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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 03/16/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-7, and 9-21 are pending the application. Claim 8 has been cancelled.
Applicant’s amendment to claim 4 has overcome the objection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office action mailed on 12/16/2025.
The provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection of claims 1 and 4 over claims 1-4 of copending application No. 18/903,122 in view of Hawkes et al. (U.S. Patent No. 9745131) is withdrawn. Applicants amendment to independent claim 1 adds the limitation “in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the picking-up conveyor to continue a next operation of picking up one of the second plurality of medicine packs from the second container without picking up the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs from the first container” which renders the claim patentably distinct from the claims of the copending application.
The provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection of claims 1 and 4 over claims 1-4 of copending application No. 18/939,423 in view of Hawkes et al. (U.S. Patent No. 9745131) is withdrawn for the same reason as above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant contends that Einav fails to disclose or suggest “in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the picking-up conveyor to continue a next operation of picking up one of the second plurality of medicine packs from the second container without picking up the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs from the first container" as recited in amended claim 1.
However, Einav teaches substantially the claimed functionality. Specifically, Einav discloses that the reader/encoder 526 communicates with the medication container and detects information from a chip associated with the container. Einav further teaches that “communication of head 500 with container can also help avoiding an initiation of medication extraction in the case reader 526 detects some unexpected input from the chip of the container”, and that “such exception can proceed to moving the head 500 automatically to another container, without proceeding a faulty dispensing process (Einav: col. 21, lines 16-25).
Thus, Einav expressly teaches: reading medication-related information from a container chip, determining that the read information is improper or unexpected, refrain from extracting medication from the corresponding container, and automatically proceeding to another container for continuing dispensing operations. The claimed limitation does not require any particular format or algorithm for determining the mismatch beyond determining that the medication-related information does not correspond to expected information. Einav’s disclosure for identifying medication within container as well as detecting “unexpected input” from the chip reasonably teaches or at least suggests such a mismatch determination.
Further the rejection relies on the combined teachings of Hawkes, McDonald and Einav. Hawkes and McDonald collectively teach verification of medication-related information using stored data and reader-acquired information (Hawkes: col. 10, lines 16-35). Einav is relied upon for the additional teaching of automatically bypassing a problematic container and processing to another container without preforming a faulty pick operation. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized that the mismatch between unexpected medication information and read chip information constitutes a type of “unexpected input” as taught by Einav, and would have found it obvious to apply such verification in Einav’s dispensing workflow to prevent dispensing errors and improve system efficiency by reducing the idling time due to fault handling by the operator (Einav: co. 21, lines 9-31).
Accordingly, the combination of Hawkes, McDonald, and Einav teaches or suggests the disputed limitation and the rejection of claim 1 is maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-6, and 9-10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hawkes et al. (U.S. Patent No. 9745131) hereinafter Hawkes, in view of McDonald et al. (U.S. Patent No. 5468110) hereinafter McDonald, and further in view of Einav et al. (U.S. Patent No. 10964154) hereinafter Einav.
Regarding claim 1, Hawkes discloses a medication support device (col. 4, line 51 to col. 5, line 3) comprising:
a first container configured to store a first plurality of medicine packs (col. 6, lines 10-34; Fig. 5, container 74);
a second container configured to store a second plurality of medicine packs (col. 6, lines 10-34; Fig. 5, container 74);
a medicine dispenser configured to store a specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs is in a prescribed position (col. 5, lines 40-56; Fig. 3 medicine dispenser 32);
a picking-up conveyor configured to pick up the specific one of the plurality of medicine packs from the first container and convey the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs to the prescribed position in the medicine dispenser (col. 5, line 57 to col. 6, line 9; Fig. 1 picking-up conveyer 62); 8
a pack data reader, the pack data reader configured to read first medication-related information added to at least one of the first container, the first plurality of medicine packs, or the medicine dispenser (col. 10, lines 16-34; Fig. 10A, pack data reader 230);
a pack data memory configured to store second medication-related information corresponding to at least one of the first container, the first plurality of medicine packs, or the medicine dispenser (col. 12, line 54 to col. 13, line 17; inventory status maintained in control 240); and
processing circuitry (col. 12, lines 6-24; Fig. 1, processing circuitry 240) configured to:
compare the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader with the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory (col. 10, lines 16-34), and
cause the picking-up conveyor to convey the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs to the prescribed position in the medicine dispenser such that the first medication-related information matches the second medication-related information (col. 7, lines 14-37).
