DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 2/25/2026 with respect to the rejections of the claims under 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made as detailed below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. All of the limitations of claim 2 are already present in claim 1. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-2, 4-10, 12, and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ouyang (US 2020/0054071) in view of Hannaken (US 20230158256).
Regarding claims 1-2, 10, and 14, Ouyang teaches an electronic cigarette configured to generate smoke [0081] (smoking substitute device configured to generate an aerosol from an aerosol forming precursor), the device comprising a battery device (main body) and an atomizing device (mouthpiece) [Fig. 2], wherein the mouthpiece is separate from the main body, the main body comprising: an ID input device configured to acquire ID information identifying a person from an ID medium [Fig. 3; 0171]; and an image collecting device (biometric device) configured to detect a facial (biometric) characteristic of the user [0178]; wherein the smoking substitute device is configured to control operation of the smoking substitute device based on the ID information acquired by the ID input device and based on the biometric characteristic detected by the biometric device , wherein the smoking substitute device is configured to perform an ID authorization check operation [Fig. 9-10] that comprises: operating the ID device to acquire the ID information from the ID medium, wherein the ID information read by the ID device comprises a biometric characteristic of the person identified by the ID information [0170]; operating the biometric device to detect a biometric characteristic of the user of the smoking substitute device [0178]; determining whether the biometric characteristic detected by the biometric device is from the same person as the biometric characteristic included in the ID information based on a comparison of the biometric characteristic detected by the biometric device and the biometric characteristic included in the ID information and unlocking the device (determining whether the user is authorised to use the smoking substitute device based on (i) whether it is determined that the biometric characteristic detected by the biometric device is from the same person as the biometric characteristic included in the ID information; and (ii) an analysis of at least some of the ID information read by the ID device [0178-0182].
Ouyang does not teach an ID device configured to read ID information identifying a person from an ID medium. Hanneken teaches a smoking substitute device configured to generate an aerosol from an aerosol forming precursor [0047], the device comprising: an ID device configured to read ID information identifying a person from an ID medium [0026, 0059]. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that this removes the need for the combination of an ID input device and an ID database as disclosed in Ouyang [0170] and would have found it obvious to include such an ID device with the device of Ouyang for this reason. Furthermore, in view of Ouyang’s teaching of the smoking substitute device itself comprising an ID input device and a biometric device [Fig. 3], one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that in modified Ouyang, the smoking substitute device itself may comprise the ID device. The method of operating the smoking substitute device of modified Ouyang thereby reads on the claimed method.
Regarding claim 4, Ouyang teaches determining whether the person identified by the ID information passes an age verification test based on an analysis of at least some of the ID information read by the ID device [0171-0175].
Regarding claim 5, Hanneken teaches the smoking substitute device is configured to, if it is determined, from an authorization check, that the user is authorised to use the smoking substitute device: store a biometric characteristic of the user detected by the biometric device as an authorised biometric characteristic [0059]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply this configuration to the device of Ouyang for additional security purposes.
Regarding claim 6-8, Hanneken teaches the smoking substitute device is configured to perform a biometric authorization check operation that includes: operating the biometric device to detect a biometric characteristic of the user of the smoking substitute device; determining whether the user is authorised to use the smoking substitute device based on a comparison of the biometric characteristic detected by the biometric device and a stored authorised biometric characteristic, and based on the outcome of the biometric authorization check: permit the user to perform one or more operations with the smoking substitute device, if it is determined from the biometric authorization check that the user is authorised to use the smoking substitute device; prevent the user from performing the one or more operations with the smoking substitute device, if it is determined from the biometric authorization check that the user is not authorised to use the smoking substitute device, wherein the one or more operations include activation of the smoking substitute device to produce vapour [0059, 0070]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply this configuration to the device of Ouyang for the same reasons as applied to claim 1 above, for additional security purposes.
Regarding claim 9, Hanneken teaches verification is checked during each use [0028], i.e. the smoking substitute device is configured to perform biometric authorization according to a predetermined schedule. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply this configuration to the device of Ouyang for the same reasons as applied to claim 1 above, for additional security purposes.
Regarding claim 12, the smoking substitute device of modified Ouyang as applied to claim 1 above is part of a system including an ID medium containing ID information identifying a person; wherein the ID device is configured to read ID information identifying the person from the ID medium if the ID medium is presented to the ID device by a user of the smoking substitute device [Ouyang 0171; Hanneken 0017, 0026].
Regarding claim 15, modified Ouyang teaches a computer readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions configured to cause a smoking substitute device to perform a method according to claim 14 [Ouyang 0215].
Regarding claims 16-18, Ouyang teaches the smoking substitute device comprises a consumable, and the mouthpiece is included in the consumable, wherein the smoking substitute device is a vaping device or a heated tobacco device [0214].
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ouyang and Hannaken as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Daugherty (US 2021/0298363).
Modified Ouyang does not specify the claimed components of the ID device. Daugherty teaches an aerosol delivery device comprising a chip reader (reading device configured to read ID information from a memory), a camera or bar code reader (camera configured to read ID information from an optical pattern), and a magnetic strip reader (magnetic code reader configured to read ID information from a magnetic pattern) [0153]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include these components with the ID device of modified Ouyang to achieve the predictable result of providing a reading means for reading ID information from the ID medium.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC YAARY whose telephone number is (571)272-3273. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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, Philip Louie can be reached at (571)270-1241. 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.
/ERIC YAARY/Examiner, Art Unit 1755
Prosecution Insights