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 .
Claims 32-51 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on March 27, 2024 and January 19, 2024 have been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it is over 150 words. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 36 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
A broad range or limitation together with a narrow range or limitation that falls within the broad range or limitation (in the same claim) may be considered indefinite if the resulting claim does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. See MPEP § 2173.05(c). In the present instance, claim 36 recites the broad recitation "10 Hz", and the claim also recites “50 Hz” which is the narrower statement of the range/limitation. The claim(s) are considered indefinite because there is a question or doubt as to whether the feature introduced by such narrower language is (a) merely exemplary of the remainder of the claim, and therefore not required, or (b) a required feature of the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 32 and 49-51 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over European Patent No. WO2015/040146 to Rasmussen et al. in view of European Patent No. EP2053014 to Tsubouchi et al.
Regarding claim 32, the Rasmussen patent teaches a beverage dispensing system 10 for dispensing a beverage, said beverage dispensing system comprising: at least one pressure chambers 14 each comprising a connectable base part 20 and lid 12 defining a sealed inner space for accommodating and encapsulating a collapsible beverage container 18 having a beverage outlet connectable to the base part, a tapping device comprising one or more tapping heads 38, 40 for extracting the beverage from the collapsible beverage containers, a tapping line 30 extending from said base parts to said tapping device, said tapping line comprising one or more beverage lines, and at least one measuring device (this is the sensor or pressure switch, see page 23 of patent, this is interpreted as a pressure sensor) for each pressure chamber configured for monitoring at least one property of the corresponding sealed inner space, base part, lid and/or collapsible beverage container, the measuring device comprising a pressure sensor configured for monitoring the pressure in the sealed inner space, wherein the system is configured for detecting the opening of a specific pressure chamber in the system by continuously processing and/or analysing data from the pressure sensors configured for monitoring the pressure in the sealed inner spaces. See page 17, lines 30 to page 18, line 4).
The Rasmussen patent lacks a specific teaching of a flow sensor.
The Tsubouchi patent teaches a flow sensor 43 to detect the amount of gas that is put into the beer which is interpreted as a beverage line as it is part of the beverage device.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the subject invention to modify the Rasmussen patent to have a flow sensor as taught by Tsubouchi, as it would have been combining known prior art elements using known methods to provide the predictable result of providing an accurate way to measure flow of fluid for more accurate control of the device.
The Rasmussen patent lacks a specific teaching that there are two or more pressure chambers.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the subject invention to modify the Rasmussen patent to have at least two pressure chambers, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Regarding claim 49 the tapping line comprises a plurality of beverage lines, each beverage line corresponding to a specific beverage type and adapted to cooperate with a tapping head of the tapping device, each tapping head corresponding to said beverage type. See Fig. 1a of Rasmussen.
Regarding claim 50, the collapsible beverage containers are part of the system and wherein each of said collapsible beverage containers defines a beverage filled space 18, a gas-filled head space 62 and a beverage outlet 26 in communication with said beverage filled space for extracting said beverage from said beverage filled space. See Fig. 1a of Rasmussen.
Regarding claim 51, each pressure chamber comprises a beverage container connector 28 for connecting one of said tapping heads to the beverage outlet of the corresponding collapsible beverage container. See Fig. 1a of Rasmussen.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 33-35 and 37-48 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.
Claim 36 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, 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 JUSTIN HOLMES whose telephone number is (571)272-3448. The examiner can normally be reached 10AM-6PM EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jacob S Scott can be reached at 571-270-3415. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN HOLMES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
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