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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 17 November 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Claim amendments filed 17 November 2025 are acknowledged. Claims 13 and 15-25 are pending with claims 1-12 and 14 being cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 13 and 15-17 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.
The amendments to claim 13 are sufficient to overcome the 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejection in view of Kwok previously presented in the Final Office Action Mailed 16 June 2025. However, new rejections are presented in view of Take (US 20200009285 A1). Take teaches a fragrance generation device which separately dispenses water and perfume vapors.
Following the above logic, the rejection of claims 18-20 are withdrawn, but upon further consideration, new grounds of rejections are made in view of 35 U.S.C. 103 with respect to Take in view of Freeman.
The rejections of claims 1-12 and 15 are withdrawn due to the claims being cancelled.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 13, 15-17, and 21-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Take (US 20200009285 A1).
Regarding claim 13, Take teaches a scent dispensing system (fragrance generation device, abstract), comprising: a plurality of storage tanks (plurality of perfume containers, abstract), each storage tank containing a different liquid medium selected from the group consisting of terpenes, scent agents, flavoring agents and combinations thereof (individually contain multiple types of perfumes, abstract); a corresponding plurality of dispensing device, each said dispensing device coupled to a respective storage tank and comprising an atomization device configured to generate atomized liquid medium from the respective storage tank (plurality of second ultrasonic vibrators provided in perfume containers to atomize perfumes, abstract); a corresponding plurality of dispensing ports, each said dispensing port adapted to deliver the atomized liquid medium from the respective dispensing device to an external environment to produce a scent selection for a user (plurality of second emission holes, abstract); wherein each of the plurality of dispensing devices further comprises: a corresponding vapor generator connected to a supply of water (water container, abstract), wherein each corresponding vapor generator is adapted to deliver a separate visible cloud of water vapor (atomized water is easily viewed, paragraph [0067]), along with the scent selection upon actuation of one of the dispensing devices (ultrasonic vibrator provided in water container and a first emission hole used for emitting atomized water, abstract).
Regarding claim 15, Take teaches a user interface adapted to receive the scent selection from a user (mixing information is input from an external device, paragraph [0055]), and a system controller electrically connected to the user interface and to the plurality of dispensing devices, wherein the system controller receives input data regarding the scent selection and transmits control signal to the plurality of dispensing devices (various electronic circuits for driving or controlling each component of the fragrance generation device are implemented on the control circuit board, paragraph [0034], and control unit controls fragrance generation by executing predetermined control program, paragraph [0043]).
Regarding claim 16, Take teaches wherein the system controller stores data regarding interactions with the user interface and wherein the data regarding interactions comprises data regarding user selection of discrete scents to sample (wireless communication module stores received mixing information in the memory, paragraph [0045]).
Regarding claim 17, Take teaches wherein the system controller is internet connected (establish connection to an external device using Bluetooth or wireless LAN, paragraph [0045]) and uses software that resides on a cloud-based platform (network server such as a web server, paragraph [0045]) which is deployed by multiple system controllers within multiple scent dispensing systems, and wherein the data regarding user selection of discrete scent to sample is remotely monitored by the multiple system controllers via the internet connection (wireless communication module can receive various commands to provide instructions of the operation of the fragrance generation device, paragraph [0045], and control unit can control plurality of drive circuits, paragraph [0043]).
Regarding claim 21, Take teaches a scent dispensing system (fragrance generation device, abstract), comprising: a plurality of storage tanks (plurality of perfume containers, abstract) containing a liquid medium selected from the group consisting of terpenes, scent agents, flavoring agents, and combinations thereof (individually contain multiple types of perfumes, abstract), one or more dispensing devices that are adapted to deliver atomized liquid medium from the plurality of storage tanks to produce a scent selection for a user (plurality of second ultrasonic vibrators provided in perfume containers to atomize perfumes, abstract), wherein each of the one or more dispensing devices further comprises a vapor generator connected to a supply of water (water container, abstract), wherein each vapor generator is adapted to deliver a separate visible cloud of water vapor for the user (atomized water is easily viewed, paragraph [0067]), along with the scent selection upon actuation of one of the dispensing devices (ultrasonic vibrator provided in water container and a first emission hole used for emitting atomized water, abstract).
Regarding claim 22, Take teaches wherein the one or more dispensing devices and the vapor generators therein are adapted to respectively deliver the atomized liquid medium and the water vapor concurrently (atomizing water together with perfumes, paragraph [0067]).
