DETAILED ACTION
Notice of AIA Status
The present application, filed on 5/17/2023, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
Claims 1 and 5-9 are rejected.
Claims 2-4 and 10-12 are objected to.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in India on 5/24/2022. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the IN20222029274 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Objection to the Specification
The use of the term Tetra Pak in [0004], which is a trade name or a mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM , or ® following the term.
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 6-8 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites “The system of claim 7” resulting in improper dependency rendering the scope of claim 6, and claims dependent therefrom, unclear. For compact prosecution for purposes of prior art searching, claim 6 is provisionally interpreted to depend from a claim 5 based on instant specification and claim structure. Consider amending the preamble of claim 6 such that claim 6 depends from a proper base claim, e.g. claim 5, as a way to overcome this issue.
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)(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.
Claims 1 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Potyrailo (“RFID sensors based on ubiquitous passive 13.56-MHz RFID tags and complex impedance detection”).
As to claim 1, Potyrailo teaches a processor implemented method, comprising:
transmitting, via one or more hardware processors (via the control and data acquisition, see Fig. 1), a plurality of electromagnetic waves (see page 1322, which recites “the network analyzer was used to scan the frequencies over the range of interest and to collect the complex impedance response from the RFID sensors”) to a capacitive Near-field communication (NFC) tag (RFID sensor in Fig 1) (see also capacitance Cf in the legend of Fig. 1) (see near-field frequency of 13.57 MHz in Fig.5) configured on a packaged container containing milk using an NFC enabled device (an NFC enabled device is a device configured to generate and receive HF RFID/NFC signals at 13. 56 MHz) (see the legend in Fig. 1) (see also page 1322, which recites “Physical sensing of changes of dielectric properties of milk was performed with RFID sensors attached to the outside of milk cartons”);
obtaining, via the one or more hardware processors (control and data acquisition), a response of the capacitive NFC tag (RFID sensor) to the plurality of electromagnetic waves on the NFC enabled device, wherein the response is one of: a positive response; and a negative response (measurement values in Fig. 7 are compared against calibration data, see page 1320, which recites “this digital data has a unique factory programmed serial number (chip ID) as well as user-written data about the properties of the sensor (e.g., calibration curves for different conditions)” yielding a binary condition within threshold/ outside threshold corresponding to the claimed positive and negative responses), wherein the capacitive NFC tag (RFID sensor) is configured to give the positive response when a resonant frequency of the capacitive NFC tag is equal to a predefined frequency, and wherein the resonant frequency of the capacitive NFC tag becomes equal to the predefined frequency when a dielectric constant of the milk contained inside the packaged container is within a predefined range of a predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk (see 1324, which recites “Figure 7B illustrates results of real time non-invasive monitoring of the condition of the two types of milk in cartons and the control water sample at room temperature. The data illustrate different rates of spoilage of whole and fat free milk and no signal change for the control RFID sensor. The change in Fp signal of the RFID sensor was indicative of the milk spoilage through the change in the milk dielectric property and was correlated with the results from reference measurements before and after milk spoilage”);
estimating, via the one or more hardware processors (control and data acquisition), quality of the milk (milk spoilage in 1324) contained inside the packaged container based on the obtained response (see 1324, which recites “Figure 7B illustrates results of real time non-invasive monitoring of the condition of the two types of milk in cartons and the control water sample at room temperature. The data illustrate different rates of spoilage of whole and fat free milk and no signal change for the control RFID sensor. The change in Fp signal of the RFID sensor was indicative of the milk spoilage through the change in the milk dielectric property and was correlated with the results from reference measurements before and after milk spoilage”); and
displaying, via the one or more hardware processors (control and data acquisition), the quality of the milk (see Fig. 7) on the NFC enabled device (see Fig. 6 legend, which recites “(A) Network analyzer and data acquisition computer”).
