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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on 1/23/24, 3/17/25, 5/23/25, 7/7/25, 9/12/25, 5/6/26 have been considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 10, 13-14, 16, 18-19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 10 should read “…the circuitry is configured
Claim 13 should read “…the circuitry is configured to supply power to the load
Claim 14 final line should read “…received from the user of the inhalation component generation device”, because the user was previously introduced.
Claim 16 line 4 should read “…has been received from the user of the…”, because the user was previously introduced.
Claim 18 2nd page line 16 should read “…and the request for aerosol generation has been received from the user”, because the user and request was previously introduced.
Claim 19 line 4 should read “…has been received from the user”, because the user was previously introduced
Applicant is advised that should claim 17 be found allowable, claim 20 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Appropriate correction is required.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-8 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 5 or 6 of U.S. Patent No. 11445760. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the instant pending claims are merely broader than patented claims 5-6. It is clear that all of the elements of claims 1-8 are found in claims 5 and 6 of the patented application. The difference lies in the fact that the patented claims include many more elements and is thus much more specific. Thus the invention of the patented claims 5 and 6 are in effect a "species" of the "generic" invention of the instant claims 1-8. It has been held that the generic invention is "anticipated” by the “species". See MPEP 804 Section II(B). Since claims 1-8 are anticipated by patented claims 5 and 6, they are not patentably distinct from the patented claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Dependent claim 19 relies upon claim 14, however the preamble is claiming “The system of claim 14”, whereas claim 14 is claiming “An inhalation component generation device” and is NOT claiming a system. As such, dependent claim 19 does not include all of the limitations of claim 14 and also is in an improper dependent form. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements. The claim will be treated as if claim 19 first line recites “The system”. In making any possible amendments, it is noted for Applicant that claim 16 would be a substantial duplicate of claim 19 if claim 19 is amended to recite “The inhalation component generation device of claim 14”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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 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.
(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.
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.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fernando (US2010/0313901A1), or in the alternate, claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fernando (US2010/0313901A1) in view of Holzherr (US2015/0181942A1).
Regarding claim 1, Fernando teaches a system (Fig. 6 provides a schematic view of an electrically heating smoking system [0026]) comprising:
a first electronic device including a first power source configured to supply electric power to a load for electrically heating an aerosol generating article (the first electronic device is considered the secondary unit “500”, wherein the secondary unit is the electronic cigarette which has the smoking article inserted into it [0091]. The unit “500” includes a power supply “508” and “500” includes the heating element “504” which supplies heat to the substrate in the smoking article to form the vapor/aerosol [0093]),
a second electronic device (primary unit “502” [Fig. 6]) supplies power to the load and the power source when the electronic device is electrically connected to the second electronic device (during the preheating mode, the primary power supply “516” is connected to the heating elements “504” in the secondary unit “500”, under control of the electronic circuitry [0093], and the primary power supply is connected to the secondary power supply “508” to charge it [0092]),
circuitry (electronic circuitry “506” and “514” in the two devices is considered to be the circuitry) configured to:
operate in a first mode which electric power is supplied to the power source from the second electronic device (the primary unit 502 is connected to the second unit 500, and then primary unit may then charge the secondary power supply [0092]. The charging mode is considered the first mode),
operate in a second mode during which electric power is supplied to the load from the second electronic device (the system may operate in a pre-heating mode, where the primary power supply (second electronic device) in the primary unit “502” supplies power to the heating elements in the secondary unit "500" (first electronic device) to reach a target temperature [0093, Fig. 5-6]. The second mode is thus considered this preheating/heating mode),
the circuitry is configured to change a variable relating to supply of electric power from the second electronic device based on whether the circuitry is operating in the first or second mode (the electric power necessary to charge the device 500 would necessarily be different than the power required to heat the substrate up to the operating temperature between 150-250C. These are clearly substantially different power demands upon the electronic devices, and it would necessarily be the case that the heating of the heating element to 150-250C would use a different amount of electric power than the simple charging of the device. For example, the pre-heating and smoking mode adjusts the amount of power supplied so as to maintain the temperature as close to the target temperature as possible [0077], such that the amount of power would clearly necessarily be different from that of the charging mode).
Alternatively, Holzherr further teaches an aerosol generating system, wherein there is a primary device 100 which is the main charging block and a secondary device 102 which is the portable smoking device which is removably connected to the charging block [see Fig. 1]. Holzherr details the charging profile of the secondary portable device via the primary device as in Fig. 4, wherein the current 420, voltage 410 of the primary battery, and voltage 430 of the second (portable) batter are shown [0114]. From this, one would clearly recognize that the charging mode of the portable device would necessarily have different amounts of electric power supplied compared to a heating mode of the e-cigarette. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the charging modes of Fernando so as to have a charging profile as suggested in Fig. 4, so as to provide a recharagable battery system that is capable of quickly, safely, and conveniently recharging numerous times [0001-0004, 0104]. And as the electric power provided by the charging phase as suggested by Holzherr would clearly be different from the electric power provided during the heating phase (as detailed in Fernando [0077]), the first modes and second modes would clearly have different variables thereof.