Regarding claim 23, Take teaches a user interface adapted to receive the scent selection from a user (mixing information is input from an external device, paragraph [0055]), and a system controller electrically connected to the user interface and to the one or more dispensing devices, wherein the system controller receives input data regarding the scent selection and transmits controls signals to the one or more dispensing devices (various electronic circuits for driving or controlling each component of the fragrance generation device are implemented on the control circuit board, paragraph [0034], and control unit controls fragrance generation by executing predetermined control program, paragraph [0043]).
Regarding claim 24, Take teaches wherein the system controller stores data regarding interactions with the user interface (wireless communication module stores received mixing information in the memory, paragraph [0045]).
Regarding claim 25, Take teaches wherein the system controller is internet connected. (establish connection to an external device using Bluetooth or wireless LAN, paragraph [0045])
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.
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 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Take in view Freeman (US 20190083719 A1).
Regarding claim 18, Take teaches a scent dispensing system (fragrance generation device, abstract), comprising: a plurality of storage tanks (plurality of perfume containers, abstract), each said storage tank containing a different liquid medium selected from the group consisting of terpenes, scent agents, flavoring agents and combination thereof (individually contain multiple types of perfumes, abstract); a corresponding plurality of dispensing devices, each said dispensing device coupled to a respective storage tank and comprising an atomization device configured to generate atomized liquid medium from the respective storage tank (plurality of second ultrasonic vibrators provided in perfume containers to atomize perfumes, abstract); a corresponding plurality of dispensing ports, each said dispensing port adapted to deliver the atomized liquid medium from the respective dispensing device to an external environment to produce a scent selection for a user (plurality of second emission holes, abstract); and wherein each of the plurality of dispensing devices further comprises: a vapor generator connected to a supply of water (water container, abstract), each vapor generator is adapted to deliver a separate visible cloud of water vapor (atomized water is easily viewed, paragraph [0067]), along with the scent selection upon actuation of one of the dispensing devices (ultrasonic vibrator provided in water container and a first emission hole used for emitting atomized water, abstract), but does not teach one or more pumps disposed between the plurality of storage tanks and the corresponding plurality of dispensing devices, wherein the one or more pumps are adapted to pump the liquid medium from the storage tanks to the corresponding dispensing devices. However, Freeman teaches one or more pumps disposed between the plurality of storage tanks and the corresponding plurality of dispensing devices, wherein the one or more pumps are adapted to pump the liquid medium from the storage tanks to the corresponding dispensing devices (reservoir valve includes a pump that pumps liquid from the reservoir into the atomization chamber, paragraph [0050]).
Take and Freeman are considered analogous to the current invention because all are in the field of fragrance dispensers. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aroma vapor dispenser system taught by Take with the pumping system taught by Freeman because Freeman teaches the pump advantageously creates pressure to create accurately sized drops of aroma fluid (paragraph [0069]).
Regarding claim 19, while the combination of Take and Freeman does not explicitly teach wherein the one or more pumps are chemical resistant pumps, Freeman teaches a pump that actively pumps concentrate liquid (paragraph [0050]) and that the concentrate liquid can be essential oil (paragraph [0028]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use chemical resistant pumps in chemical applications such as this to achieve the desired fluid output with a reasonable expectation of success (See MPEP 2143 I (E)).
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Take and Freeman teaches all aspects of the current invention including wherein each vapor generator is adapted to deliver the separate visible cloud of water vapor (atomized water is easily viewed, paragraph [0067], Take) concurrently with the delivery of the atomized liquid medium (atomizing water together with perfumes, paragraph [0067], Take).
Relevant Prior Art
Provided below is a brief description of prior art that is relevant to the current invention, but was not used in the above rejections.
US 20170274405 A1 – fragrance diffuser that is capable of atomizing liquid scent agents based on user input data but does not teach a level sensor to monitor the fill level of the liquid reservoir.
US 20180326112 A1 - fragrance diffuser that is capable of atomizing liquid scent agents based on user input data but does not teach a pump system to pump the liquid from the reservoir to the dispensing port.
US 20080073443 A1 - fragrance diffuser that is capable of atomizing liquid scent agents based on user input data but does not teach a level sensor to monitor the fill level of the liquid reservoir.
Conclusion
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/K.R.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1799
/DONALD R SPAMER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799