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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-15 are pending and are subject to this Office Action. This is the first Office Action on the merits of the claims.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-11 in the reply filed on 7/20/26 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(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.
Claims 1-8, 10, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Frake (US 20220125110 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Frake discloses an aerosol-generating device ([0005]) comprising:
a heater configured to heat an aerosol-generating material of a cigarette (The device comprises at least one heater for heating a substrate of an aerosol-generating article. [0013]); and
a controller configured to determine whether the cigarette inserted through a cigarette insertion hole is a wet cigarette (The controller is configured to measure the capacitance of the capacitor which is indicative of the amount of water present in the aerosol-forming substrate. [0007]), and
control a temperature of the heater based on a dedicated temperature profile corresponding to the wet cigarette based on the inserted cigarette being the wet cigarette (The controller may vary the supplied power to the heater based on the measured capacitance. [0007]. The controller may supply power based on a heating profile corresponding to whether the substrate is a "wet aerosol-forming substrate." [0020]).
Regarding Claim 2, Frake discloses an aerosol-generating device wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the inserted cigarette is the wet cigarette when a first time has elapsed since the heater started to be heated based on a preset first temperature profile (The controller may change heating profiles after a period of time when the measured capacitance correlating to the moisture content of the aerosol-generating substrate is within a second range. [0021]-[0024]).
Regarding Claim 3, Frake discloses an aerosol-generating device wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the inserted cigarette is the wet cigarette based on a temperature increase rate of the heater when a first time has elapsed since the heater started to be heated ("Supplying a low power profile to the heater for an initial period of time may enable the heater to drive off the excess water content from the aerosol-forming substrate over the initial period of time, resulting in the water content of the aerosol-forming substrate being within the normal operating level after the initial period of time." [0021]. Thus, the water present detected by the controller may be based on the temperature heating rate of the heater when a first time has elapsed).
Regarding Claim 4, Frake discloses an aerosol-generating device wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the inserted cigarette is the wet cigarette based on the temperature of the heater when a first time has elapsed since the heater started to be heated ("Supplying a low power profile to the heater for an initial period of time may enable the heater to drive off the excess water content from the aerosol-forming substrate over the initial period of time, resulting in the water content of the aerosol-forming substrate being within the normal operating level after the initial period of time." [0021]. Thus, the water present detected by the controller may be based on the temperature of the heater when a first time has elapsed).
Regarding Claim 5, Frake discloses an aerosol-generating device further comprising:
at least one capacitor disposed adjacent to the cigarette insertion hole such that capacitance of the capacitor varies with an amount of moisture in the cigarette inserted into the cigarette insertion hole (First electrode 128 and second electrode 130 form a capacitor. [0145], Figs 1 & 3. The electrodes are disposed within the cavity 114 for receiving the article. [0142], Figs 1 & 3. The controller is configured to measure the capacitance of the capacitor which is indicative of the amount of water present in an aerosol-forming substrate disposed in the receiving cavity. [0007]),
wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the inserted cigarette is the wet cigarette based on the capacitance (The controller may vary the supplied power to the heater based on the measured capacitance. [0007]. The controller may supply power based on a heating profile corresponding to whether the substrate is a "wet aerosol-forming substrate." [0020]).
Regarding Claim 6, Frake discloses an aerosol-generating device wherein the controller is further configured to, based on the inserted cigarette being the wet cigarette, select the dedicated temperature profile from among a plurality of preset dedicated temperature profiles based on an amount of moisture contained in the cigarette ("The controller is configured to supply power from the power supply to the at least one heater in accordance with predetermined power profiles." [0017]. The profile selected may be selected based on the measured water content of the article. [0019]-[0024]).
Regarding Claim 7, Frake discloses an aerosol-generating device wherein:
the controller is further configured to detect a time of recent use of the aerosol-generating device ("the controller may be configured to repeatedly measure the capacitance throughout a heating cycle" [0037]), and
based on the time of recent use being within a certain time period, control the temperature of the heater based on a second dedicated temperature profile that is different from the dedicated temperature profile (The controller may adjust the power supplied to the heater throughout a heating cycle based on the most recent measurement of capacitance, thus controlling the heater based on a different heating profile than the original profile selected. [0037]).
Regarding Claim 8, Frake discloses an aerosol-generating device wherein the controller is further configured to detect the time of recent use based on the temperature of the heater when the cigarette is inserted (The device may be further configured with a temperature sensor to detect the temperature of the article when an article is inserted and adjust the heating profile accordingly. [0040]-[0042]).
Regarding Claim 10, Frake discloses an aerosol-generating device wherein the dedicated temperature profile is calculated by adjusting a basic temperature profile for a regular cigarette (Water is aerosolized at typical operating temperatures for aerosol-generating devices. [0002]. The stable operating temperature for the device may be between 500C and 800C, which is consistent with the typical heating temperatures for a cigarette. [0076]).
Regarding Claim 11, Frake discloses an aerosol-generating device wherein the dedicated temperature profile is calculated by delaying a point in time when the temperature of the heater reaches a maximum value in the basic temperature profile ("the controller may be configured to supply a low power profile to the at least one heater for a predetermined initial period of time when the capacitance measurements indicate that the water content of the aerosol-forming substrate is above a normal operating level, and further configured to supply the normal power profile to the heater after the predetermined initial period of time." [0021]).
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.
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.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Frake (US 20220125110 A1).
Regarding Claim 9, Frake discloses wherein the controller is further configured to control the temperature of the heater based on the second dedicated temperature profile if the temperature of the heater when the cigarette is inserted is within a specific range (Power may be supplied to the heater based on a heating profile when a measured ambient temperature is below an ambient temperature threshold between 15°C and 25°C. [0042]. The stable operating temperature of the device may be between 200°C and 800°C, during which the controller may adjust the heating profile. [0037], [0076]). Frake does not explicitly disclose wherein the range is a range of about 50°C to about 150°C. However, a prima facie case of obviousness exists where claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art. See MPEP § 2144.05(I). Here, where the heating profile may be selected based on the measured moisture content at any time after the device begins to heat the substrate ([0037]), such as a time after the heater is at an ambient temperature and before the heater reaches a stable operating temperature, a second heating profile may be selected at a temperature between the ambient temperature, such as 25°C, and the operating temperature, such as 200°C. Therefore, it would be obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art that a heating profile may be selected by the controller based on the current moisture content and a temperature sensor reading which falls between the ambient temperature threshold and the stable operating temperature, such as a range of 50°C to 150°C, similarly as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jeffrey Buckman whose telephone number is (571)270-0888. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00-4:00.
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/JEFFREY A. BUCKMAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 1755
/PHILIP Y LOUIE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1755
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