DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
In the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, claims 1-9 have been considered and examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election of Group I without traverse, claims 1-9 in the reply on June 01, 2026 is acknowledged. Thus, the election requirement is made final.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 05/22/2024 and 06/18/2026 are in compliance with the provision of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by Examiner.
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 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.
Claims 1-3 and 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (Nguyen – US 2020/0147256 A1) in view of Lima et al. (Lima – US 2017/0119918 A1).
As to claim 1, Nguyen discloses a scent dispensing apparatus, comprising:
a scent container retaining apparatus (Nguyen: Abstract, FIG. 1 the aroma display 50) configured to receive and securely retain a scent container ([0047], [0054], [0058], [0062]-[0066], and FIG. 9-10: When each cartridge is loaded to the cartridge loading section, it follows that the opening for introducing air into the aroma cartridge faces outward from the upper body 88. For example, referring to FIG. 12, the aroma cartridge 132 has its opening 158 facing outward. Between the upper body 88 and the aroma cartridge 132, a micro blower 234 is arranged for feeding air into the opening 158. By driving the micro blower 234, air is fed into the aroma cartridge 132, and scented air is emitted to the outside from the opening 160 (shown in FIG. 9) positioned near the center for scent emission of the aroma cartridge 132), wherein the scent container includes a smart vial tag (Nguyen: [0047], [0050], [0056], [0069],[0071]-[0078], and FIG. 10 the NFC tag 164: Referring to FIG. 10, on the lower surface 144 of the housing 150, an NFC tag 164 is attached by means of a sticker 162, for transmitting the identifier of an aroma cartridge to the aroma display 50 by the near field communication with an NFC chip); and
a smart vial sensor (Nguyen: FIG. 8 the NFC chips 180-190) directionally positioned to have a direct line of sight with the smart vial tag to read the smart vial tag when the scent container is securely retained in the scent retaining apparatus (Nguyen: Abstract, [0050]-[0051], [0071], , and FIG. 7-8 the NFC readers 180-190: These NFC chips 180, 182, . . . , 188, 190 are respectively connected to the wireless communication device contained in the base body 84. The wireless communication device identifies the position of each NFC chip in accordance with the inputs to which the NFC chips are connected, and transmits data indicating loading positions of the aroma cartridges to the outside, together with the respective codes of the aroma cartridges received from the corresponding NFC chip ).
Nguyen does not explicitly disclose a fragrance management application that receives an identity of the smart vial tag from the smart vial sensor and generates a unique container profile for the scent container.
However, it has been known in the art of aroma dispensers to implement disclose a fragrance management application that receives an identity of the smart vial tag from the smart vial sensor and generates a unique container profile for the scent container, as suggested by Lima, which discloses disclose a fragrance management application that receives an identity of the smart vial tag from the smart vial sensor and generates a unique container profile for the scent container (Lima: Abstract, [0050]-[0051], [0058]-[0059], [0065], [0069]-[0070], [0081]-[0085], and FIG. 1: The controllers of the scent dispensers 132 receive the data reflecting the changing fluid levels and transmit that data to the dispenser management server 150, which in turn stores the data as usage data 178 in the data store 170 in association with the scent/fragrance ID to which the data corresponds. As a result, the usage data 178 reflects the amount of each scent solution that is consumed over time for each scent dispenser 132 relative to the user ID, the premises ID, the room ID, scent dispenser 132 ID, the vial ID associated with that particular scent solution (e.g. which is identifiable as discussed elsewhere herein) ).
Therefore, in view of teachings by Nguyen and Lima, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the aroma system of Nguyen to include disclose a fragrance management application that receives an identity of the smart vial tag from the smart vial sensor and generates a unique container profile for the scent container, as suggested by Lima. The motivation for this is selectively control operations of an aroma dispenser based on various recourses of information.
As to claim 2, Nguyen and Lima disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the scent dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the smart vial sensor is an optical sensor (Lima: [0072]-[0075], [0173]-[0175] and FIG. 1 the sensor(s) 186: the sensor 186 may capture the unique identifier of the vial 250. In some embodiments, the unique identifier may be embodied by an optical representation included on the vial 250, such as one scannable using an optical sensor. In some embodiments, the unique identifier may be transmitted via radio frequency responsive to an RF tag being placed proximate to an RF reader. In some embodiments, the color of the vial 250, or some other visual representation, may be captured by sensor 186 of the scent dispenser 132 and used as and/or processed into a unique identifier. As shown in FIG. 13, and an embodiment may use a QR code 1302, and the sensor 26 may be a scanner configured to scan and interpret the QR code 1302) and the smart vial tag is a QR code detectable by the smart vial sensor (Lima: [0162], [0164], [0174], FIG. 7 and FIG. 13: In some embodiments, the color of the vial 250, or some other visual representation, may be captured by sensor 186 of the scent dispenser 132 and used as and/or processed into a unique identifier. As shown in FIG. 13, and an embodiment may use a QR code 1302, and the sensor 26 may be a scanner configured to scan and interpret the QR code 1302).