However, Hawkes does not explicitly disclose a pack data reader attached to the picking-up conveyor, or in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the picking-up conveyor to continue a next operation of picking up one of the second plurality of medicine packs from the second container without picking up the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs from the first container.
McDonald discloses a pack data reader attached to the picking-up conveyor, the pack data reader being configured to read first medication-related information added to at least one of the container, the plurality of medicine packs, or the medicine dispenser (col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 47; Fig. 7, pack data reader 26).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dispenser of Hawkes to incorporate the teaching of McDonald of placing the pack data reader on the pick-up device to identify the correct pack and reduce the error or dispensing the wrong medication (McDonald: col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 47).
The combination of Hawkes and McDonald does not disclose, in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the picking-up conveyor to continue a next operation of picking up one of the second plurality of medicine packs from the second container without picking up the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs from the first container.
Einav discloses a medication dispensing with another container configured to store a plurality of medicine packs (col. 18, lines 15-27; Fig. 4A , containers 402), wherein, in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the picking-up conveyor to continue a next operation of picking up one of the second plurality of medicine packs from the second container without picking up the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs from the first container (col. 21, lines 9-31).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dispenser of Hawkes as modified by McDonald, to incorporate the teaching of Einav of, in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the picking-up conveyor to continue a next operation of picking up one of the second plurality of medicine packs from the second container without picking up the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs from the first container to prevent dispensing errors and improve system efficiency by reducing the idling time due to fault handling by the operator (Einav: co. 21, lines 9-31). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized that the mismatch between unexpected medication information and read chip information constitutes a type of “unexpected input” as thought by Einav, and would have found it obvious to apply such verification in Einav’s dispensing workflow to the dispenser of Hawkes as modified by McDonald.
Regarding claim 2, Hawkes, McDonald, and Einav, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Hawkes further discloses the first medication-related information is added to the first container (col. 7, lines 4-13, information 96 on container 74).
Regarding claim 3, Hawkes, McDonald, and Einav, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 1. McDonald further discloses the pack data reader is configured to read the first medication-related information after at least one of the first container, the first plurality of medicine packs, or the medicine dispenser is set (col. 10, lines 2-19; col. 11, line 61 to col. 12, line 34).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dispenser of Hawkes, McDonald, and Einav and further incorporate the teaching of McDonald of reading the first medication-related information after at least one of the first container, the first plurality of medicine packs, or the medicine dispenser is set to improve accuracy of dispensing by checking the medication package or the dispenser with respect to the intended patient (McDonald: col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 47).
Regarding claim 4, Hawkes, McDonald, and Einav, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 3. McDonald further teaches the pack data reader is configured to read the first medication-related information immediately before one of the first plurality of medicine packs is picked up from the first container by the picking-up conveyor (col. 10, lines 2-19).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dispenser of Hawkes, McDonald and Einav, and further incorporate the teaching of McDonald of a pack data reader configured to read the first medication-related information immediately before one of the first plurality of medicine packs is picked up from the first container by the picking-up conveyor to identify the correct pack and reduce the error of picking the wrong medication (McDonald: col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 47).
Regarding claim 5, Hawkes, McDonald, and Einav, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 3. McDonald further teaches the pack data reader is configured to read the first medication-related information at any timing determined by a user (col. 10, lines 2-19, col. 11, line 61 to col. 12, line 34; reading package during restocking and reading package during pick-up).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dispenser of Hawkes, McDonald and Einav, and further incorporate the teaching of McDonald of the pack data reader configured to read the first medication-related information at any timing determined by a user to improve the accuracy of correctly locating a pack by reading the package information at different times to reduce the error of placing or picking the wrong medication (McDonald: col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 47, col. 11, line 61 to col. 12, line 34).
Regarding claim 6, Hawkes, McDonald, and Einav, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Hawkes further discloses a notifying device configured to provide notification of a state or condition, wherein the notifying device is configured to provide the notification of the state or condition in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory (col. 12, line 54 to col. 13, line 17; inventory status is maintained in the control 240 and the sensor 230 provides a fail-safe check in case the inventory is not correct).