As to Claim 9, Potyrailo teaches one or more non-transitory computer readable information storage mediums (control logic of the data acquisition and control, see Fig. 1) comprising one or more instructions (software instructions) which when executed by one or more hardware processors cause transmitting, via one or more hardware processors (via the control and data acquisition, see Fig. 1), a plurality of electromagnetic waves (see page 1322, which recites “the network analyzer was used to scan the frequencies over the range of interest and to collect the complex impedance response from the RFID sensors”) to a capacitive Near-field communication (NFC) tag (RFID sensor in Fig 1) (see also capacitance Cf in the legend of Fig. 1) (see near-field frequency of 13.57 MHz in Fig.5) configured on a packaged container containing milk using an NFC enabled device (an NFC enabled device is a device configured to generate and receive HF RFID/NFC signals at 13. 56 MHz) (see the legend in Fig. 1) (see also page 1322, which recites “Physical sensing of changes of dielectric properties of milk was performed with RFID sensors attached to the outside of milk cartons”);
obtaining, via the one or more hardware processors (control and data acquisition), a response of the capacitive NFC tag (RFID sensor) to the plurality of electromagnetic waves on the NFC enabled device, wherein the response is one of: a positive response; and a negative response (measurement values in Fig. 7 are compared against calibration data, see page 1320, which recites “this digital data has a unique factory programmed serial number (chip ID) as well as user-written data about the properties of the sensor (e.g., calibration curves for different conditions)” yielding a binary condition within threshold/ outside threshold corresponding to the claimed positive and negative responses), wherein the capacitive NFC tag (RFID sensor) is configured to give the positive response when a resonant frequency of the capacitive NFC tag is equal to a predefined frequency, and wherein the resonant frequency of the capacitive NFC tag becomes equal to the predefined frequency when a dielectric constant of the milk contained inside the packaged container is within a predefined range of a predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk (see 1324, which recites “Figure 7B illustrates results of real time non-invasive monitoring of the condition of the two types of milk in cartons and the control water sample at room temperature. The data illustrate different rates of spoilage of whole and fat free milk and no signal change for the control RFID sensor. The change in Fp signal of the RFID sensor was indicative of the milk spoilage through the change in the milk dielectric property and was correlated with the results from reference measurements before and after milk spoilage”);
estimating, via the one or more hardware processors (control and data acquisition), quality of the milk (milk spoilage in 1324) contained inside the packaged container based on the obtained response (see 1324, which recites “Figure 7B illustrates results of real time non-invasive monitoring of the condition of the two types of milk in cartons and the control water sample at room temperature. The data illustrate different rates of spoilage of whole and fat free milk and no signal change for the control RFID sensor. The change in Fp signal of the RFID sensor was indicative of the milk spoilage through the change in the milk dielectric property and was correlated with the results from reference measurements before and after milk spoilage”); and
displaying, via the one or more hardware processors (control and data acquisition), the quality of the milk (see Fig. 7) on the NFC enabled device (see Fig. 6 legend, which recites “(A) Network analyzer and data acquisition computer”).
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 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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Potyrailo (“RFID sensors based on ubiquitous passive 13.56-MHz RFID tags and complex impedance detection”).
As to Claim 5, Potyrailo teaches a system (see Fig. 1), comprising:
a memory storing instructions (the data acquisition and control in Fig. 1 corresponds to computer which has memory storing instructions for data acquisition and control);
one or more communication interfaces (the data acquisition and control is a computer which comprises communication interfaces communicating memory to processor and other auxiliary ports for input and output of information, see Fig. A which shows the data acquisition and control connected to the internet via a communication interface); and
one or more hardware processors (data acquisition and control in Fig. 1) connected to external software to perform the following:
transmitting, via one or more hardware processors (via the control and data acquisition, see Fig. 1), a plurality of electromagnetic waves (see page 1322, which recites “the network analyzer was used to scan the frequencies over the range of interest and to collect the complex impedance response from the RFID sensors”) to a capacitive Near-field communication (NFC) tag (RFID sensor in Fig 1) (see also capacitance Cf in the legend of Fig. 1) (see near-field frequency of 13.57 MHz in Fig.5) configured on a packaged container containing milk using an NFC enabled device (an NFC enabled device is a device configured to generate and receive HF RFID/NFC signals at 13. 56 MHz) (see the legend in Fig. 1) (see also page 1322, which recites “Physical sensing of changes of dielectric properties of milk was performed with RFID sensors attached to the outside of milk cartons”);
obtaining, via the one or more hardware processors (control and data acquisition), a response of the capacitive NFC tag (RFID sensor) to the plurality of electromagnetic waves on the NFC enabled device, wherein the response is one of: a positive response; and a negative response (measurement values in Fig. 7 are compared against calibration data, see page 1320, which recites “this digital data has a unique factory programmed serial number (chip ID) as well as user-written data about the properties of the sensor (e.g., calibration curves for different conditions)” yielding a binary condition within threshold/ outside threshold corresponding to the claimed positive and negative responses), wherein the capacitive NFC tag (RFID sensor) is configured to give the positive response when a resonant frequency of the capacitive NFC tag is equal to a predefined frequency, and wherein the resonant frequency of the capacitive NFC tag becomes equal to the predefined frequency when a dielectric constant of the milk contained inside the packaged container is within a predefined range of a predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk (see 1324, which recites “Figure 7B illustrates results of real time non-invasive monitoring of the condition of the two types of milk in cartons and the control water sample at room temperature. The data illustrate different rates of spoilage of whole and fat free milk and no signal change for the control RFID sensor. The change in Fp signal of the RFID sensor was indicative of the milk spoilage through the change in the milk dielectric property and was correlated with the results from reference measurements before and after milk spoilage”);
estimating, via the one or more hardware processors (control and data acquisition), quality of the milk (milk spoilage in 1324) contained inside the packaged container based on the obtained response (see 1324, which recites “Figure 7B illustrates results of real time non-invasive monitoring of the condition of the two types of milk in cartons and the control water sample at room temperature. The data illustrate different rates of spoilage of whole and fat free milk and no signal change for the control RFID sensor. The change in Fp signal of the RFID sensor was indicative of the milk spoilage through the change in the milk dielectric property and was correlated with the results from reference measurements before and after milk spoilage”); and
displaying, via the one or more hardware processors (control and data acquisition), the quality of the milk (see Fig. 7) on the NFC enabled device (see Fig. 6 legend, which recites “(A) Network analyzer and data acquisition computer”).