As to claim 3, Nguyen and Lima disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the scent dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the smart vial sensor is a radio receiver (Nguyen: Abstract, [0050]-[0051], [0071], , and FIG. 7-8 the NFC readers 180-190: These NFC chips 180, 182, . . . , 188, 190 are respectively connected to the wireless communication device contained in the base body 84. The wireless communication device identifies the position of each NFC chip in accordance with the inputs to which the NFC chips are connected, and transmits data indicating loading positions of the aroma cartridges to the outside, together with the respective codes of the aroma cartridges received from the corresponding NFC chip and Lima: [0072]-[0075], [0173]-[0175] and FIG. 1 the sensor(s) 186: the sensor 186 may capture the unique identifier of the vial 250. In some embodiments, the unique identifier may be embodied by an optical representation included on the vial 250, such as one scannable using an optical sensor. In some embodiments, the unique identifier may be transmitted via radio frequency responsive to an RF tag being placed proximate to an RF reader. In some embodiments, the color of the vial 250, or some other visual representation, may be captured by sensor 186 of the scent dispenser 132 and used as and/or processed into a unique identifier. As shown in FIG. 13, and an embodiment may use a QR code 1302, and the sensor 26 may be a scanner configured to scan and interpret the QR code 1302) and the smart vial tag is an RFID tag that can be read by the radio receiver (Lima: [0072]-[0075], [0173]-[0175] and FIG. 1 the sensor(s) 186: the sensor 186 may capture the unique identifier of the vial 250. In some embodiments, the unique identifier may be embodied by an optical representation included on the vial 250, such as one scannable using an optical sensor. In some embodiments, the unique identifier may be transmitted via radio frequency responsive to an RF tag being placed proximate to an RF reader).
As to claim 5, Nguyen and Lima disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the scent dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the unique container profile includes one or more of an identity of a scent solution (Nguyen: [0019]-[0020], [0025], [0050]-[0051], [0056], [0071]-[0074], [0077]-[0079], and FIG. 9-10 the NFC tag 164: each of the near field communication chips receives, when the aroma cartridge is loaded at a portion close to the near field communication chip, data identifying the scent source contained in the aroma cartridge by near field communication with the near field communication tag of the aroma cartridge, and outputs the data identifying the scent source and data identifying the near field communication tag. The aroma display further includes a control circuit receiving the data identifying the scent source from each of the near field communication chips, and based on the data, driving that aroma cartridge which has a desired scent source to emit the scent), settings of a scent solution, states of the scent container, a fill-level of the scent container, and a location of the scent container (Nguyen: [0019]-[0020], [0025], [0050]-[0051], [0056], [0071]-[0074], [0077]-[0079], and FIG. 9-10 the NFC tag 164: the wireless communication device identifies the position of each NFC chip in accordance with the inputs to which the NFC chips are connected, and transmits data indicating loading positions of the aroma cartridges to the outside, together with the respective codes of the aroma cartridges received from the corresponding NFC chip. In FIG. 6, numbers (1 to 6) shown on the lower surface of the base body 84 are identifiers indicating respective loading positions and corresponding NFC chips).
As to claim 6, Nguyen and Lima disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the scent dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scent container includes a scent solution that can be emitted from the scent container (Nguyen: Abstract, [0019]-[0020], [0025], [0055], [0069], and FIG. 9-12 the aroma cartridges 130-140: each of the near field communication chips receives, when the aroma cartridge is loaded at a portion close to the near field communication chip, data identifying the scent source contained in the aroma cartridge by near field communication with the near field communication tag of the aroma cartridge, and outputs the data identifying the scent source and data identifying the near field communication tag. The aroma display further includes a control circuit receiving the data identifying the scent source from each of the near field communication chips, and based on the data, driving that aroma cartridge which has a desired scent source to emit the scent and Lima: [0016], [0027], [0038], [0052]-[0065], and FIG. 1).
As to claim 7, Nguyen and Lima disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the scent dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the smart vial tag further includes smart container data that can be read from the smart vial tag (Nguyen: [0019]-[0020], [0025], [0050]-[0051], [0056], [0071]-[0074], [0077]-[0079], and FIG. 9-10 the NFC tag 164: each of the near field communication chips receives, when the aroma cartridge is loaded at a portion close to the near field communication chip, data identifying the scent source contained in the aroma cartridge by near field communication with the near field communication tag of the aroma cartridge, and outputs the data identifying the scent source and data identifying the near field communication tag. The aroma display further includes a control circuit receiving the data identifying the scent source from each of the near field communication chips, and based on the data, driving that aroma cartridge which has a desired scent source to emit the scent and Lima: Abstract, [0050]-[0051], [0058]-[0059], [0065], [0069]-[0070], [0081]-[0085], and FIG. 1: The controllers of the scent dispensers 132 receive the data reflecting the changing fluid levels and transmit that data to the dispenser management server 150, which in turn stores the data as usage data 178 in the data store 170 in association with the scent/fragrance ID to which the data corresponds. As a result, the usage data 178 reflects the amount of each scent solution that is consumed over time for each scent dispenser 132 relative to the user ID, the premises ID, the room ID, scent dispenser 132 ID, the vial ID associated with that particular scent solution (e.g. which is identifiable as discussed elsewhere herein)).
