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. 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 1, 4, 5, 12-14, 18, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lamb (US 2017/0251724) . Regarding claim 1, Lamb discloses a controller for an inhalation apparatus that operates by electric power supplied from a chargeable power supply and includes a receptacle configured to hold an atomizer including a heater configured to heat an aerosol source (see aerosol delivery device 100 having control body 104 with control component 312, rechargeable battery, a cartridge 102 with heating element 224 for aerosol ; [0033,0037-00 43 ,0055 ]) , the controller comprising: a nonvolatile display configured to display an indicator concerning a remaining amount of the power supply (see electronic paper display 106 with battery charge icon 404 , [0055 ,0064 ], Fig s . 3 , 4 ) . As to a " processor configured to change the indicator in a case where the remaining amount becomes smaller than a first threshold in discharging of the power supply, and to change the indicator in a case where the remaining a m ount becomes larger than a second threshold different from the first threshold in charging of the power supply ," Lamb discloses the display is controllable to present information that indicates an amount of charge contained in or consumed from the power source and that the display is controlled by the control component ([0009,0013]; Lamb recites control component comprises a processor, [0050]). As to the thresholds, Lamb discloses the charge icon is divided into a number of segments that represent incremental percentages (e.g., 10-20%) of remaining charge in the power source ([0064]). While Lamb does not expressly disclose changing the indicator when the remaining amount is smaller than a first threshold when discharging and changing the indicator when the remaining charge is larger than a second threshold in charging of the power supply, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the processor to change the indicator at different thresholds when charging and discharging since : (1) Lamb discloses the display provides segments representing incremental percentages of remaining charge--thus, suggesting the display change s when incremental percentages of remaining charge are met (i.e., different thresholds of remaining charge left) and (2) Lamb discloses the power supply as rechargeable ([0055]) and one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to change the display during charging to indicate the charge level as certain incremental percentages are met. As to the first and second thresholds being different, Examiner notes the first and second thresholds can read on different incremental thresholds (i.e., going from 40% to 20% charge or 2 to 1 segment is one threshold and going from 80% to 100% charge or 3 to 4 segments is a different threshold). The claim does not require the indicator changes involve common charge levels. Regarding claims 4 and 5, Lamb discloses a plurality of segments in the power icon ([0064], Fig. 4) and the first and second thresholds can be selected such that the second threshold is smaller or larger than the first threshold. For example, the first threshold can be going from 3 to 2 segments and the second threshold can be going from 3 to 4 or 1 to 2. Regarding claim 12, while Lamb does not expressly disclose the display showing an image representing a charging state, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the display to show a charging state since Examiner takes Official Notice that it is very well known and conventional in the electronics art to display a charging icon when a battery powered device is being charged. One would have been motivated to indicate to the user that the device is actively being charged. Regarding claim 13, Lamb discloses a charging connector configured to be supplied with electric power for charging the power supply ([0039]). As to the processor changing a display of the nonvolatile display using electric power supplied via the charging connector, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the processor to change the display using power from the charging connector since Examiner takes Official Notice that it is very well known and conventional in the electronics art to change the display of a device to a charging icon when a battery powered device is being charged. One would have been motivated to indicate to the user that the device is actively being charged. Regarding claim 14, Lamb discloses an electronic control system for an aerosol generation device powered by a rechargeable battery, the electronic control system configured to be incorporated in a device having a receptacle configured to receive a heating cartridge containing a vapor-generating element for vaporizing an aerosol precursor source (see aerosol delivery device 100 having control body 104 with control component 312, rechargeable battery, a cartridge 102 with heating element 224 for aerosol; [0033,0037-0043,0055]) , the electronic control system comprising: a bistable visual display element configured to present a battery status indication reflecting a charge level of the rechargeable battery (see electronic paper display 106 with battery charge icon 404, [0055,0064], Figs. 3, 4). As to " circuitry configured to modify the battery status indication when the charge level decreases below a first charge threshold during battery discharge operations, and to modify the battery status indication when the charge level increases above a second charge threshold different from the first charge threshold during battery charging operations ," Lamb discloses the display is controllable to present information that indicates an amount of charge contained in or consumed from the power source and that the display is controlled by the control component ([0009,0013]; Lamb recites control component comprises