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 .
Election/Restrictions
The election/restriction requirement made 7/22/2025 has been withdrawn.
Double Patenting
Claims 1-22 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-17 of U.S. Patent No. 11,357,936. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because although the instant claims do not claim a processor and memory along with magnitude and number of times an output signal exceeds thresholds, the control function claimed is essentially the same and obvious over the embodiment claimed in US 11,375,936.
In particular, first US 11,357,936 claims instructions for the processor to supply power in response to the pressure sensor, which is the same as the instantly claimed first mode where power is supplied in response to the pressure sensor.
Second, 11,357,936, claims “disabling the pressure sensor”, which is the same as the instantly claimed, “in a second mode, disable the pressure sensor”.
Third, 11,357,936 claims, “replacing control of the power supplied to the power consuming elements…with the movement sensor”, which is the same as the instantly claimed, “in a third mode, disable the pressure sensor and replace control of power supplied to the power consuming elements with the movement sensor.”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-22 above are subject to a double patenting rejection as discussed above. If the double patenting rejection is successfully overcome or traversed, the reasons for allowance apply to the instant claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art Strutt et al. ((WO 2016/009202) discloses e-vaping with a controller that uses movement sensors and their measurements but does not disable and replace a pressure sensor in a low power state. Related application Alarcon et al. (US20160366939) discloses entering a sleep state where a pressure sensor is disabled of checked less frequently and having the device wake-up based on a movement sensor [0038, 0044]. However, Alarcon do not disclose disabling the pressure sensor and replacing control with the movement sensor.
Conclusion
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/Michael J Felton/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1747