Regarding claim 2, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the variable corresponds to an amount of electric power supplied from the second electronic device (as detailed in claim 1 above, the charge supplied between a charging mode and that of a heating mode would necessarily be different as they require vastly different amounts of energy in these two modes, and as the amount of electric power provided differs throughout the preheating/smoking period of Fernando [0077]. And alternatively, Holzherr details that the charging profile undergoes a unique electric power relationship [Holzherr, Fig. 4], such that this profile would clearly differ from that of Fernando’s heating profile).
Regarding claim 3, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the circuitry controlling a first amount of electric power from the second electronic device to the power source in the first mode, and control supplying a second amount of power to the load in the second mode (as detailed above, the power supplied from the primary unit 502 to the second unit 500 which is the portable smoking unit would clearly utilize different amounts of electric power dependent upon whether the unit was in charging or preheating/smoking mode).
Regarding claim 4, Fernando teaches or makes obvious wherein the first amount of electric power is different from the second amount of electric power (as detailed above, the charge supplied between a charging mode and that of a heating mode would necessarily be different as they require vastly different amounts of energy in these two modes, and as the amount of electric power differs throughout the preheating/smoking period of Fernando [0077]. And alternatively, Holzherr details that the charging profile undergoes a unique electric power relationship [Holzherr, Fig. 4], such that this profile would clearly differ from that of Fernando’s heating profile).
Regarding claim 5, Fernando teaches or makes obvious wherein the first amount of electric power is less than the second amount of electric power (it is very well understood in the art of vapes that less electricity is used in the simple charging of a device compared to the electricity used in the utilization and heating of the vape device. Where the charging mode of the device simply slowly provides electric power to the portable smoking device, the heating steps require heating of the electric coil up to 250C [0093], such that the amount of electric power for the heating steps in the second mode would necessarily be larger than that of the power in the first mode during charging. And additionally, as Fernando states that the heating may occur with charging [0093], when charging and heating occur concurrently this would clearly utilize more electric power than just charging on its own. And alternatively, Holzherr further suggests that a heating step utilizes more energy than that of the charging steps. As noted previously, Holzherr has a substantially similar arrangement regarding a primary charging block and a secondary portable device utilized for smoking. Holzherr teaches that an average charging rate may range up to 12 C, wherein a charging rate of 1C means that the battery is fully charged from zero charge to full charge in one hour [0104]. The discharging rate, which would be the discharging of the battery in the form of heating up of the coil for initiating smoking, depends upon the resistance of the heater but may range from 13C to as high as 28C [0104]. These charging rates would clearly correlate to the respective electric power that is supplied, such that the higher rates in the discharging/heating steps would necessarily have a greater amount of electric power associated. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to utilize the rates as in Holzherr in the system of Fernando. One would have been motivated as Fernando does not provide numerical ranges for its charging/discharging amounts, and as such rates lead to beneficial battery life, sufficient capacity and safe utilization of the battery [0104]. And as noted above, these charging/discharging rates would reasonably correlate to an amount of electric power utilized within the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim language).
Regarding claim 6, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the circuitry is configured to in the first mode control supplying power to the power source and the load from the second electronic device (the second electronic device which is considered the primary unit 502, may supply power to the power source during the charging mode [0092]. And additionally, the pre-heating mode may be initiated during the same time as charging [0092], such that the load may also be supplied power).
Regarding claim 7, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the system where the circuitry is a microprocessor in the first electronic device (the circuitry in the primary and secondary device is preferably a microprocessor [0073, 0077]).
Regarding claim 8, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the system where the first electronic device is detachably connected to a second electric connector of the second electronic device (the charging device may have the connector “512” and the portable device may have a secondary interface “510”. The two devices are connected through these connectors and charge passes through these interfaces [Fig. 6, 0097]).
Regarding claim 9, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the system wherein the circuitry is configured to detect whether the first electronic device is connected to the second electronic device (the circuitry may detect when the secondary unit is connected with the primary power supply [0077]).
Regarding claim 10, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the system wherein the circuitry operates in the first or second mode in response to detecting that the first electronic device is connected to the second electronic device (the preheating mode may be initiated when the secondary unit is detected to be in connection with the primary power supply and a smoking article is detected in the secondary unit [0077]).
Regarding claim 11, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the system wherein the first electronic device includes an opening configured to receive a cartridge including the article (the first electronic device is considered the second portable unit, wherein the secondary unit contains the smoking article [0038, 0044]. See Figs. 1-4 for embodiments thereof, and wherein there would necessarily be an opening to receive the cartridge so as to contain the removable article from the device.).
Regarding claim 12, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the system wherein the cartridge includes a tank configured to store liquid as the article (the aerosol forming substrate in the article is preferably a liquid substrate [0049, 0081], such that the surrounding walls around the liquid would be considered to be the tank).
