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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Blandino et al (US. Pat. App. Pub. 2017/0055580) - as evidenced by Dr. Rudiger Paschotta’s article “Optical Temperature Sensors” (hereinafter referred to as “Paschotta”).
Regarding independent claim 1, Blandino et al discloses an apparatus for heating smokable material (100) (read: aerosol-generating device) which, as evident from Fig. 2, includes an “outer body part” that includes a magnetic field generator (120) which comprises an electrical power source (121) (read: a power supply section) and also a tubular member (115) which has a heating zone (113) (read: cavity) having a first end (111) (read: opening) that serves as a receptacle for an article (500) (i.e., a mass of smokable material) when inserted therein (see Figs. 2-3, paras.[0081],[0085],[0105],[0128]) (corresponding to the claimed “[a]n aerosol-generating device comprising, arranged in an outer body part, a power supply section and a cavity, the cavity having an opening accessible at the outer body part and being configured to receive an aerosol-generating article”).
At a second (opposite) end (112) of the heating zone (113) (read: cavity), an elongate heating element (130) is provided, which runs parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tubular member (115). A distal end of this heating element (130) is pushed into the article (500) upon insertion into the heating zone (113) (see para. [0087]). As disclosed in Blandino et al, the heating element (130) is an electromagnet (i.e., made of magnetic material and electrically-conductive). When the electromagnet and the article to be heated are relatively positioned so that the resultant varying magnetic field produced by the electromagnet penetrates the article, one or more eddy currents are generated inside the article. When such eddy currents are generated in the article, their flow against the electrical resistance of the article causes the article to be heated and, inherently, infrared light to be emitted (see para. [0076]-[0078]). (Note: Applicant has established in its instant disclosure that its aerosol-generating article may have indicium that is at least partially transparent to light having a wavelength that lies in the infrared ray range). As such, the Blandino et al heating element (130), which causes the article (500) to be heated and subsequently radiate infrared rays, may properly be considered an “optical light source” which - when at least partially inserted into the article (500) - would cause the article (500) to be “illuminated” (corresponding to the claimed “wherein the aerosol-generating device further comprises an optical light source arranged to illuminate at least part of an aerosol-generating article inserted in said cavity through the opening…wherein the optical light source extends in said cavity form an end thereof opposite the opening to penetrate at least partly an aerosol-generating article upon insertion in the cavity and illuminate at least part of said aerosol-generating article from inside the aerosol-generating article”).
Lastly, the Blandino et al discloses that its apparatus (100) may further comprise a temperature sensor (126) which may be arranged and configured to sense a temperature of the article (500). However, in the alternative, Blandino et al also discloses that said sensor may take the form of an optical temperature sensor of the article located in the heating zone (113) (see para. [0115]). This type of sensor (126) is considered to correspond to the instantly recited “optical reader system” because optical temperature measurement uses infrared light to measure temperature by analyzing the properties of said light emitted from a heated article - as evidenced by Paschotta - which is consistent with that which is claimed (corresponding to the claimed “an optical reader system arranged to detect light issuing from the aerosol-generating article after illumination by the optical light source”).
Hence, Blandino et al (as evidenced by Paschotta) anticipates the afore-mentioned 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blandino et al (US. Pat. App. Pub. 2017/0055580) in view of Rogan (US. Pat. App. Pub. 2021/0204610).
Regarding claims 2, 3 and 5, Blandino et al does not disclose that its optical light source includes a “light collecting waveguide”, but the Rogan reference shows that the extreme distal end of a heating element for use in an aerosol-generating apparatus may have a conical-shaped tip that would certainly serve as a “light collecting waveguide”. One having ordinary skill in the art, after reading Blandino et al, would turn to Rogan merely to look for a shape for the tip of its heating element (130) - this one allowing for ease of penetration of the article (500) - but also would have the added benefit, inherently, of serving as a “light collecting waveguide” (corresponding to the “wherein said optical light source comprises a waveguide” recitation of claim 2; the “wherein said optical light source comprises an illuminating extremity being one of…a conical shaped tip” recitation of claim 3; and the “wherein said optical light source comprises a light collecting waveguide” recitation of claim 5).
Regarding claim 4, Blandino et al discloses that its apparatus (100) may include a user interface (124) that may comprise a toggle switch (read: electrically addressable light source”). This interface enables a user to “electrically address” the controller to cause the device to generate an electrical current to pass through the heating element (130) which generates the infrared rays to generate “light” (read: illuminating) rays (see para. [0113]) (corresponding to the claimed “wherein said illuminating extremity comprises an electrically addressable light source”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 17 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on July 15, 2025 have been fully considered and while they resulted in a re-wording of the above rejection of the claims over the prior art of record for clarification purposes and to put the application in better form, they are not persuasive.
-Applicant argues that the word “optical” in connection with the temperature sensor disclosed in Blandino et al does not mean that the temperature sensor is an optical sensor, but the Examiner vehemently disagrees for the reasons now more clearly stated in the above rejection. Specifically, while the Blandino et al discloses that its apparatus (100) may further comprise a temperature sensor (126) which may be arranged and configured to sense a temperature of the article; in the alternative, it also discloses that said sensor may take the form of an optical temperature sensor of the article located in the heating zone. This type of sensor is considered to correspond to the instantly recited “optical reader system” because optical temperature measurement uses infrared light to measure temperature by analyzing the properties of said light emitted from a heated article - as evidenced by Paschotta - which is consistent with that which is claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIONNE WALLS MAYES whose telephone number is (571)272-5836. The examiner can normally be reached Mondays and Thursdays, 8:00AM - 4:00PM (EST).
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/DIONNE W. MAYES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1747