As to claim 8, Nguyen and Lima disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the scent dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the smart vial tag is located on a bottom surface of the scent container (Nguyen: [0019]-[0020], [0025], [0050]-[0051], [0056], [0071]-[0074], [0077]-[0079], FIG. 5-6, and FIG. 9-10 the NFC tag 164: the wireless communication device identifies the position of each NFC chip in accordance with the inputs to which the NFC chips are connected, and transmits data indicating loading positions of the aroma cartridges to the outside, together with the respective codes of the aroma cartridges received from the corresponding NFC chip. In FIG. 6, numbers (1 to 6) shown on the lower surface of the base body 84 are identifiers indicating respective loading positions and corresponding NFC chips).
As to claim 9, Nguyen and Lima disclose the limitations of claim 1 further comprising the scent dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the unique container profile includes historical data of the scent container (Lima: [0060], [0067], [0079], and FIG. 1: As shown, the client device 106 may include a scent application 108, which allows the user to set scent dispenser 132 settings, turn scent dispensers 132 on and off, purchase vials for the scent dispenser 132, set up a scent dispenser 132, register an account, set up a premises and the rooms of the premises, associate a scent dispenser 132 with a particular room of the premises, view analytics reflecting the user's historical use of his/her scent dispenser(s) 132, enable user profiles to use and setup scent profiles for the scent dispenser(s) installed in the premises, set a profile hierarchy (e.g., set which user profile(s) is/are the dominant user profile), etc.).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen et al. (Nguyen – US 2020/0147256 A1) in view of Lima et al. (Lima – US 2017/0119918 A1) and further in view of Morris et al. (Morris – US 2020/0058963 A1).
As to claim 4, Nguyen and Lima disclose the limitations of claim 3 except for the claimed limitations of the scent dispensing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the radio receiver is a directional antenna positioned within a threshold distance of the RFID tag when the scent container retaining apparatus retains the scent container.
However, it has been known in the art of radio communication to implement wherein the radio receiver is a directional antenna positioned within a threshold distance of the RFID tag when the scent container retaining apparatus retains the scent container, as suggested by Morris, which discloses wherein the radio receiver is a directional antenna positioned within a threshold distance of the RFID tag when the scent container retaining apparatus retains the scent container (Morris: Abstract, [0007], [0009], [0011]-[0012], [0019], [0023], [0026]-[0027], and FIG. 1 the predetermined distance: Battery housing 12 also includes an NFC transceiver antenna 20. NFC transceiver antenna 20 is configured to communicate with NFC devices, such as a passive NFC tag 22 (discussed below) via near field communication protocols known in the art, over short distances, for example, a few centimeters. A typical NFC transceiver antenna 20 operates at a frequency of 13.56 MHz. NFC transceiver antenna 20 is configured to detect the presence of NFC tag 22 when within a predetermined distance from NFC tag 22. The “predetermined distance” as discussed herein and depicted in the figures can be any distance suitable to allow NFC antenna 20 to communicate with NFC tag 22. NFC transceiver antenna 20 can be calibrated such that it only detects NFC tags 22 that are a very short distance away, i.e., a few centimeters. In this fashion, and as further discussed below, NFC transceiver antenna 20 can only detect the presence of NFC tag 22 when battery pack 10 has been installed within the electronic device, which positions the NFC transceiver antenna 20 in close proximity to NFC tag 22. At this point, since NFC transceiver antenna 20 is within the predetermined distance from NFC tag 20, NFC transceiver antenna 20 can instruct PCB components 19 on PCB to activate battery cell 14).
Therefore, in view of teachings Nguyen, Lima, and Morris, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement in the scent dispenser of Nguyen and Lima to include wherein the radio receiver is a directional antenna positioned within a threshold distance of the RFID tag when the scent container retaining apparatus retains the scent container, as suggested by Morris. The motivation for this is to obtain information using radio frequency.
Citation of Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
Mushtag et al., US 2021/0069371 A1, discloses method and system for dispensing a liquid fragrance into the air..
Kumpf, US 2023/0218795 A1, discloses scent diffusing system.
Nuytkens et al., US 2022/0088234 A1, discloses air-exchanging sanitation apparatus and method.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANG PHAM whose telephone number is (571)-270-3668. The examiner can normally be reached 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM.
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/QUANG PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
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