CTNF 18/215,956 CTNF 89775 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over O’Connor, et al., US 2007/0283815 A1, in view of Gorin, et al., US 2021/0076871 A1 . As per Claim 1, O’Connor teaches an automated tea brewing apparatus (¶ 23; tea infuser assembly 42 of Figures 1, 2 and 4) comprising: a housing (¶ 22; shroud 41 of Figures 1, 2 and 4); and a heating chamber disposed within the housing and including a heating element (¶ 25; heating element 102 of Figure 5) and an electronically controlled heating chamber valve (¶ 23; valve 48 of Figure 4); an infusion chamber disposed within the housing and positioned below the heating chamber (¶¶ 22-24; brew chamber 20 of Figures 1, 2 and 4), the infusion chamber comprising an electronically controlled infusion chamber valve (¶ 25; dispense valve 25 of Figure 1); and a user interface disposed on the exterior of the housing (¶ 20; with power control switch 18-4 of Figure 2, tea strength control switch 18-1, tea format control switch 18-2 and tea type control switch 18-3 of Figure 1). O’Connor does not expressly teach: a wireless communications module; a controller coupled to the heating element, the heating chamber valve, the infusion chamber valve, the user interface, the wireless communications module, and a power supply; wherein the controller is configured to implement an automated brewing process according to instructions received via the user interface or wireless communication module, the instructions including at least a water temperature and a steep time, the brewing process comprising heating liquid in the heating chamber to the designated temperature, then open the heating chamber valve and begin a timer, and then after a time has elapsed equal to the steep time, opening the infusion chamber valve. Gorin teaches: a wireless communications module (¶ 67; wireless communication interface 430 of Figure 4); a controller coupled to the heating element, the heating chamber valve, the infusion chamber valve, the user interface, the wireless communications module, and a power supply (¶¶ 65-66; controller 420 of Figure 4); wherein the controller is configured to implement an automated brewing process according to instructions received via the user interface or wireless communication module (¶¶ 71-73), the instructions including at least a water temperature (¶¶ 66, 73) and a steep time (¶¶ 72-73), the brewing process comprising heating liquid in the heating chamber to the designated temperature (¶ 58), then open the heating chamber valve (¶ 73; injection valve 402 of Figure 4) and begin a timer (¶ 73), and then after a time has elapsed equal to the steep time, opening the infusion chamber valve (¶¶ 73-74; intake valve 407 of Figure 4). At the time of the invention, a person of skill in the art would have thought it obvious to combine the tea brewing housing of O’Connor with the wireless communication devices of Gorin, in order to avoid overheating the beverage. As per Claim 2, O’Connor teaches that the controller is further configured to send a notification to an external device after the steeped liquid has flowed out of the infusion chamber (¶ 19; through “an indicator 28, such as a buzzer, lamp, and/or light-emitting diode (LED) that signals when the tea is brewing and/or ready”). As per Claim 3, O’Connor teaches that the instructions are based on a pre-set brewing profile stored in the controller memory or received via the wireless communications module (¶ 20; as per “a user preference”). As per Claim 4, O’Connor teaches that the instructions are manually entered by a user (20; as per “a user preference”). As per Claim 5, O’Connor teaches that the power supply comprises a rechargeable battery or a connection to an external power outlet (¶ 25; through electrical circuit 100 of Figure 5). As per Claim 6, O’Connor further teaches a temperature sensor disposed within the heater chamber and coupled to the controller to provide real-time temperature and/or steep time information to the controller (¶ 25; temperature sensor 116 of Figure 5). As per Claim 7, O’Connor does not expressly teach that the controller is configured to calculate an estimated time when the desired temperature will be reached in the heater chamber and control the stages of the brewing process based on the estimated time. Gorin teaches that the controller is configured to calculate an estimated time when the desired temperature will be reached in the heater chamber (¶ 48; “for a predetermined amount of time”) and control the stages of the brewing process based on the estimated time (¶¶ 49-50). See Claim 1 above for the rationale based on obviousness, motivations and reasons to combine. As per Claim 8, O’Connor teaches a computer-implemented method (¶ 26) of brewing tea in an automated tea brewing apparatus (¶ 23; tea infuser assembly 42 of Figures 1, 2 and 4), the method comprising: receiving instructions via a user interface (¶ 20; with power control switch 18-4 of Figure 2, tea strength control switch 18-1, tea format control switch 18-2 and tea type control switch 18-3 of Figure 1) or a wireless communication module, the instructions including at least a water temperature (¶ 28) and a steep time (¶ 30); heating liquid in a heating chamber of the apparatus to the designated temperature based on the received instructions (¶ 25; with heating element 102 of Figure 5); and opening an electronically controlled valve of the heating chamber after reaching the designated temperature (¶ 23; valve 48 of Figure 4), thereby causing the heated liquid to flow into an infusion chamber of the apparatus (¶ 29). O’Connor does not expressly teach: beginning a timer upon the opening of the heating chamber valve; allowing the heated liquid to steep in the infusion chamber for a time period equivalent to the steep time; and opening an electronically controlled valve of the infusion chamber after the steep time has elapsed, thereby allowing the steeped liquid to flow out of the infusion chamber. Gorin teaches: beginning a timer upon the opening of the heating chamber valve (¶ 73; through controller 420 of Figure 4); allowing the heated liquid to steep in the infusion chamber for a time period equivalent to the steep time (¶ 76; for “the brewing cycle”); and opening an electronically controlled valve of the infusion chamber after the steep time has elapsed, thereby allowing the steeped liquid to flow out of the infusion chamber (¶ 73; through injection valve 402 of Figure 4). See Claim 1 above for the rationale based on obviousness, motivations and reasons to combine. As per Claim 9, O’Connor teaches sending a notification to an external device after the steeped liquid has flowed out of the infusion chamber (¶ 19; through “an indicator 28, such as a buzzer, lamp, and/or light-emitting diode (LED) that signals when the tea is brewing and/or ready”). As per Claim 10, O’Connor teaches that the instructions are based on a pre-set brewing profile stored in the controller memory or received via the wireless communications module (¶ 20; as per “a user preference”). As per Claim 11, O’Connor teaches that the pre-set brewing profile is associated with a specific type of tea infusion (¶ 20; as decided by “tea type control switch 18-3” of Figure 1). As per Claim 12, O’Connor does not expressly teach tracking the number of brewed beverages based on the number of times the instructions have been received and executed. Gorin teaches tracking the number of brewed beverages based on the number of times the instructions have been received and executed (¶ 93; as per a “number of cycles”). See Claim 1 above for the rationale based on obviousness, motivations and reasons to combine. As per Claim 13, O’Connor teaches predicting when a user will run out of tea based on the tracked number of brewed beverages and sending an alert to the user when they are predicted to run out of tea (¶ 31; as indicator 28 “is then turned off” at “the expiration of the dispense time” as shown in Figure 2). As per Claim 14, O’Connor does not expressly teach that the instructions are received via a scanning of a unique identifier associated with a specific tea infusion using an external device. Gorin teaches that the instructions are received via a scanning of a unique identifier associated with a specific tea infusion using an external device (¶ 67; after “communication with one or more other devices” such as “a mobile device”). See Claim 1 above for the rationale based on obviousness, motivations and reasons to combine. As per Claim 15, O’Connor teaches that the unique identifier includes information about the water temperature (¶¶ 23, 25) and steep time associated with the specific tea infusion (¶¶ 28-30). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ATUL TRIVEDI whose telephone number is (313)446-4908. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri; 9:00 AM-5:00 PM EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. ATUL TRIVEDI Primary Examiner Art Unit 3661 /ATUL TRIVEDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3661 Application/Control Number: 18/215,956 Page 2 Art Unit: 3661 Application/Control Number: 18/215,956 Page 3 Art Unit: 3661 Application/Control Number: 18/215,956 Page 4 Art Unit: 3661 Application/Control Number: 18/215,956 Page 5 Art Unit: 3661 Application/Control Number: 18/215,956 Page 6 Art Unit: 3661 Application/Control Number: 18/215,956 Page 7 Art Unit: 3661 Application/Control Number: 18/215,956 Page 8 Art Unit: 3661