Potyrailo doesn’t disclose that the memory includes the instructions of the external software and is connected to the one or more hardware processors via the one or more communication interfaces.
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 system as disclosed by Potyrailo as a mere rearrangement of parts (see MPRP 2144.04 and In re Kuhle) such that the external software is stored in the memory and executed by the one or more hardware processors via the one or more communication interfaces with a reasonable expectation of success for the benefit of integrating data acquisition, control and analysis functionally within the computer system yielding predictable results including reduced system complexity enabling offline/ internet-independent functionality.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 and 10 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.
As to Claim 2, Potyrailo teaches the processor implemented method of claim 1.
Potyrailo doesn’t teach that the predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk is computed based on a critical capacitance value of the milk and one or more properties of the packaged container using a predefined dielectric constant calculation formula, wherein the critical capacitance value of the milk is computed based on potential of hydrogen (pH) values of the milk and capacitance values of the milk contained inside the packaged container, and wherein the predefined range of the predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk is computed based on the capacitance values of the milk.
As to Claim 3, Potyrailo teaches the processor implemented method of claim 1.
Potyrailo doesn’t teach creating, via the one or more hardware processors, the capacitive NFC tag specific to the packaged container using the predefined range of the predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk by performing:
obtaining, via the one or more hardware processors, an NFC tag and an NFC tag datasheet associated with the NFC tag, the NFC tag comprising an NFC chip, a resonant capacitor, and an antenna coil arranged in a circuit;
accessing, via the one or more hardware processors, one or more circuit values of the circuit present in the NFC tag from the NFC tag datasheet, wherein the one or more circuit values comprises one or more of:
a capacitance of the antenna coil, a resonant frequency of the NFC tag, a capacitance of the NFC chip and an inductance of the antenna coil; calculating, via the one or more hardware processors, a capacitance of the NFC tag at the resonant frequency based on the one or more circuit values using a predefined resonant frequency calculation formula;
determining, via the one or more hardware processors, whether a dielectric constant of a fresh milk is in the predefined range of the predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk, wherein the dielectric constant of the fresh milk is accessed from a database;
upon determining that the dielectric constant of the fresh milk is in the predefined range of the predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk, determining, via the one or more hardware processors, an area of a parallel plate capacitor such that a capacitance value across one or more parallel plates of the parallel plate capacitor becomes equal to calculated capacitance of the NFC tag when the dielectric constant of the fresh milk becomes equal to the predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk contained in the packaged container using the predefined dielectric constant calculation formula; and
using, via the one or more hardware processors, the determined area to modify the NFC tag to obtain the capacitive NFC tag, wherein the modification of the NFC tag comprises replacing the resonant capacitor of the NFC tag with the parallel plate capacitor of the determined area to obtain the capacitive NFC tag, and wherein the parallel plate capacitor is configured to make the resonant frequency of the capacitive NFC tag equal to the predefined frequency when the dielectric constant of the milk contained in the packaged container is equal to the predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk.
As to claim 10, Potyrailo teaches the one or more non-transitory machine-readable information storage mediums of claim 9.
Potyrailo doesn’t teach that the predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk is computed based on a critical capacitance value of the milk and one or more properties of the packaged container using a predefined dielectric constant calculation formula, wherein the critical capacitance value of the milk is computed based on potential of hydrogen (pH) values of the milk and capacitance values of the milk contained inside the packaged container, and wherein the predefined range of the predefined critical dielectric constant of the milk is computed based on the capacitance values of the milk.
Claims 6-8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN BORTOLI whose telephone number is (571)270-3179. The examiner can normally be reached 9 AM till 6 PM EST Monday through Thursday.
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/JONATHAN BORTOLI/Examiner, Art Unit 1797
/JENNIFER WECKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1797