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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/25/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant has amended claim 1 to require the wireless interface is configured to continuously transmit the weight data such that weight measurements are transmitted as the weight changes during ingredient addition arguing the amended features aren’t found in Dong.
Examiner notes that Dong does explicitly disclose that the weight is transmitted in real time (¶ [0038]). While Dong doesn’t disclose weighing while ingredients are added to the bowl, the real-time functionality makes it capable of meeting this claim limitation which is what is required for an apparatus claim. A claim containing a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. See MPEP § 2114 (II).
However, for the sake of advancing prosecution, Examiner has provided a teaching reference which explicitly addresses this amended limitation.
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong (CN 108391597; “Dong”, see previously attached machine translation) in view of Wallace USPN 11,062,620 (previously cited on PTO-892).
Regarding claim 1, Dong discloses in at least figure 1 a smart base for use with an automated weight scale nutrient and caloric monitoring system (¶ [0007]), the smart base comprising an enclosure (5, 13) (¶ [0035]), one or more load sensors (8) positioned proximate the enclosure (5, 13) and configured to weigh consumable items (¶ [0035]), a microprocessor (9) positioned proximate the enclosure (5, 13) and having a processor, an analog- to-digital converter and an input/output interface (¶ [0035], the described board must have a processor to add the totals from each sensor 8, an ADC to convert the sum to a digital value that is displayed on the display 6 and an input/output interface to receive the signals from the load sensors and transmit the total digitized weight to the display 6 as described in the cited paragraph), a wireless interface (7) positioned proximate the enclosure (5, 13) (¶ [0038]), a display interface (6) positioned approximate the enclosure (¶ [0035]), and a power source (10) positioned approximate the enclosure (5, 13) and configured to power the one or more load sensors (8), the microprocessor (9), the wireless interface (7) and the display interface (6) (¶ [0035]) wherein the one or more load sensors (8) are configured to measure weight data of consumable items, and wherein the microprocessor (9) is configured to generate an output signal indicative of the weight data measured (¶¶ [0035]-[0036]), and wherein the wireless interface (7) is configured to transmit the weight data measured to an electronic device in real-time while the consumable item is being weighed by the one or more load sensors (8) (¶¶ [0038]-[0039]).
Dong discloses the system is for use in real time monitoring of pet diet (¶ [0038]). Dong also discloses the smart base can also be used for weighing food ingredients in the kitchen (¶ [0036]).
Dong does not explicitly disclose that the wireless interface is configured to continuously transmit the weight data measured to an electronic device in real-time while the consumable item is actively being weighed by the one or more load sensors such that weight measurement are transmitted as the weight changes during ingredient addition.
While Examiner would argue that Dong’s smart base is capable of performing this function, nevertheless, Wallace teaches a smart base (104) for use with an automated weight scale nutrient and caloric monitoring system (100) (col. 9, lines 20-56) wherein the wireless interface (145) is configured to continuously transmit the weight data measured to an electronic device in real-time while the consumable item is actively being weighed by the one or more load sensors such that weight measurement are transmitted as the weight changes during ingredient addition (col. 13, lines 8-26).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to include Wallace’s continuous wireless transmitting interface functionality in Dong’s smart base for the purpose of using the base as a recipe scale as disclosed in Dong (¶ [0036]) so that one can quickly and easily determine how much of an ingredient has been added in order to accurately reproduce a recipe. It would also have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to include Wallace’s continuous wireless transmitting interface functionality in Dong’s smart base in order to accurately record when Dong’s pet food bowl has been refilled immediately as it is occurring for pet’s who are inclined to eat as soon as the food hits the bowl.
Regarding claim 2, Dong discloses in figure 1 the enclosure (5, 13) has a form of an annular ring having a hollow inner core (¶ [0035]) and configured to support a vessel (14, 15) containing the consumable items (¶¶ [0034], [0036]).
Regarding claim 3, Dong discloses the vessel (14, 15) is a convention[al] kitchen bowl (¶ [0036]).
Regarding claim 4, Dong discloses in figure 1 the one or more load sensors (8) are arranged in two rows of two and are in electrical communication with each other (¶ [0035]).
Regarding claim 5, Dong discloses the weight data measured transmitted to the electronic device is accessed by an application contained within the electronic device (¶ [0038]).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong in view of Wallace and Reykhert (US 2021/0193977).
Regarding claim 6, Dong as modified by Wallace discloses all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Dong is silent to a power rail.
Reykhert generally teaches that it is known to use a power rail in a power management system that includes a PCB and one or more sensors in an enclosure (¶ [0049]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to include a power rail in Dong’s power management system for the purpose of distributing power to the necessary components all housed within a small space through use of a PCB (¶ [0049]). Doing so would achieve the predictable result of eliminating wires which can easily disconnect or take up extra space in the enclosure.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong in view of Wallace and Merea (USPN 9,389,117).
Regarding claim 7, Dong as modified by Wallace discloses all the limitations of claim 1 on which this claim depends.
Dong does not explicitly disclose the smart base is configured to measure the weight data of a second ingredient in a vessel without removing a first ingredient from the vessel.
However, this is known in the art of kitchen scales. For instance Merea teaches a smart base (12) which is configured to measure the weight data of a second ingredient in a vessel without removing a first ingredient from the vessel (54) (col. 4, line 57 through col. 5, line 22, col. 6, lines 37-50).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to include Merea’s functionality in Dong’s smart base for the purpose of allowing the user to prepare meals with multiple ingredients while tracking total weight of the meal.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2109/0066534 discloses a smart base for tracking ingredients in a recipe.
US 2005/0184148 discloses a smart base for tracking ingredients in a recipe.
USPN 11,062,620 discloses a smart base for tracking ingredients in a recipe.
US 2022/0283017 discloses in figure 3 an annular enclosure associated with a smart base.
US 2021/0030196 discloses in figure 2 an annular enclosure associated with a smart base.
USPN 10,352,759 discloses an annular enclosure associated with a smart base.
USPN 4,892,686 discloses an annular enclosure associated with a smart base.
USPN 8,127,605 discloses an annular enclosure associated with a smart base.
CN 113397394 discloses an annular enclosure associated with a smart base.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 NATALIE HULS whose telephone number is (571)270-5914. The examiner can normally be reached T-F 7-4 EST.
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/NATALIE HULS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2863