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
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6, 11-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu (US 2012/0269025A1).
Liu discloses in reference to claim:
1. A beverage brewer, comprising: a container collar 2 having an opening and configured to be arranged on a rim of an open top of a container 1; a brewing material holder 32 configured to hold brewing material and including a sidewall 323, an open top, and a bottom 323, wherein the brewing material holder is configured to be removably arranged at the container collar such that the open top of the brewing material holder opens through the opening of the container collar (The plug cap 7 is plugged into the hollow cylinder 3 through the open upper end of the hollow cylinder 3 for closing the inner accommodating space 30 in the hollow cylinder 3) ; and a drive assembly 33 configured to impart movement to at least a portion 5 of the brewing material holder, wherein the at least a portion of the brewing material holder is configured to agitate liquid held in the container.
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2. The beverage brewer of claim 1, wherein the at least a portion of the brewing material holder is configured to agitate liquid in the brewing material holder. Note that the tube 32 holding the brewing material is rotated within the container as will serve to agitate the liquid permeated into the material holder.
3. The beverage brewer of claim 1, wherein the at least a portion of the brewing material holder is configured to agitate brewing material held in the brewing material holder. Note that the tube 32 holding the brewing material is rotated within the container as will serve to agitate the solids in the material holder.
4. The beverage brewer of claim 1, wherein the sidewall of the brewing material holder has at least one perforation 326.
5. The beverage brewer of claim 1, further comprising the container, configured to hold liquid, having the open top, a closed sidewall, and a closed bottom; wherein the brewing material holder is configured to be suspended from the container collar and into an interior of the container. See Figure 5
6. The beverage brewer of claim 1, wherein the drive assembly is configured to rotate the at least a portion of the brewing material holder about an axis. See Fig. 5
11. A beverage brewer, comprising: collar means having an opening, for being arranged on a rim of an open top of container means; brewing material holding means for holding brewing material and including a sidewall, an open top, and a bottom, and for being removably arranged at the collar means such that the open top of the brewing material holding means opens through the opening of the collar means; and drive means for imparting movement to at least a portion of the brewing material holding means, wherein the at least a portion of the brewing material holding means is configured to agitate liquid held in the container means. See claim 1, mutatis mutandis
12. The beverage brewer of claim 11, wherein the at least a portion of the brewing material holding means is configured to agitate liquid in the brewing material holding means. See claim 2, mutatis mutandis
13. The beverage brewer of claim 11, wherein the at least a portion of the brewing material holding means is configured to agitate brewing material held in the brewing material holding means. See claim 3, mutatis mutandis
14. The beverage brewer of claim 11, wherein the sidewall of the brewing material holding means has at least one perforation 326. See claims 1, 4, mutatis mutandis
15. The beverage brewer of claim 11, further comprising the container means, configured to hold liquid, having the open top, a closed sidewall, and a closed bottom; wherein the brewing material holding means is configured to be suspended from the collar means and into an interior of the container means. See claims 1, 5, mutatis mutandis
16. The beverage brewer of claim 11, wherein the drive means is configured to rotate the at least a portion of the brewing material holding means about an axis. See claims 1, 6, mutatis mutandis
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 factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
The Supreme Court in KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007) identified a number of rationales to support a conclusion of obviousness which are consistent with the proper “functional approach” to the determination of obviousness as laid down in Graham. The key to supporting any rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 is the clear articulation of the reason(s) why the claimed invention would have been obvious. The Supreme Court in KSR noted that the analysis supporting a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 should be made explicit.
EXEMPLARY RATIONALES
Exemplary rationales that may support a conclusion of obviousness include:
(A) Combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results;
(B) Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results;
(C) Use of known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way;
(D) Applying a known technique to a known device (method, or product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results;
(E) “Obvious to try” – choosing from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success;
(F) Known work in one field of endeavor may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one based on design incentives or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art;
(G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 7-10, 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu (US 2012/0269025A1) in view of Joergensen (US 5453189) or Wade (US 2858762).
Liu discloses the claimed invention as described above except in reference to claim:
7. The beverage brewer of claim 1, wherein the bottom of the brewing material holder is a bottom cap configured to be removably coupled to a bottom of the sidewall of the brewing material holder.
17. The beverage brewer of claim 11, wherein the bottom of the brewing material holding means is cap means for being removably coupled to a bottom of the sidewall of the brewing material holding means.
Joergensen discloses a beverage device including an insertable brewing material holder 1 wherein the bottom 2 of the brewing material holder is a bottom cap 2 configured to be removably coupled to a bottom of the sidewall 3 of the brewing material holder.
One of skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the Liu device to include the removable bottom cap as taught by Joergensen so as to provide an easier way to clean the material holder.
8. The beverage brewer of claim 1, wherein the bottom of the brewing material holder includes at least one fin projecting inward from an inner surface of the bottom of the brewing material holder within an interior of the brewing material holder.
9. The beverage brewer of claim 8, wherein the at least one fin is the portion of the brewing material holder and is configured to agitate liquid held in the container when the drive assembly imparts movement to the fin.
10. The beverage brewer of claim 8, wherein the bottom of the brewing material holder is the portion of the brewing material holder and is configured to agitate liquid held in the container when the drive assembly imparts movement to the bottom of the brewing material holder.
18. The beverage brewer of claim 11, wherein the bottom of the brewing material holding means includes fin means for projecting inward from an inner surface of the bottom of the brewing material holding means within an interior of the brewing material holding means.
19. The beverage brewer of claim 18, wherein the fin means is the portion of the brewing material holding means and is configured to agitate liquid held in the container means when the drive means imparts movement to the fin means.
20. The beverage brewer of claim 18, wherein the bottom of the brewing material holding means is the portion of the brewing material holding means and is configured to agitate liquid held in the container means when the drive means imparts movement to the bottom of the brewing material holding means.
Wade discloses a beverage device including wherein the bottom of a brewing material holder which includes at least one fin projecting from a surface of the bottom of the brewing material holder to increase the agitation within the container and the material holder. Although Wade discloses exterior extending fins, the teaching of the use of fins to help agitate is clear. As such one of skill in the art would find it obvious to provide inwardly extending scoops as taught by Wade, in the bottom wall of the material holder of Liu in order to provide increased agitation to the liquid within the container or the material holder to effect better brewing. Note that Liu teaches the rotation of the entire tube 32 including the bottom wall which will impart movement to the material in the material holder and the liquid surrounding the tube 32.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOR S CAMPBELL whose telephone number is (571)272-4776. The examiner can normally be reached M,W-F 6:30-10:30, 12-4.
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, Ibrahime Abraham can be reached at 5712705569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THOR S CAMPBELL/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3761
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