Regarding claim 13, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the system wherein circuitry is configured to supply power to the load in the cartridge so as to heat the load and atomize the liquid (the second portable unit contains the smoking article [0038, 0044], which contains the liquid substrate. The power is supplied to the heating element 504 to energize the substrate in the smoking article to reach the desired operating temperatures such that puffs are able to be sufficiently taken [0093], such that Fernando clearly satisfies the claim).
Claims 14-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fernando (US2010/0313901A1), or in the alternate, claims 14-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fernando (US2010/0313901A1) in view of Holzherr (US2015/0181942A1).
Regarding claim 14, Fernando teaches an inhalation component generation device (Fig. 6 provides a schematic view of an electrically heating smoking system [0026], wherein the inhalation component generation device is considered to be the secondary unit “500”)
A battery configured to store electric power to be supplied to a load for electrically heating an aerosol generating article (the secondary unit is the electronic cigarette which has the smoking article inserted into it [0091]. The unit “500” includes a power supply “508” which is the battery, and “500” includes the heating element “504” which supplies heat to the substrate in the smoking article to form the vapor/aerosol [0093]),
An electric connector configured to be detachably connected to a charger for the inhalation component generation device (the charger is considered the primary device “502” which supplies power to “500” [Fig. 6, 0092-0093]. The inhalation device includes secondary interface “510” and the charger includes primary interface “512”, wherein these enable the two devices to be detachably connected [Fig. 6, 0097]),
Circuitry configured to (circuitry is considered to be “506” or “514” [0094]):
Detect whether the inhalation component generation device is connected to the charger via the electric connector (the circuitry may detect when the secondary unit is connected with the primary power supply [0077]),
Detect whether a request for aerosol generation has been received from a user of the device (the smoker may initiate the pre-heat by taking an action, such as activating a switch on the units or opening the unit [0077], such that this is considered to be a request for beginning aerosol generation);
Control supplying a first amount of electric power from the charger to the battery in a case that the inhalation component generation device is connected to the charger and a request for aerosol generation has not been received from the user (when the secondary unit 500 is connected to the primary unit 502 which is the charger, the primary unit begins to charge the secondary power supply 508 [0092]),
Control supplying a second amount of power which is different from the first, from the charger to the load when a request for aerosol generation has been received from the user (when the secondary unit 500 is connected to the primary unit 502 which is the charger, the heating mode may be initiated by a button or flipping a switch when the user is ready to begin smoking [0093]. This may occur concurrently with charging or separate from it [0092-0093]. The electric power necessary to charge the device 500 would necessarily be different than the power required to heat the substrate up to the operating temperature between 150-250C. These are clearly substantially different power demands upon the electronic devices, and it would necessarily be the case that the heating of the heating element to 150-250C would use a different amount of electric power than the simple charging of the device. For example, the pre-heating and smoking mode adjusts the amount of power supplied so as to maintain the temperature as close to the target temperature as possible [0077], such that the amount of power would clearly necessarily be different from that of the charging mode).
Alternatively, regarding the first and second amounts of power being different, Holzherr further teaches an aerosol generating system, wherein there is a primary device 100 which is the main charging block and a secondary device 102 which is the portable smoking device which is removably connected to the charging block [see Fig. 1]. Holzherr details the charging profile of the secondary portable device via the primary device as in Fig. 4, wherein the current 420, voltage 410 of the primary battery, and voltage 430 of the second (portable) batter are shown [0114]. From this, one would clearly recognize that the charging mode of the portable device would necessarily have different amounts of electric power supplied compared to a heating mode of the e-cigarette. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the charging modes of Fernando so as to have a charging profile as suggested in Fig. 4, so as to provide a recharagable battery system that is capable of quickly, safely, and conveniently recharging numerous times [0001-0004, 0104]. And as the electric power provided by the charging phase as suggested by Holzherr would clearly be different from the electric power provided during the heating phase (as detailed in Fernando [0077]), the first modes and second modes would clearly have different variables thereof.
Regarding claim 15, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the second amount of power is greater than the first amount of power (it is very well understood in the art of vapes that less electricity is used in the simple charging of a device compared to the electricity used in the utilization and heating of the vape device. Where the charging mode of the device simply slowly provides electric power to the portable smoking device, the heating steps require heating of the electric coil up to 250C [0093], such that the amount of electric power for the heating steps in the second mode would necessarily be larger than that of the power in the first mode during charging. And additionally, as Fernando states that the heating may occur with charging [0093], when charging and heating occur concurrently this would clearly utilize more electric power than just charging on its own. And alternatively, Holzherr further suggests that a heating step utilizes more energy than that of the charging steps. As noted previously, Holzherr has a substantially similar arrangement regarding a primary charging block and a secondary portable device utilized for smoking. Holzherr teaches that an average charging rate may range up to 12 C, wherein a charging rate of 1C means that the battery is fully charged from zero charge to full charge in one hour [0104]. The discharging rate, which would be the discharging of the battery in the form of heating up of the coil for initiating smoking, depends upon the resistance of the heater but may range from 13C to as high as 28C [0104]. These charging rates would clearly correlate to the respective electric power that is supplied, such that the higher rates in the discharging/heating steps would necessarily have a greater amount of electric power associated. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to utilize the rates as in Holzherr in the system of Fernando. One would have been motivated as Fernando does not provide numerical ranges for its charging/discharging amounts, and as such rates lead to beneficial battery life, sufficient capacity and safe utilization of the battery [0104]. And as noted above, these charging/discharging rates would reasonably correlate to an amount of electric power utilized within the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim language).
