 20, Anthony in view of Carr discloses the system of claim 1.
Anthony as modified by Carr further discloses:
wherein the first flow rate is slower than the second flow rate [i.e., the different flow rates as taught by Carr, selected so as to produce coffee according to the user’s preference].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THEODORE J EVANGELISTA whose telephone number is (571)272-6093. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm EST.
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/THEODORE J EVANGELISTA/Examiner, Art Unit 3761 /EDWARD F LANDRUM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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