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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in Paragraph 2, delete the last sentence considering the last sentence of the paragraph is duplicated as the first sentence of Paragraph 3.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park et al. (US 2022/0322749) (hereinafter referred to as ‘Park’).
Park teaches
Regarding claim 1,
a power supply device (battery 11000) comprising:
a housing (housing of device 10000) having formed therein an accommodation space;
a power supply battery;
a power input terminal configured to receive externally supplied power;
a power output terminal configured to output power to an aerosol-generating device accommodated in the accommodation space;
a power circuit (controller 16000) configured to transmit the power received through the power input terminal to one of the power supply battery or the power output terminal; and
a controller configured to control operation of the power circuit,
wherein the controller is configured to:
determine a remaining capacity of a device battery included in the aerosol-generating device,
based on the remaining capacity being less than a predetermined reference capacity, control the power circuit to transmit the power received through the power input terminal to the power output terminal, and
based on the remaining capacity being equal to or greater than the reference capacity, control the power circuit to transmit the power received through the power input terminal to the power supply battery (see Paragraphs 0031-0033).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 7-13 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest either alone or in combination thereof:
Regarding claim 2, the power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the power circuit comprises at least one switching element, and
wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the at least one switching element to selectively transmit the power received through the power input terminal to one of the power supply battery or the power output terminal;
regarding claim 3, the power supply device according to claim 1, further comprising: a communication interface configured to perform communication with the aerosol- generating device, wherein the controller is configured to determine the remaining capacity of the device battery based on data on a charged state of the aerosol-generating device received
through the communication interface;
regarding claim 4, the power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the reference capacity is a charging capacity of the device battery corresponding to minimal use of the aerosol- generating device by a user;
regarding claim 5, the power supply device according to claim 1, further comprising:
an input device configured to receive user input; and
an output device configured to output a message,
wherein the controller is configured to:
based on the remaining capacity of the device battery being equal to or greater than the reference capacity, output a message prompting to select one of the power supply battery and the device battery through the output device, and
control operation of the power circuit in response to the user input received through the input device.
Regarding claim 6, the power supply device according to claim 1, further comprising:
an input device configured to receive user input,
wherein controlling the power circuit to transmit the power to the power supply battery based on the remaining capacity being equal to or greater than the reference capacity is further based on receiving a user input through the input device during a predetermined time period, and
based on the remaining capacity being equal to or greater than the reference capacity and the user input not being received during the predetermined time period, the controller is configured to control operation of the power circuit to transmit the power received through the power input terminal to the power output terminal;
regarding claim 7,
An aerosol-generating system comprising a power supply device and an aerosol- generating device, wherein the power supply device comprises:
a housing having an accommodation space formed therein to accommodate the aerosol-generating device;
a power supply battery;
a first controller;
a power input terminal configured to receive externally supplied power;
a power output terminal configured to output power to the aerosol-generating device accommodated in the accommodation space; and
a power circuit configured to transmit the power received through the power input terminal to one of the power supply battery or the power output terminal
wherein the aerosol-generating device comprises:
a heater;
a device battery configured to supply power to the heater; and
a second controller, and
wherein the first controller is configured to:
determine a remaining capacity of the device battery,
based on the remaining capacity being less than a predetermined reference capacity, control the power circuit to transmit the power received through the power input terminal to the aerosol-generating device through the power output terminal, and based on the remaining capacity being equal to or greater than the reference capacity, control the power circuit to transmit the power received through the power input terminal to the power supply battery.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMARA ALZAIDA FRANKLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-2389. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Pham can be reached at 571-272-3689. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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June 18, 2026
/JAMARA A FRANKLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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