Regarding claim 9, Hawkes, McDonald, and Einav, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Hawkes further discloses, the picking-up conveyor includes: a pickup device configured to pick up the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs from the first container (col. 5, line 57 to col. 6, line 9; Fig. 1 picking-up device 62); and
a conveyor configured to convey the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs picked up from the first container to the prescribed position in the medicine dispenser (col. 10, lines 16-34; Fig. 1, conveyor 116).
Regarding claim 10, Hawkes, McDonald, and Einav, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Hawkes further discloses the first plurality of medicine packs are stacked on top of each other in layers in the first container, and the first plurality of medicine packs include: a plurality of medicine packages in each of which a plurality of medicines are packed (col. 6, line 48 to col. 7, line 13); and
the first plurality of medicine packs include: a plurality of medicine packages in each of which a plurality of medicines are packed (col. 4, lines 52 to col. 5, line 3; a single dose of medication my include a plurality of medicines);
a plurality of bound medicine packages in each of which the plurality of medicine packages are stacked on top of each other in layers and bound together (col. 6, line 48 to col. 7, line 13).
Regarding claim 18, Hawkes, McDonald, and Einav, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Hawkes further discloses the pack data reader is further configured to read the first medication-related information added to at least one of the second container or the second plurality of medicine packs (col. 10, lines 16-34; Fig. 10A, pack data reader 230 is able to read medication-related information added on a second container); and
the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory further includes second medication-related information corresponding to at least one of the second container or the second plurality of medicine packs (col. 12, line 54 to col. 13, line 17; inventory status maintained in control 240 included for all containers).
Claims 7, 11-17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hawkes (U.S. Patent No. 9745131), in view of McDonald (U.S. Patent No. 5468110) .
Regarding claim 7, Hawkes discloses a medication support device (col. 4, line 51 to col. 5, line 3) comprising:
a first container configured to store a first plurality of medicine packs (col. 6, lines 10-34; Fig. 5, container 74);
a second container configured to store a second plurality of medicine packs (col. 6, lines 10-34; Fig. 5, container 74);
a medicine dispenser configured to store a specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs in a prescribed position (col. 5, lines 40-56; Fig. 3 medicine dispenser 32);
a picking-up conveyor configured to pick up the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs from the first container and convey the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs to the prescribed position in the medicine dispenser (col. 5, line 57 to col. 6, line 9; Fig. 1 picking-up conveyer 62);
a pack data reader, the pack data reader configured to read first medication-related information added to at least one of the first container, the first plurality of medicine packs, or the medicine dispenser (col. 10, lines 16-34; Fig. 10A, pack data reader 230);
a pack data memory configured to store second medication-related information corresponding to at least one of the first container, the first plurality of medicine packs, or the medicine dispenser (col. 12, line 54 to col. 13, line 17; inventory status maintained in control 240); and
processing circuitry (col. 12, lines 6-24; Fig. 1, processing circuitry 240) configured to: compare the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader with the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory (col. 10, lines 16-34),
cause the picking-up conveyor to convey the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs to the prescribed position in the medicine dispenser such that the first medication-related information matches the second medication-related information (col. 7, lines 14-37).
However, Hawkes does not explicitly disclose a pack data reader attached to the picking-up conveyor, or in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the picking-up conveyor to move and save the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs to a storage space.
McDonald discloses a pack data reader attached to the picking-up conveyor, the pack data reader being configured to read first medication-related information added to at least one of the container, the plurality of medicine packs, or the medicine dispenser (col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 47; Fig. 7, pack data reader 26), and in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the picking-up conveyor to move and save the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs to a storage space (col. 11, lines 10-19).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dispenser of Hawkes to incorporate the teachings of McDonald of placing the pack data reader on the pick-up device, and in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the picking-up conveyor to move and save the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs to a storage space to identify the correct pack and reduce the error or dispensing the wrong medication (col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 47), and also to provide a mechanism to return the incorrectly picked packages back to inventory (col. 11, lines 10-19).
Regarding claim 11, Hawkes and McDonald, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 7. Hawkes further discloses the first medication-related information is added to the first container (col. 7, lines 4-13, information 96 on container 74).