Regarding claim 16 and 19, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the device wherein the circuitry is configured to control supplying electric power to the load from both the battery and the charger in a case that the inhalation device is connected to the charger and a request for aerosol generation has been received (in the preheating/smoking stages which begin with the smoker initiating a requestion for generation through pressing a button or flipping a switch [0093], the primary power supply from the charger 502 energizes the heating elements 504 [0093] and the secondary power supply also then heats the heating elements to keep the substrate at temperature [0094], such that both the battery and charger supply power to the heater 504 when the request for aerosol generation is received).
Regarding claim 17 and 20, Fernando teaches or makes obvious the device comprising a second electrical connector to be detachably connected to a cartridge including the load and a tank configured to store liquid as the article (the secondary unit contains the smoking article [0038, 0044]. The aerosol forming substrate in the article is preferably a liquid substrate [0049, 0081], such that the surrounding walls around the liquid would be considered to be the tank. The power is supplied to the heating element 504 to energize the substrate in the smoking article to reach the desired operating temperatures such that puffs are able to be sufficiently taken [0093]. The article can clearly be detachably connected to the inhalation device [see Figs. 1-4], and there would necessarily be a second electrical connector so as to connect the article with the inhalation device as shown in Figs. 1-4).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fernando (US2010/0313901A1), or in the alternate, claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fernando (US2010/0313901A1) in view of Holzherr (US2015/0181942A1).
Regarding claim 18, Fernando teaches a system (Fig. 6 provides a schematic view of an electrically heating smoking system [0026]),
a charger comprising a first electrical connector configured to be detachably connected to an inhalation component generation device and supply electric power to the inhalation component generation device via the first electrical connector (primary unit “502” [Fig. 6] is considered the charger, and the secondary unit “500” is considered the inhalation component generation device. As in Fig. 6, the primary unit includes a primary interface “512” and the inhalation device includes a secondary interface “510”, wherein the two devices may be connected via these interfaces [0097]. The primary unit “502” may supply power to the secondary unit “500” [0092-0093]),
the inhalation component generation device comprising:
a battery configured to store electric power to be supplied to a load for electrically heating an aerosol generating article (the secondary unit is the electronic cigarette which has the smoking article inserted into it [0091]. The unit “500” includes a power supply “508” which is the battery, and “500” includes the heating element “504” which supplies heat to the substrate in the smoking article to form the vapor/aerosol [0093]),
A second electric connector configured to be detachably connected to a charger for the inhalation component generation device (the charger is considered the primary device “502” which supplies power to “500” [Fig. 6, 0092-0093]. The inhalation device includes secondary interface “510” and the charger includes primary interface “512”, wherein these enable the two devices to be detachably connected [Fig. 6, 0097], such that the second electric connector would be “510”),
Circuitry configured to (circuitry is considered to be “506” or “514” [0094]):
Detect whether the inhalation component generation device is connected to the charger (the circuitry may detect when the secondary unit is connected with the primary power supply [0077]),
Detect whether a request for aerosol generation has been received from a user of the device (the smoker may initiate the pre-heat by taking an action, such as activating a switch on the units or opening the unit [0077], such that this is considered to be a request for beginning aerosol generation);
Control supplying a first amount of electric power from the charger to the battery in a case that the inhalation component generation device is connected to the charger and a request for aerosol generation has not been received from the user (when the secondary unit 500 is connected to the primary unit 502 which is the charger, the primary unit begins to charge the secondary power supply 508 [0092]),
Control supplying a second amount of power which is different from the first, from the charger to the load when a request for aerosol generation has been received from the user (when the secondary unit 500 is connected to the primary unit 502 which is the charger, the heating mode may be initiated by a button or flipping a switch when the user is ready to begin smoking [0093]. This may occur concurrently with charging or separate from it [0092-0093]. The electric power necessary to charge the device 500 would necessarily be different than the power required to heat the substrate up to the operating temperature between 150-250C. These are clearly substantially different power demands upon the electronic devices, and it would necessarily be the case that the heating of the heating element to 150-250C would use a different amount of electric power than the simple charging of the device. For example, the pre-heating and smoking mode adjusts the amount of power supplied so as to maintain the temperature as close to the target temperature as possible [0077], such that the amount of power would clearly necessarily be different from that of the charging mode).
