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(s) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Grez et al. 2019/0098974.
Grez discloses a formulation delivery device, comprising:
(Re claim 1) “a motor” (‘drive motor’ para 0047). “a formulation dispensing assembly comprising a reciprocating nozzle assembly operated by the motor” (210 figure 6, para 0057). “circuitry configured to generate signals indicative of application of one or more formulation products dispensed by the formulation dispensing assembly” (‘gathering data’ para 0048). “circuitry configured to transmit the signals indicative of the application of the formulation products to a usage analysis system” (‘analyzing data … communicating with auxiliary equipment’ para 0048).
(Re claim 2) “the signals indicative of the application of the formulation products dispensed by the formulation dispensing assembly include signals indicating power consumed by the motor while operating the reciprocating nozzle assembly” (‘power output level’ para 0048).
(Re claim 3) “a position sensor; wherein the signals indicative of the application of the formulation products dispensed by the formulation dispensing assembly include signals indicating a position of the formulation delivery device as detected by the position sensor” (‘accelerometer’ para 0047).
(Re claim 4) “a cartridge interrogation interface configured to retrieve information from a
formulation cartridge inserted into the formulation delivery device; and circuitry configured to transmit the information retrieved from the formulation cartridge to the usage analysis system” (‘gathering data from formulation containers … communicating with auxiliary equipment’ para 0048).
(Re claim 5) “circuitry for operating the motor to dispense a formulation product according to a
formulation routine; circuitry configured to receive, from the usage analysis system, a new formulation
routine based on a hair characteristic determined using the signals indicative of the application of the formulation products” (‘causing the formulation to flow faster, the nozzles to move faster, or the like’ para 0048).
Claim(s) 6-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Puls et al. US 2021/0127811.
Puls disclose a computer-implemented method of automatically determining at least one hair
characteristic for a subject, the method comprising:
(Re claim 6) “receiving, by a computing system, signals from a formulation delivery device
indicative of application of one or more dispensed formulation products” (para 0106-0107). “analyzing, by the computing system, the signals to automatically determine the at least one hair characteristic” (para 0165). “storing, by the computing system, the at least one hair characteristic in a usage data store” (para 0108, 0110).
(Re claim 9) “the signals include at least one of: a signal based on positions detected by a position sensor of the formulation delivery device; a signal based on power consumption of a motor of the formulation delivery device; and a signal based on an audio signal generated by a microphone of the formulation delivery device” (‘microphone’ para 0058, ‘position sensor’ para 0029, 0132).
(Re claim 8) “analyzing the signals to automatically determine the at least one hair characteristic includes providing the signals as input to at least one machine learning model” (‘software algorithms’ para 0108).
(Re claim 9) “analyzing the signals to automatically determine the at least one hair characteristic includes comparing the signals to one or more ranges associated with hair characteristic values” (‘compare evaluated sensor data with at least one external database’ para 0021, 0102).
(Re claim 10) “comprising receiving, by the computing system, additional information associated with the subject, wherein the additional information includes at least one of a moisture level and a color” (‘moisture sensor’ para 0035, ‘color camera’ para 0027).
(Re claim 11) “wherein the at least one hair characteristic includes at least one of: a curl type; a coarseness; a density; a thickness; a length; a texture; a scalp condition; and an amount of damage” (para 0155).
(Re claim 12) “using at least the hair characteristics stored in the usage data store to train a recommender engine” (‘recommendation’ para 0050, 0073, 0121).
(Re claim 13) “providing, by the computing system, the at least one hair characteristic as input to a recommender engine to generate a recommendation; and providing, by the computing system, a notification of the recommendation to the subject” (‘recommendation’, ‘status of the hair’, ‘display’ para 0117, 0121).
Puls discloses a system for automatically determining at least one hair characteristic for a
subject, the system comprising:
(Re claim 14) “circuitry configured to receive signals from a formulation delivery device indicative of application of one or more dispensed formulation products” (para 0106-0107). “circuitry configured to analyze the signals to automatically determine the at least one hair characteristic” (para 0165). “circuitry configured to store the at least one hair characteristic in a usage data store” (para 0108, 0110).
(Re claim 15) “a signal based on positions detected by a position sensor of the formulation delivery device; a signal based on power consumption of a motor of the formulation delivery device;
And a signal based on an audio signal generated by a microphone of the formulation delivery device” (‘microphone’ para 0058, ‘position sensor’ para 0029, 0132).
(Re claim 16) “analyzing the signals to automatically determine the at least one hair characteristic includes providing the signals as input to at least one machine learning model” (‘software algorithms’ para 0108).
(Re claim 17) “analyzing the signals to automatically determine the at least one hair characteristic includes comparing the signals to one or more ranges associated with hair characteristic values” (‘compare evaluated sensor data with at least one external database’ para 0021, 0102).
(Re claim 18) “comprising circuitry configured to receive additional information associated with the subject, wherein the additional information includes at least one of a moisture level and a color” (‘moisture sensor’ para 0035, ‘color camera’ para 0027).
(Re claim 19) “wherein the at least one hair characteristic includes at least one of: a curl type; a coarseness; a density; a thickness; a length; a texture; a scalp condition; and an amount of damage” (para 0155).
(Re claim 20) “circuitry configured to provide the at least one hair characteristic as input to a
recommender engine to generate a recommendation; and circuitry configured to provide a notification of the recommendation to the subject” (‘recommendation’, ‘status of the hair’, ‘display’ para 0117, 0121).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2021/0085060 discloses a custom cosmetic dispenser with interrogation of cartridges. US 8,688,268 discloses a cloud based expert recommendation system. US 2019/0209077 disclose hair analysis using machine learning.
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TIMOTHY R. WAGGONER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3655 B
/TIMOTHY R WAGGONER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655