Regarding claim 12, Hawkes and McDonald, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 7. McDonald further teaches what Hawkes lacks, specifically, the pack data reader is configured to read the first medication-related information after at least one of the first container, the plurality of medicine packs, or the medicine dispenser is set (col. 10, lines 2-19; col. 11, line 61 to col. 12, line 34).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dispenser of Hawkes and incorporate the teaching of McDonald of reading the first medication-related information after at least one of the container, the plurality of medicine packs, or the medicine dispenser is set to improve accuracy of dispensing by checking the medication package or the dispenser with respect to the intended patient (McDonald: col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 47).
Regarding claim 13, Hawkes and McDonald, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 12. McDonald further teaches what Hawkes lacks, specifically, the pack data reader is configured to the first medication-related information immediately before one of the first plurality of medicine packs is picked up from the container by the picking-up conveyor (col. 10, lines 2-19).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dispenser of Hawkes and incorporate the teaching of McDonald of a pack data reader configured to read the first medication-related information immediately before one of the plurality of medicine packs is picked up from the container by the picking-up conveyor to identify the correct pack and reduce the error of picking the wrong medication (McDonald: col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 47).
Regarding claim 14, Hawkes and McDonald, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 12. McDonald further teaches what Hawkes lacks, specifically, the pack data reader is configured to read the first medication-related information at any timing determined by a user (col. 10, lines 2-19, col. 11, line 61 to col. 12, line 34; reading package during restocking and reading package during pick-up).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dispenser of Hawkes, and incorporate the teaching of McDonald of the pack data reader configured to read the first medication-related information at any timing determined by a user to improve the accuracy of correctly locating a pack by reading the package information at different times to reduce the error of placing or picking the wrong medication (McDonald: col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 47, col. 11, line 61 to col. 12, line 34).
Regarding claim 15, Hawkes and McDonald, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 7. Hawkes further discloses a notifying device configured to provide notification of a state or condition, wherein the notifying device is configured to provide the notification of the state or condition in response to the first medication-related information read by the pack data reader not matching the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory (col. 12, line 54 to col. 13, line 17; inventory status is maintained in the control 240 and the sensor 230 provides a fail-safe check in case the inventory is not correct).
Regarding claim 16, Hawkes and McDonald, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 7. Hawkes further discloses, a picking-up conveyor includes: a pickup device configured to pick up the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs from the container (col. 5, line 57 to col. 6, line 9; Fig. 1 picking-up device 62); and
a conveyor configured to convey the specific one of the first plurality of medicine packs picked up from the container to a prescribed position of the medicine dispenser (col. 10, lines 16-34; Fig. 1, conveyor 116).
Regarding claim 17, Hawkes and McDonald, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 7. Hawkes further discloses the first plurality of medicine packs are stacked on top of each other in layers in the first container, and the plurality of medicine packs include: a plurality of medicine packages in each of which a plurality of medicines are packed (col. 6, line 48 to col. 7, line 13);and
a plurality of medicine packs include: a plurality of medicine packages in each of which a plurality of medicines are packed (col. 4, lines 25-39).
Hawkes further discloses the plurality of medicine packages are stacked on top of each other in layers (col. 6, line 48 to col. 7, line 13, Fig. )
The combination of Hawkes and McDonald, does not specifically disclose the plurality of medicine packages are bound together.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the dispenser of Hawkes in view of McDonald, to store and dispense a plurality of medicine packages that are bound together because grouping articles that need to be dispensed together for dispensing efficiency represents a well-known and predictable variation of storing and dispensing the packages as separate items. This modification would have been a predictable use of prior art elements according to their established functions.
Regarding claim 19, Hawkes and McDonald, in combination, disclose all the limitations of claim 7. Hawkes further discloses the pack data reader is further configured to read the first medication-related information added to at least one of the second container or the second plurality of medicine packs (col. 10, lines 16-34; Fig. 10A, pack data reader 230 is able to read medication-related information added on a second container); and
the second medication-related information stored in the pack data memory further includes second medication-related information corresponding to at least one of the second container or the second plurality of medicine packs (col. 12, line 54 to col. 13, line 17; inventory status maintained in control 240 included for all containers).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 20 and 21 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. FENG, CN-210438027-U, Automatic Medicine Dispensing Machine.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEMESGEN M. MARU whose telephone number is (571)272-0039. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday 8:00AM-5:00PM.
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/TEMESGEN M. MARU/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3655
/JACOB S. SCOTT/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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