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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 8/5/2026 has been entered.
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) 1-4, 7-11, 14-20, 23 and 29-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peleg et al. (U.S Pub. No. 20140014126) in view of Qiu (U.S Pub. No. 20170280779).
Regarding claim 1, Peleg discloses an aerosol provision system comprising:
a reservoir for aerosolisable material (110, fig. 2b);
a vaporizer (by 201, fig. 2b) for vaporizing aerosolizable material from the reservoir;
a sensor system (206, fig. 2b), separate from the vaporizer, for detecting the temperature of the vaporizer, wherein the sensor system comprises a first resistor [0033].
Peleg discloses they system further comprising a wick configured to receive the aerosolisable material from the reservoir, wherein the vaporizer is configured to vaporize the aerosolizable material received in the wick (fig. 2b)
Qui discloses a sensor system for detecting the temperature wherein the sensor system comprises a first resistor (PTC thermistor) and a second resistor connected in series with the first resistor; wherein the second resistor is located proximate to the heating element (corresponding to the location of the vaporizer) and wherein the first resistor is located closer to the heating element than the second resistor is located to the heating element ([0014-0018] and fig. 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to implement the sensor system taught by Qui in the system of Peleg so that the sensor system circuit can be output the temperature of the heating element to the processing unit.
Regarding claim 2, Qiu discloses the sensor system is configured to measure a voltage drop across the first resistor [0014-0018].
Regarding claim 3, Qiu discloses the sensor system is configured to determine the temperature of the vaporizer based on the voltage drop across the first resistor [0014-0018].
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Peleg and Qui taken together as whole discloses the first resistor is located proximate to the vaporizer ([0014-0018] of Qui).
Regarding claim 7, Qiu discloses the sensor system is further configured to measure a voltage drop across the second resistor [0014-0018].
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Peleg and Qiu taken together as a whole discloses the sensor system is configured to determine the temperature of the vaporizer based on the measured voltage drop across the first resistor in combination with the measured voltage drop across the second resistor ([0014-0018] of Qiu).
Regarding claim 11, Peleg discloses the system further comprising a first power supply configured to provide electrical power to the vaporizer [0055].
Regarding claim 14, Peleg discloses the system further comprising control circuitry configured to adjust the amount of power provided by the first power supply to the vaporizer [0018].
Regarding claim 15, Peleg discloses the control circuitry comprises a portion of the sensor system (fig. 1).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Peleg and Qiu taken together as whole disclose the sensor system is configured to provide an output signal containing data related to the temperature of the vaporizer, wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
process the data from the output signal; and
generate, in response to processing the data from the output signal, a first control signal for controlling the operation of the first power supply ([0018] of Peleg and fig. 2 of Qiu).
Regarding claim 17, Peleg discloses the first control signal comprises a command to vary the amount of power provided by the first power supply to the vaporizer [0018].
Regarding claim 18, Peleg discloses the first control signal comprises a command to stop providing power to the vaporizer from the first power supply [0018].
Regarding claim 19, Peleg discloses a second power supply for providing electrical power to the sensor system [0018, fig. 2b].
Regarding claim 20, Peleg discloses the second power supply is independent of the first power supply [0018 and 0033].
Regarding claim 23, in addition to features discussed above for claim 19, Peleg discloses the system further comprising a control circuitry configured to process data related to the temperature of the vaporizer and generate a signal comprises a command to stop providing power to the vaporizer from the first power supply (Abstract). The combination of Peleg and Qiu taken together as a whole discloses the system further comprising a second power supply for providing electrical power to the sensor system and wherein the control circuitry is further configured to generate a second control signal comprises a command to stop providing power to the sensor system from the second power supply [(Abstract, 0018 and 0033] of Peleg and fig. 2 of Qiu).
Regarding claim 29, Peleg discloses the system further comprising a cartridge and a control unit;
wherein the reservoir, the vaporizer, and the first resistor, are located in the cartridge;
wherein the control unit comprises a cartridge receiving section that includes an interface arranged to cooperatively engage with the cartridge so as to releasably couple the cartridge to the control unit [0018].
Regarding claim 30, Peleg discloses the system further comprising a first power supply configured to provide electrical power to the vaporizer, and wherein the control unit comprises the first power supply [0018].
Regarding claim 31, Peleg discloses the system further comprising a second power supply for providing electrical power to the sensor system and wherein the control unit comprises the second power supply ([0018] of Peleg and fig.2 of Qiu).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 18/5/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHU H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-5931. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/PHU H NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1747