Alternatively, regarding the first and second amounts of power being different, Holzherr further teaches an aerosol generating system, wherein there is a primary device 100 which is the main charging block and a secondary device 102 which is the portable smoking device which is removably connected to the charging block [see Fig. 1]. Holzherr details the charging profile of the secondary portable device via the primary device as in Fig. 4, wherein the current 420, voltage 410 of the primary battery, and voltage 430 of the second (portable) batter are shown [0114]. From this, one would clearly recognize that the charging mode of the portable device would necessarily have different amounts of electric power supplied compared to a heating mode of the e-cigarette. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the charging modes of Fernando so as to have a charging profile as suggested in Fig. 4, so as to provide a recharagable battery system that is capable of quickly, safely, and conveniently recharging numerous times [0001-0004, 0104]. And as the electric power provided by the charging phase as suggested by Holzherr would clearly be different from the electric power provided during the heating phase (as detailed in Fernando [0077]), the first modes and second modes would clearly have different variables thereof.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Weigensberg (US2015/0020831A1), or in the alternate, claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weigensberg (US2015/0020831A1) in view of Holzherr (US2015/0181942A1).
Regarding claim 1, Weigensberg teaches a system (Fig. 14 depicts an electronic cigarette adapted to a battery charger),
a first electronic device including a first power source configured to supply electric power to a load for electrically heating an aerosol generating article (this would comprise the electronic cigarette “130” which comprises the aerosol generating device “137” and the battery “104”. The device includes a heating element such as a wire which is used to atomize the substrate [0005]),
a second electronic device supplies power to the load and the power source when the electronic device is electrically connected to the second electronic device (battery charger “221” is considered the second electronic device. The battery charger may supply power to the cigarette for smoking and may charge the battery [0081-0082, Fig. 14, 25]),
circuitry (charging control circuitry “223”, control switch “225”, and circuitry “229” [0081-0082]) configured to:
operate in a first mode which electric power is supplied to the power source from the second electronic device (state 1, charging the battery. When the control switch detects that the battery charger is connected to the system, it automatically connects the circuitry 229 to operate directly from the battery charger 221, and 1 is charging [0082]
operate in a second mode during which electric power is supplied to the load from the second electronic device (state 2, wherein power is supplied to the cigarette for smoking [0082], wherein this would involve the heating of the heating element so as to enable atomization),
the circuitry is configured to change a variable relating to supply of electric power from the second electronic device based on whether the circuitry is operating in the first or second mode (as the battery charger supplies power to the cigarette for smoking and/or to the battery from the battery charger, any change in heating/temperature would be a change in variable related to the supply of electric power. It being considered that the variables for charging the battery and heating the device for atomization would necessarily comprise different power demands upon the devices such that it would necessarily be the case that the charging the battery and smoking would utilized different amounts of power).
Alternatively, Holzherr further teaches an aerosol generating system, wherein there is a primary device 100 which is the main charging block and a secondary device 102 which is the portable smoking device which is removably connected to the charging block [see Fig. 1]. Holzherr details the charging profile of the secondary portable device via the primary device as in Fig. 4, wherein the current 420, voltage 410 of the primary battery, and voltage 430 of the second (portable) batter are shown [0114]. From this, one would clearly recognize that the charging mode of the portable device would necessarily have different amounts of electric power supplied compared to a heating mode of the e-cigarette. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the charging modes of Holzherr so as to have a charging profile as suggested in Fig. 4, so as to provide a recharagable battery system that is capable of quickly, safely, and conveniently recharging numerous times [0001-0004, 0104]. And as the electric power provided by the charging phase as suggested by Holzherr would clearly be different from the electric power provided during the smoking phase, the first modes and second modes would clearly have different variables thereof.
Regarding claim 2, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the variable corresponds to an amount of electric power supplied from the second electronic device (as detailed in claim 1 above, the charge supplied between a charging mode and that of a heating mode would necessarily be different as they require vastly different amounts of energy in these two modes. And as smoking may optionally occur during charging that would require a greater amount of power to ensure sufficient charge [0082], this further emphasizes the difference in electric power between these modes. And alternatively, Holzherr details that the charging profile undergoes a unique electric power relationship [Holzherr, Fig. 4], such that this profile would clearly differ from that of Weigensbergs’s heating profile).
Regarding claim 3, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the circuitry controlling a first amount of electric power from the second electronic device to the power source in the first mode, and control supplying a second amount of power to the load in the second mode (as detailed above, the power supplied from the battery charger to the electronic cigarette would clearly utilize different amounts of electric power dependent upon whether the unit was in charging or preheating/smoking mode).
Regarding claim 4, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious wherein the first amount of electric power is different from the second amount of electric power (as detailed above, the charge supplied between a charging mode and that of a smoking mode would necessarily be different as they require vastly different amounts of energy in these two modes. And as smoking may optionally occur during charging that would require a greater amount of power to ensure sufficient charge [0082], this further emphasizes the difference in electric power between these modes. And alternatively, Holzherr details that the charging profile undergoes a unique electric power relationship [Holzherr, Fig. 4], such that this profile would clearly differ from that of Weigensbergs’s heating profile).
