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 .
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, 3 and 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sur (US 2020/0337382) in view of Mironov et al (US 2017/0231277).
Sur discloses the aerosol provision device claimed including a coupler (230) to engage a consumable/cartridge with an aerosol generator (220; shown by an electrical heater) and aerosol-generating material (218; reservoir/tank), the consumable having target values (e.g., resistance values) of an electrical characteristic that are associated with power modes of different levels (e.g., on and off or higher/lower powers) of power for different amounts (e.g., production or no-production, or higher or lower production amount) of aerosol generated from the aerosol-generating material, circuitry (Figure 9) that including processing circuitry to control power to the aerosol generator (para 0015 and 0127) to energize the aerosol-generating material to generated aerosol wherein the processing circuitry is configured to measure the electrical characteristic of the consumable to obtain a value of the electrical characteristic to identify the consumable based on the measured/determined electrical characteristic (i.e., resistance or resistance or resistivity of the aerosol material/composition; para 0154) wherein the power is further controlled based on the identified consumable (para 0127 and 0152). But, Sur does not explicitly disclose identifying the target value that mostly closely matches the value of the electrical characteristic of the consumable as claimed.
Mironov discloses an aerosol provision device for a control system that identifies a consumable/aerosol-forming substrate wherein the identity is based on an electrical characteristic or electrical quantity information (e.g., resistance; para 0087-0089) that matches an expected value or range of values (para 0045) wherein the identity also determines an amount of aerosol (para0082) wherein an power supply is further controlled based on the determined identity of the liquid aerosol-forming substrate (para 0193).
In view of Mironov, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to adapt Sur with the processing circuitry that identifies one of the target values of the consumable by matching or that closes matches the measured resistance/resistivity of the consumable with an expected target value so that the consumable is identified wherein the power supply would be controlled including a power level or different levels of power based on the identity of the consumable including an amount of aerosol or different amounts of aerosol that would predictably increase or decrease a concentration of the aerosol (also, see para 0136 of Mironov) based on the different levels of power that would generate different heating temperatures or controlling a number of user puffs (para 0127 of Mironov; and para 0147-0149 of Sur) as desired.
With respect to claim 3, Sur discloses for the electrical characteristic is electrical resistance wherein the target values are also target electrical resistance values (also, see para 0026). Mironov also discloses for the electrical characteristic electrical resistance values (para 0087).
With respect to claims 7 and 9, Mironov discloses that different types of consumables can be used (para 0008) whose identity is made by its electrical characteristics (e.g., resistance values) with a power applied to the consumables wherein a first power mode of a first power level would have applied to a first consumable wherein another subsequent/second consumable would have been applied to a second power mode of a second level of power for identifying its respective electrical characteristics including measuring and obtaining a second value of the electrical characteristic (i.e., second resistance value associated with the second consumable).
With respect to claim 8, Sur shows a consumable/cartridge (104) that receives or holds a volume of aerosol-generating material/precursor in its revoir/tank wherein Sur further discloses for a plurality of precursors usable, a second type of consumable having its second volume of a precursor can be used for the device. Also, Mironov also shows a plurality of consumable types wherein each of the consumables would have its respective first and second volume of aerosol-generating materials.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sur in view of Mironov as applied to claims 1, 3 and 7-9 above, and further in view of Bilat (US 2019/0110520).
Sur in view of Mironov shows the device claimed except for the processing circuitry that is configured to confirm the value of the electrical resistance of the consumable is above a threshold resistance that is indicates a short-circuit condition before one of the one of the resistances values is identified.
Bilat shows it is known to provide a processing circuitry with an aerosol generating device having a pair of conductors connectable to a consumable wherein if there is short, a resistance would be 0 (zero) and if there is no short, there would be a resistance (above a threshold resistance value of 0 zero) associated with consumable (para 0089) wherein information relating to the consumable is “live” and information can be determined from the consumable (para 0085).
In view of Bilat, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to adapt Sur as modified by Mironov with the processing circuitry to confirm if there is a short-circuit condition or no short-circuit condition (i.e., above a threshold resistance of zero resistance) before one of the target electrical resistance values is identified as the processing circuitry would begin determining the information from the consumable when connection with the consumable is established or “live”.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sur in view of Mironov as applied to claims 1, 3 and 7-9 above, and further in view of Ampolini et al (US 2014/0270727).
Sur in view of Mironov shows the device claimed except for the processing circuitry to measure a voltage and a current through the aerosol generator to calculate and adjust the power as claimed.
Ampolini shows it is known to provide a processing circuitry for controlling a heating device (aerosol generator) by determining a power provided to the heating element that is product of voltage and current through the heating device wherein the determined power is further adjusted based on a selected/average power (a threshold power when the measured power is deviated from or different from the threshold/preset power) to further control the power of the heating device to maintain the desired heating output.
In view of Ampolini, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to adapt Sur, as modified by Mironov, to adapt the processing circuitry to measure a volage and current through the aerosol generator to determine and adjust the power of the aerosol generator to predictably maintain the desired heating output to produce the desired amount/flavor of the aerosol from the aerosol-generating material that meet the needs of the user as known in the art.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/17/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to Sur, Applicant argues Sur discloses a second sensor that can be a current sensor, a voltage sensor, or resistance sensor which merely records various data but does not measure electrical characteristic of the consumable to obtain a value of the electrical characteristic and control the power based on the consumable. This argument is not deemed persuasive as Sur discloses for the second sensor that produces (measures) a measurement of resistance (i.e., electrical characteristic) of the aerosol precursor composition (i.e., consumable) wherein the measurement is a value which such value is then used to identify the aerosol precursor composition from its resistivity (i.e., measured value; also see para 0154) wherein the power is further controlled based on the identified consumable which is based on measurement of current/voltage through the aerosol (para 0127 and 0152). It is noted that the second sensor is used not only for recording various data for assembling a user profile but also for identifying the consumable as noted above.
With regard to Mironov, Applicant argues that Mironov at best measures the resistance of the aerosol-forming liquid but not the consumable as claimed. It is noted that the aerosol-forming liquid would also be consumable as Applicant discloses the consumable that includes liquid aerosol-generating material (para 0032 of the Applicant’s specification). As Mironov discloses for identifying the consumable based on its electrical characteristic (i.e., its resistivity; para 0087-0089) wherein the identify is matched to an expected/target value that is suitable for use in its aerosol-generating system (para 0045) which includes controlling its power supply (para 0193) for suitable operation, the combination would have predictably yielded the claimed aerosol provision device as stated in the ground of rejection.
Thus, the Applicant’s arguments are not deemed persuasive.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANG Y PAIK whose telephone number is (571)272-4783. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:30; M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at 571-272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SANG Y PAIK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761