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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/11/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 11/11/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 in view of Wong (US 2008/0251536 A1), since Wong teaches a control interface causing gas to be supplied to container upon actuation as evidenced in the rejection below .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 7-9, 12, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Osborn (US Patent No 4,030,634), and further in view of Tseng (US Patent No. 7,131,556) and Wong (US 2008/0251536 A1).
Re: Claim 1, Osborn discloses a device capable of performing the claimed method of securing at least one anchor (16) of an adapter (14) to a consumable receiver of a beverage dispenser (1) (Fig. 3), the adapter having first and second fluid ports therein and being in fluid communication with a remote additive container via a first tube (28) and a second tube (34) (Fig. 2), the first tube being connected to the first fluid port and the second tube being connected to the second fluid port (Depicted in Fig. 2); receiving at least one gas in the additive container supplied by the beverage dispenser via the consumable receiver through the first fluid port and the first tube such that a pressure within the remote additive container increases to cause at least one additive within the remote additive container to be emitted through the second fluid port, where the additive container is disposed external to the beverage dispenser (Depicted in Fig. 1, Col. 5, lines 15-25, receiving gas in the remote additive container, the pump is assembled onto the beverage dispenser constituting part of the finished dispenser ready for use); and in the alternative if the gas is considered to come from outside the beverage dispenser. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filling date to locate the gas source within the beverage dispenser such that the gas is supplied therefrom as evidenced by Tseng teaching art recognized alternatives between placing the gas source (122, 55) on an adapter (12) or withing the beverage dispenser (51) as seen in Fig. 7 and 13 respectively, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Osborn teaches a user interface (5) (Fig. 1) but not directly connected to the supply for delivering a volume of fluid. However, Wong teaches receiving, in response to at least one input received at a user interface (12) on the beverage dispenser, at least one gas in the additive container supplied by the beverage dispenser via the consumable receiver through the first fluid port and the first tube such that a pressure within the remote additive container increases to cause at least one additive within the remote additive container to be emitted through the second fluid port (Wong: Fig. 1-5, Para. 35, in response to a pressure drop caused by input onto the interface, gas is supplied to the container).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to include a user interface as taught by Wong, since Osborn states in column 5, lines 2-4 that a large variety of control means may be implemented with the device, and further states in para. 3 that such a modification provides product from the container on demand and as needed ensuring that amount of fluid dispensed is the amount of fluid taken out of the container.
Re: Claim 7, the device of Osborn is capable of performing the claimed method including the first fluid port includes a collar (17) disposed at a perimeter thereof, and wherein securing the at least one anchor creates an air-tight seal between the collar and the consumable receiver (Fig. 3, Col. 4, lines 21-26, hard rubber capable of forming an air tight seal).
Re: Claim 8, the device of Osborn is capable of performing the claimed method including the container is external to the beverage dispenser (Fig. 4B, external containers).
Re: Claim 9, the device of Osborn as modified by Wong in the rejection of claim 1 above is capable of performing the claimed method including preparing a beverage, comprising: activating a beverage dispenser to cause a first volume of a gas to be pumped by the beverage dispenser through an inlet of an adapter (14) secured to a consumable receiver of a beverage dispenser except for actuating a user interface to cause gas to flow. However, Wong teaches actuating at least one input on a user interface on a beverage dispenser to cause a first volume of a gas to be pumped by the beverage dispenser into the adapter (Wong: Fig. 1-5, Para. 35, in response to a pressure drop caused by input onto the interface, gas is supplied to the container),
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to include a user interface as taught by Wong, since Osbourne states in column 5, lines 2-4 that a large variety of control means may be implemented with the device, and further states in para. 3 that such a modification provides product from the container on demand and as needed ensuring that amount of fluid dispensed is the amount of fluid taken out of the container.
Osborn further teaching the first volume of gas flowing from the adapter to an additive container (16) in fluid communication with the adapter and external to the beverage container , and the first volume of gas increasing a pressure in the additive container to cause an additive in the additive container to be dispensed through an outlet of the adapter (Depicted in Fig. 1, Col. 5, lines 15-25, receiving gas in the remote additive container, pressure within the container increases);
wherein the interior of the remote additive container is in fluid communication with the inlet via a first elongate tube (Figs. 1-3) and
where the interior of the remote additive container is in fluid communication with the outlet via a second elongate tube (Figs. 1-3);
And, in the alternative if the gas is considered to come from outside the beverage dispenser. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filling date to locate the gas source within the beverage dispenser such that the gas is supplied therefrom as evidenced by Tseng teaching art recognized alternatives between placing the gas source (122, 55) on an adapter (12) or withing the beverage dispenser (51) as seen in Fig. 7 and 13 respectively, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Re: Claim 12, the device of Osborn is capable of performing the claimed method including prior to activating the beverage dispenser, securing the adapter to the consumable receiver by at least one anchor (16) extending therefrom (Fig. 3, Col. 4, lines 24-26, lower surface face rim forms an anchor).
Re: Claim 15, the device of Osborn is capable of performing the claimed method including the inlet includes a circular inlet collar (17) disposed around its perimeter (2-3), and wherein the circular inlet collar creates an air-tight seal with the additive receiver when the additive container is secured thereto (Fig. 3, Col. 4, lines 21-26, hard rubber capable of forming an air tight seal).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Osborn (US Patent No 4,030,634), Wong (US 2008/0251536 A1), and Tseng (US Patent No. 7,131,556) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lecomte et al. (US Patent No. 11,109,708).
Re: Claim 2, Osborn discloses a device capable of the claimed method except for a first and second valve within the ports. However, the device of Lecomte is capable of performing the claimed method including the first fluid port includes a first valve (67) and the second fluid port includes a second valve (69), and wherein the first fluid port and the second fluid port define respective first and second fluid pathways that are substantially parallel to each other (Fig. 3f, Col. 6, lines 30-35, valves).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to include a first and second valve within the ports as taught by Lecomte, since such a modification would ensure only desired fluid may be into the adapter and thus into the beverage dispensing device when in operation avoiding leaks.
Claim(s) 3, 4, 5, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Osborn (US Patent No 4,030,634), Wong (US 2008/0251536 A1), and Tseng (US Patent No. 7,131,556) as applied to claim 1 and 9 above, and further in view of Goupil (US Patent No. 5,003,790)
Re: Claims 3-4 and 13, Osborn disclose the claimed method including the anchor extendi8ng from a lower surface of the adapter except for the anchor including a first and second anchors disposed on opposing sides of the first and second fluid ports. However, Goupil discloses an anchoring system with a first and second anchors (54) to the consumable receiver (26) on opposing sides of the adapter, the second anchor extending from a lower surface of the adapter (Figs. 3-4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to include the first and second anchor as claimed as taught by Goupil, since Goupil states in column 3, lines 9-27 that such a modification permits secure, easy, efficient and accurate connection of the adapter to the receiver, and further permits easy removal of the holders from each other by means of removing a few screws.
Re: Claims 5 and 14, the device of Osborn as modified by Goupil above is capable of performing the claimed method of each of the first and second anchors extend from the anchor base and include respective first and second detents (54) (Goupil: Fig. 3-4 depicts detents), and wherein securing the first anchor comprises securing the first detent to a corresponding first protrusion (screws) on the consumable receiver and securing the second anchor comprises securing the second detent to a corresponding second protrusion on the consumable receiver (Goupil: Depicted in Fig. 3-4, Col. 3, lines 9-17, securing the adapter).
Conclusion
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/CHARLES P. CHEYNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754