circuitry , [0050]). As to the thresholds, Lamb discloses the charge icon is divided into a number of segments that represent incremental percentages (e.g., 10-20%) of remaining charge in the power source ([0064]). While Lamb does not expressly disclose changing the indicator when the remaining amount is smaller than a first threshold when discharging and changing the indicator when the remaining charge is larger than a second threshold in charging of the power supply, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the circuitry to change the indicator at different thresholds when charging and discharging since: (1) Lamb discloses the display provides segments representing incremental percentages of remaining charge--thus, suggesting the display changes when incremental percentages of remaining charge are met (i.e., different thresholds of remaining charge left) and (2) Lamb discloses the power supply as rechargeable ([0055]) and one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to change the display during charging to indicate the charge level as certain incremental percentages are met. As to the first and second thresholds being different, Examiner notes the first and second thresholds can read on different incremental thresholds (i.e., going from 40% to 20% charge is one threshold and going from 80% to 100% charge is a different threshold). The claim does not require the indicator changes involve common charge levels. Regarding claim 18, Lamb discloses electronic paper display ([0041]). Regarding claim 19, Lamb discloses a charging connector configured to be supplied with electric power for charging the power supply ([0039]). As to the processor changing a display of the bistable display using power supplied via the charging connector, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the processor to change the display using power from the charging connector since Examiner takes Official Notice that it is very well known and conventional in the electronics art to change the display of a device to a charging icon when a battery powered device is being charged. One would have been motivated to indicate to the user that the device is actively being charged. Claim s 2, 3, 8, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lamb (US 2017/0251724) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Banner NPL (Theory and Terminology - Hysteresis and Threshold) and Matt's Tech Pages (A Simple Low Battery Detection Circuit with Hysteresis). Regarding claim s 2 and 15 , Lamb discloses a power supply icon that is divided into segments that represent the remaining charge in the power source ([0064]). In discharging and charging the power source, one having ordinary skill in the art would have obviously configured the processor to change from a first indicator to a second indicator and from the second indicator back to the first indicator (e.g., from 3 segments to 2 segments and 2 segments back to 3 segments) as the power source's charge level changed. While Lamb does not disclose the first and second thresholds as being different when going back and forth between a first and second indicator , Examiner notes that it is well known and conventional to intentionally add hysteresis to electronic circuits to prevent oscillations or chatter around a threshold point (see Banner NPL , wherein thresholds for on/off are 10-20% different to prevent oscillation near a threshold point). Matt NPL also discloses using a hysteresis function associated with the remaining charge of a battery wherein different voltage thresholds are used to turn a battery function on and off as voltage falls and rises (see pg 2). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the incremental charge indicator of Lamb with different threshold values when switching between indicator states in view of Banner and Matt which disclose providing hysteresis between threshold points to avoid oscillat ions in the digital output around a threshold point (see Banner and Matt, pg 2). One would have been motivated to prevent the segments in the charge display of Lamb from rapidly turning on/off around a threshold point representing a remaining charge level. Regarding claim s 3 and 16 , as to the switching between the second indicator and a third indicator based on third and fourth thresholds that are different, Lamb discloses multiple segments in the power supply icon to represent incremental amounts of remaining charge ([0064], Fig. 4). As the power supply is discharged, the power indicator would obviously change from 3 to 2 to 1 segments (represents first, second, and third indicators) and on recharge, the indicator would obviously change from 1 to 2 to 3 segments. Since the 1-2 segment transition represents less remaining charge than the 2-3 segment transition, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art for the third and fourth thresholds to be smaller than the first and second thresholds. Regarding claim 8, Lamb discloses the segmented power icon as representing the amount of remaining charge ([0064], Fig. 4). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention for 0 segment remaining to represent insufficient power and 1 segment remaining to indicate sufficient power for device operation since the point of the power icon is to indicate to the user how much power is available for use. Claim s 6, 7, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lamb (US 20170251724) in view of Yamada (US 20200245688). Regarding claims 6, 7, and 17, as to the difference between the first and second thresholds, Lamb discloses the power icon as divided into segments that represent an incremental amount of remaining charge contained in the power source ([0064]). Thus, the first threshold and second threshold can construed as the threshold representing the minimal or no power level and the threshold representing the full power level, respectively. The difference between the first and second threshold would thus be difference between a fully charged and discharged power source. Lamb does not expressly disclose the change in power representing one puff or one sequence relative to the power capacity of the power source; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art for the difference between first and second thresholds to be large than a change in power for one puff or one sequence since (1) Lamb discloses the power icon as divided into segments that represent an incremental amount of remaining charge contained in the power source ([0064]) and it'd be obvious to provide first and second thresholds representing 100% and 0% power levels to indicate fully charged or discharged states; and (2) it is conventional to provide multiple puff operations for a full battery charge as disclosed by Yamada ([0095,0110-0112], Fig. 8]) to enable a user to use the device multiple times without having to charge it. Regarding claim 20, Lamb discloses a battery management apparatus for a handheld vaporization device, the handheld vaporization device including a detachable aerosol cartridge with an internal heating coil and a rechargeable lithium-ion power cell (see aerosol delivery device 100 having control body 104 with control component 312, rechargeable battery, a cartridge 102 with heating element 224 for aerosol; [0033,0037-0043,0055]), the battery management apparatus comprising: an electronic ink display configured to render a visual battery charge indicator representing stored energy in the rechargeable lithium-ion power cell (see electronic paper display 106 with battery charge icon 404, [0055,0064], Figs. 3, 4). Lamb does not expressly disclose " sensing circuitry configured to measure terminal voltage of the rechargeable lithium ion power cell "; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the control body of Lamb with sensing circuitry configured to measure terminal voltage of the rechargeable lithium ion power cell since Yamada, similarly directed towards an inhalation apparatus, teaches providing a voltage sensor to detect the voltage of the power supply to determine the remaining capacity of the power supply ([0078,0155,0193], Fig. 13). Lamb does not disclose a lithium ion battery; however, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the battery as a lithium ion since Yamada discloses lithium ion as a suitable type of battery for powering inhalation devices ([0072]). Regarding a microcontroller programmed to execute battery monitoring algorithms; trigger a first display update to the electronic ink display when the measured terminal voltage drops below a first voltage threshold during power cell discharge ; and trigger a second display update to the electronic ink display when the measured terminal voltage rises above a second voltage threshold different from the first voltage threshold during power cell charging , Lamb discloses the display is controllable to present information that indicates an amount of charge contained in or consumed from the power source and that the display is controlled by the control component ([0009,0013]; Lamb recites control component comprises a processor, [0050]). As to the thresholds, Lamb discloses the charge icon is divided into a number of segments that represent incremental percentages (e.g., 10-20%) of remaining charge in the power source ([0064]). While Lamb does not expressly disclose changing the indicator when the remaining amount is smaller than a first threshold when discharging and changing the indicator when the remaining charge is larger than a second threshold in charging of the power supply, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to have configured the processor to change the indicator at different thresholds when charging and discharging since: (1) Lamb discloses the display provides segments representing incremental percentages of remaining charge--thus, suggesting the display changes when incremental percentages of remaining charge are met (i.e., different thresholds of remaining charge left) and (2) Lamb discloses the power supply as rechargeable ([0055]) and one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to change the display during charging to indicate the charge level as certain incremental percentages are met. As to the first and second thresholds being different, Examiner notes the first and second thresholds can read on different incremental thresholds (i.e., going from 40% to 20% charge is one threshold and going from 80% to 100% charge is a different threshold). The claim does not require the indicator changes involve common charge levels. Response to Arguments Claims 9-11 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Lamb (US 20170251724) discloses a controller for an inhalation apparatus having a power icon with incremental segments representing power level ([0064], Fig. 4) . Bache (US 20180368474) also discloses a segmented power supply icon where segments are used to indicate instances of supported vapor generation ([0324-0328], Fig. 7A-7B). Banner NPL and Matt NPL are cited for disclosing hysteresis functions which provide differences between thresholds around a threshold point to reduce oscillations. The prior art of record fails to further teach or suggest a difference between a maximum value of the remaining amount and the second threshold is smaller than a difference between the second threshold and the first threshold. As disclosed in Banner NPL, hysteresis provides relatively small differences between threshold values. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT ROBERT C DYE whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-7059 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Anna Momper can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 270-5788 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ROBERT C DYE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619