Regarding claim 5, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious wherein the first amount of electric power is less than the second amount of electric power (it is very well understood in the art of vapes that less electricity is used in the simple charging of a device compared to the electricity used in the utilization and heating of the vape device. Where the charging mode of the device simply slowly provides electric power to the portable smoking device, the heating steps require heating of the electric coil up, such that the amount of electric power for the heating steps in the second mode would necessarily be larger than that of the power in the first mode during charging. And as smoking may optionally occur during charging that would require a greater amount of power to ensure sufficient charge [0082], this further emphasizes the difference in electric power between these modes. And alternatively, Holzherr further suggests that a heating step utilizes more energy than that of the charging steps. As noted previously, Holzherr has a substantially similar arrangement regarding a primary charging block and a secondary portable device utilized for smoking. Holzherr teaches that an average charging rate may range up to 12 C, wherein a charging rate of 1C means that the battery is fully charged from zero charge to full charge in one hour [0104]. The discharging rate, which would be the discharging of the battery in the form of heating up of the coil for initiating smoking, depends upon the resistance of the heater but may range from 13C to as high as 28C [0104]. These charging rates would clearly correlate to the respective electric power that is supplied, such that the higher rates in the discharging/heating steps would necessarily have a greater amount of electric power associated. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to utilize the rates as in Holzherr in the system of Weigensberg. One would have been motivated as Weigensberg does not provide numerical ranges for its charging/discharging amounts, and as such rates lead to beneficial battery life, sufficient capacity and safe utilization of the battery [0104]. And as noted above, these charging/discharging rates would reasonably correlate to an amount of electric power utilized within the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim language).
Regarding claim 6, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the circuitry is configured to in the first mode control supplying power to the power source and the load from the second electronic device (the battery charger “221” may both charge the battery of the e-cig and support heating for smoking at the same time [0082-0083], such that power would be supplied to the power source and the electrical load).
Regarding claim 7, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the system where the circuitry is a microprocessor in the first electronic device (microprocessor [0023, 0029]).
Regarding claim 8, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the system where the first electronic device is detachably connected to a second electric connector of the second electronic device (the electronic cigarette may have first and second electrical contacts 183 and a cradle that is connectable to a battery charger and a receiving element, which respectively have first and second electrical contacts for established an electrical connection [abstract]. As such, the electrical connector on the e-cig is the first electric connect, and the electrical connector on the battery charger is the second electric connector).
Regarding claim 9, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the system wherein the circuitry is configured to detect whether the first electronic device is connected to the second electronic device (the circuitry may detect when the battery charger is connected to the system [0082]).
Regarding claim 10, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the system wherein the circuitry operates in the first or second mode in response to detecting that the first electronic device is connected to the second electronic device (when the battery charger is detected to be connected, the battery charger may begin charging the battery or supplying power to the cigarette for smoking, with both occurring only if there is sufficient charge).
Regarding claim 11, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the system wherein the first electronic device includes an opening configured to receive a cartridge including the article (the electronic cigarette may include a cartridge section 16, which contains the aerosol substrate [0058]. Such designs are ubiquitous within the art).
Regarding claim 12, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the system wherein the cartridge includes a tank configured to store liquid as the article (the aerosol forming substrate in the article may be liquid [0058], such that the surrounding walls around the liquid would be considered to be the tank).
Regarding claim 13, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the system wherein circuitry is configured to supply power to the load in the cartridge so as to heat the load and atomize the liquid (the electronic cigarette contains the smoking article [0058, 0081-0082], which contains the liquid substrate. The power would be supplied during smoking session to atomize the substrate in the smoking article to reach the desired operating temperatures, such that Weigensberg would necessarily heat and atomize the respective liquid).
Claims 14-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Weigensberg (US2015/0020831A1), or in the alternate, claims 14-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weigensberg (US2015/0020831A1) in view of Holzherr (US2015/0181942A1).
Regarding claim 14, Weigensberg teaches an inhalation component generation device (Fig. 14 depicts a smoking system, wherein the inhalation component generation device is considered to be the electronic cigarette “130”)
A battery configured to store electric power to be supplied to a load for electrically heating an aerosol generating article (the electronic cigarette comprises a rechargeable battery “104” [Fig. 14, 0076], wherein the battery feed power to the aerosol generating device “137” to generate the aerosol [0080]. The aerosol generating device includes a heating element [0005], such that the battery 104 would feed power for heating the heating element so as to atomize the substrate),
An electric connector configured to be detachably connected to a charger for the inhalation component generation device (the electronic cigarette may have first and second electrical contacts 183 and a cradle that is connectable to a battery charger and a receiving element, which respectively have first and second electrical contacts for established an electrical connection [abstract]. As such, the electrical connector on the e-cig is the first electric connect which connects to the charging battery),
Circuitry configured to (charging control circuitry “223”, control switch “225”, and circuitry “229” [0081-0082]) configured to:
Detect whether the inhalation component generation device is connected to the charger via the electric connector (the circuitry may detect when the battery charger is connected to the system [0082]).
Detect whether a request for aerosol generation has been received from a user of the device (when the user begins to smoke, this action activates a sensor chip assembly 114 which actuates a switch [0080]. And additionally, the device may include a pressure sensor to detect a pressure difference to indicate when the user is inhaling [0081]),
Control supplying a first amount of electric power from the charger to the battery in a case that the inhalation component generation device is connected to the charger and a request for aerosol generation has not been received from the user (this may be considered to be state 1, charging the battery, which as stated above occurs when the battery charger is connected to the e-cigarette. When the control switch detects that the battery charger is connected to the system, it automatically connects the circuitry 229 to operate directly from the battery charger 221, and 1 is charging [0082]),
Control supplying a second amount of power which is different from the first, from the charger to the load when a request for aerosol generation has been received from the user (this may be considered to be state 2, wherein power is supplied to the cigarette for smoking [0082], wherein this would involve the heating of the heating element so as to enable atomization. Note that this supply of power for smoking may also occur while charging is occurring or may occur without charging of the battery [0080-0083]. The electric power necessary to charge the electronic cigarette 130 would necessarily be different than the power required to heat the substrate up to the operating temperature. These are clearly substantially different power demands upon the electronic devices, and it would necessarily be the case that the heating of the heating element to 150-250C would use a different amount of electric power than the simple charging of the device. It being noted that the second amount of power would certainly utilize a greater amount of power when both charging and heating for smoking were occurring [0080-0082]).
Alternatively, regarding the first and second amounts of power being different, Holzherr further teaches an aerosol generating system, wherein there is a primary device 100 which is the main charging block and a secondary device 102 which is the portable smoking device which is removably connected to the charging block [see Fig. 1]. Holzherr details the charging profile of the secondary portable device via the primary device as in Fig. 4, wherein the current 420, voltage 410 of the primary battery, and voltage 430 of the second (portable) batter are shown [0114]. From this, one would clearly recognize that the charging mode of the portable device would necessarily have different amounts of electric power supplied compared to a heating mode of the e-cigarette. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the charging modes of Weigensberg so as to have a charging profile as suggested in Fig. 4, so as to provide a recharagable battery system that is capable of quickly, safely, and conveniently recharging numerous times [0001-0004, 0104]. And as the electric power provided by the charging phase as suggested by Holzherr would clearly be different from the electric power provided during the heating phase of Weigensberg, the first modes and second modes would clearly have different variables thereof.
Regarding claim 15, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the second amount of power is greater than the first amount of power (it is very well understood in the art of vapes that less electricity is used in the simple charging of a device compared to the electricity used in the utilization and heating of the vape device. Where the charging mode of the device simply slowly provides electric power to the portable smoking device, the heating steps require heating of the electric coil up, such that the amount of electric power for the heating steps in the second mode would necessarily be larger than that of the power in the first mode during charging. And as smoking may optionally occur during charging that would require a greater amount of power to ensure sufficient charge [0082], this further emphasizes the difference in electric power between these modes. And alternatively, Holzherr further suggests that a heating step utilizes more energy than that of the charging steps. As noted previously, Holzherr has a substantially similar arrangement regarding a primary charging block and a secondary portable device utilized for smoking. Holzherr teaches that an average charging rate may range up to 12 C, wherein a charging rate of 1C means that the battery is fully charged from zero charge to full charge in one hour [0104]. The discharging rate, which would be the discharging of the battery in the form of heating up of the coil for initiating smoking, depends upon the resistance of the heater but may range from 13C to as high as 28C [0104]. These charging rates would clearly correlate to the respective electric power that is supplied, such that the higher rates in the discharging/heating steps would necessarily have a greater amount of electric power associated. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to utilize the rates as in Holzherr in the system of Weigensberg. One would have been motivated as Weigensberg does not provide numerical ranges for its charging/discharging amounts, and as such rates lead to beneficial battery life, sufficient capacity and safe utilization of the battery [0104]. And as noted above, these charging/discharging rates would reasonably correlate to an amount of electric power utilized within the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim language).
Regarding claim 16 and 19, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the device wherein the circuitry is configured to control supplying electric power to the load from both the battery and the charger in a case that the inhalation device is connected to the charger and a request for aerosol generation has been received (Weigensberg details that the battery in the electronic cigarette “104” is utilized to feed power to the aerosol generating device 137 for smoking [0080], and that that battery charger may also supply power to the cigarette for smoking [0082], such that Weigensberg clearly states that both the battery in the electronic cigarette and the charger may be utilized when smoking is initiated. And as stated previously, the electronic cigarette may include a pressure sensor to detect a pressure difference to indicate when the user is inhaling [0081], such that the requests for aerosol generation may be sensed).
Claims 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weigensberg (US2015/0020831A1) and optionally in view of Holzherr (US2015/0181942A1), as applied to claim 14 above, and further in view of Weigensberg (US2015/0020831A1).
Regarding claim 17 and 20, Weigensberg teaches or makes obvious the device comprising a second electrical connector to be detachably connected to a cartridge including the load and a tank configured to store liquid as the article (the electronic cigarette may include the cartridge which may include a liquid aerosol substrate wherein the tank would be the portion surrounding the liquid substrate [0058]. There would necessarily be an electrical connection between a cartridge and the electronic cigarette such that power can pass from the e-cig battery and from the battery charger to the substrate for heating and connection. Weigensberg does not explicitly say that this portion would be separable. However, see MPEP 2144.04 and In re Dulberg, 289 F.2d 522, 523, 129 USPQ 348, 349 (CCPA 1961) (The claimed structure, a lipstick holder with a removable cap, was fully met by the prior art except that in the prior art the cap is "press fitted" and therefore not manually removable. The court held that "if it were considered desirable for any reason to obtain access to the end of [the prior art’s] holder to which the cap is applied, it would be obvious to make the cap removable for that purpose."). Therefore, the modification to make a cartridge separable would have been an obvious modification so as to make it replaceable or to enable the changing out of parts, for example.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Weigensberg (US2015/0020831A1), or in the alternate, claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Weigensberg (US2015/0020831A1) in view of Holzherr (US2015/0181942A1).
Regarding claim 20, Weigensberg teaches a system (Fig. 14 depicts a smoking system comprising an electronic cigarette adapted to a battery charge),
a charger comprising a first electrical connector configured to be detachably connected to an inhalation component generation device and supply electric power to the inhalation component generation device via the first electrical connector (battery charger “221” which may be connected to the electronic cigarette 130 [0081-0082]. The battery charger may supply power to the cigarette for smoking and may charge the battery [0081-0082, Fig. 14, 25]. The electronic cigarette may have first and second electrical contacts 183 and a cradle that is connectable to a battery charger and a receiving element, which respectively have first and second electrical contacts for established an electrical connection [abstract]. As such, the electrical connector on the battery charger is considered the first electrical connector),
the inhalation component generation device comprising:
A battery configured to store electric power to be supplied to a load for electrically heating an aerosol generating article (the electronic cigarette comprises a rechargeable battery “104” [Fig. 14, 0076], wherein the battery feed power to the aerosol generating device “137” to generate the aerosol [0080]. The aerosol generating device includes a heating element [0005], such that the battery 104 would feed power for heating the heating element so as to atomize the substrate),
A second electric connector configured to be detachably connected to a charger for the inhalation component generation device (the electronic cigarette may have first and second electrical contacts 183 and a cradle that is connectable to a battery charger and a receiving element, which respectively have first and second electrical contacts for established an electrical connection [abstract]. As such, the second electrical connector would be the connector on the e-cig which connects to the charging battery),
Circuitry configured to (charging control circuitry “223”, control switch “225”, and circuitry “229” [0081-0082]):
Detect whether the inhalation component generation device is connected to the charger via the electric connector (the circuitry may detect when the battery charger is connected to the system [0082]).
Detect whether a request for aerosol generation has been received from a user of the device (when the user begins to smoke, this action activates a sensor chip assembly 114 which actuates a switch [0080]. And additionally, the device may include a pressure sensor to detect a pressure difference to indicate when the user is inhaling [0081]),
Control supplying a first amount of electric power from the charger to the battery in a case that the inhalation component generation device is connected to the charger and a request for aerosol generation has not been received from the user (this may be considered to be state 1, charging the battery, which as stated above occurs when the battery charger is connected to the e-cigarette. When the control switch detects that the battery charger is connected to the system, it automatically connects the circuitry 229 to operate directly from the battery charger 221, and 1 is charging [0082]),
Control supplying a second amount of power which is different from the first, from the charger to the load when a request for aerosol generation has been received from the user (this may be considered to be state 2, wherein power is supplied to the cigarette for smoking [0082], wherein this would involve the heating of the heating element so as to enable atomization. Note that this supply of power for smoking may also occur while charging is occurring or may occur without charging of the battery [0080-0083]. The electric power necessary to charge the electronic cigarette 130 would necessarily be different than the power required to heat the substrate up to the operating temperature. These are clearly substantially different power demands upon the electronic devices, and it would necessarily be the case that the heating of the heating element to 150-250C would use a different amount of electric power than the simple charging of the device. It being noted that the second amount of power would certainly utilize a greater amount of power when both charging and heating for smoking were occurring [0080-0082]).
Alternatively, regarding the first and second amounts of power being different, Holzherr further teaches an aerosol generating system, wherein there is a primary device 100 which is the main charging block and a secondary device 102 which is the portable smoking device which is removably connected to the charging block [see Fig. 1]. Holzherr details the charging profile of the secondary portable device via the primary device as in Fig. 4, wherein the current 420, voltage 410 of the primary battery, and voltage 430 of the second (portable) batter are shown [0114]. From this, one would clearly recognize that the charging mode of the portable device would necessarily have different amounts of electric power supplied compared to a heating mode of the e-cigarette. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the charging modes of Weigensberg so as to have a charging profile as suggested in Fig. 4, so as to provide a recharagable battery system that is capable of quickly, safely, and conveniently recharging numerous times [0001-0004, 0104]. And as the electric power provided by the charging phase as suggested by Holzherr would clearly be different from the electric power provided during the heating phase of Weigensberg, the first modes and second modes would clearly have different variables thereof.
Conclusion
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/T.F.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1749
/KATELYN W SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1749
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