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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to the amendments filed on 05/26/2026.
Claims 1-16 have been amended.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
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 (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 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 1-5, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schoening “US 2019/0303848 A1” (Schoening) in view of Wetsch et al. “US 2017/0183139A” (Wetsch).
Regarding Claims 1 and 16: A stock management system in a filling plant with at least one filling machine product, and a warehouse the system comprising:
first tag elements provided on respective storing units designed for storage of a respective plurality of packaging material elements (at least See Schoening Abstract; Fig.1; [0036]-[0046]), each of the first tag elements including first stock information about the packaging material elements stored in the respective storing unit (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0045]-[0055]) the warehouse containing a stock of the packaging material elements for forming composite packages (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0022]-[0025]);
a second tag element provided on each of the packaging material element (at least See Schoening [0036]-[0041]), the
second tag clement including second stock information about related packaging material element (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0040]-[0044]); and
a control system configured to: receive, by the control system operating data from the at least one filling machine relating to the-filling operations, the at least one filling machine configured to form the composite packages from a multilayer composite packaging material and to implement filling operations to fill the composite packages with a pourable food product, wherein the operating data are automatically logged by the at least one filling machine during packaging operations using a packaging material element identified by the second tag element (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0050]-[0060]; Note: “[0059] FIGS. 5-18 illustrate examples of information that may be shown on a display screen 50 of the user interface device 23 during this activity. Common elements between FIGS. 5-18 are shown using common reference numerals. In particular, FIGS. 5-10 illustrate examples of the information displayed to the forklift operator on a display screen 50 of the user interface device 23 when a product 13 in the storage and shipping environment 10 needs to be relocated to a particular bin 14 or delivered to a particular loading bay 16 and placed on a truck. FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 illustrate a display screen 50C, 50D, 50E, 50F, 50G, and 50H, respectively, of the user interface device 23 displaying a product code 60, a roll number 62 (as in this case the product 13 is a roll of material), a current location 64 of a product 13, a destination 66 of the product 13, an RFID tag counter 68, a next roll input 70, a product information menu 72, and a relock-roll input 75. The product code 60 and the roll number 62 are displayed on the display screen 50D and correlate to the product information stored in the product and order database 27. Such information may be used by the forklift operator, for example, to confirm product delivery information (e.g., the product code 60 or the roll number 62) with a truck driver or other storage facility worker. Additionally, the product delivery information is shown in multiple locations 60, 64, and 66 on the display screens 50C, 50D, 50E, 50F, 50G, and 50H. In particular, when the RFID reader 20 queries the tracking application 36, for example, the tracking application 36 sends product information from the product and order database 27 to the user interface device 23, after the RFID reader 20 has locked on to one product 13, as illustrated in FIG. 6. The product information sent by the tracking application 36 to the user interface device 23 shown on the display screen 50B includes, for example, the current location 64 of the product 13, the destination 66 of the product 13, and the trailer truck, if the destination 66 of the product is a bay 16 with a truck waiting to be loaded.”); and
merge, by the control system, the first and second stock information with the operating data for the packaging material element identified by the second tag element, and automatically determine, based on the merged information, a usage status of the packaging material element for updating the management of the stock of the packaging material elements (at least See Schoening Abstract; Figs. 1-2; [0050]-[0060]).
Schoening disclose the claimed invention but fails to disclose for the packaging material element identified by the second tag element, and automatically determine, based on the merged information, a usage status of the packaging material element for updating the. However Wetsch disclose this (at least see Wetsch Abstract; Fig. 1; [0046]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made (Pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA FITF) to use Wetsch’s teachings in Schoening’s enabled, for the advantage of integrated control for packaging machines that utilized object recognition to create packaging elements to manage the tracking of and shipping of products in a storage or warehouse environment.
Regarding Claim 2: The system according to claim 1, wherein the packaging material elements comprise reels of packaging material and the storing units comprises pallets housing a respective plurality of the reels of packaging material (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0042]-[0046]).
Regarding Claim 3: The system according to claim 1, wherein the first stock information stored in each first tag element includes an identification code of the respective storing unit and information related to each of the packaging material elements stored by the respective storing unit comprising one or more of the following: a production order; a best before date; a total number of packages that can be produced; and wherein the second stock information stored in each second tag element includes an identification code of the respective packaging material element and one or more of the following: the production order; the best before date; a counter indicative of the packages produced, wasted and/or that may still be produced using the respective packaging material element, the counter being variable and updated based on the operating data from the at least one filling machine; or an indication of the at least one filling machine that used the packaging material element (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0047]-[0054]).
Regarding Claim 4: The system according to claim 1, wherein the control system comprises: a central server comprising a database configured to store the first stock information, the second stock information, and the operating data; and a mobile device(16) carried by an operator of the filling plant, operatively coupled to the central server and configured to execute a stock management application for the management of the stock of the packaging material elements (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0026]-[0030]).
Regarding Claim 5: The system according to claim 4, comprising a gate, arranged at the warehouse where the storing units are placed, provided with comprising a detection unit configured to: read the first stock information stored in the first tag element of the storing units; and transmit the read first stock information to the central server, to be the read first stock information stored in the database (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0055]-[0060]).
Regarding Claim 8: The system according to claim, wherein the control system is configured to provide, for each of the packaging material element, at least one of the following: -a number of fully used packaging material elements; -a number of partially used packaging material elements, with a first respective count of the packaging material elements that are remaining; -a number of unused packaging material elements (5) that are still unused, with a second respective count of the packaging material elements that are remaining packages left; and or -a stock time from receiving date to usage date for the packaging material elements ,and -wherein the control is further configured to provide indications on which of the packaging material elements to use for a specific production run, based on available availability of the unused packaging material elements or partially used packaging material elements matching the specific production run (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0056]-[0060]).
Regarding Claim 9: The system according to claim 8, wherein the control system is configured to provide notifications to an operator of the filling plant before an expiration date of unused packaging material elements or partially used packaging material elements present in the warehouse (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0049]-[0051]).
Regarding Claim 12: The system according to claim 1, wherein the first stock information content in the first tag element is designed to be written or updated automatically, when responsive to the packaging material elements are being placed on the respective storing unit (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0048]-[0051]).
Regarding Claim 13: The system according to claim 1,wherein the first and second tag elements are comprising RFID tags (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0036]-[0046]).
Regarding Claim 17: The method according to claim 16, further comprising providing package information for each of the packaging material element, the information comprising one or more of the following: a number of fully used packaging material elements; a number of partially used packaging material elements, with a respective count of the packaging material elements that are remaining; a number of unused packaging material elements, with a respective count of the packaging material elements that are remaining; or a stock time from receiving date to usage date for the packaging material elements, wherein the method further comprises providing indications on which of the packaging material elements to use for a specific production run, based on availability of the unused packaging material elements or partially used packaging material elements matching the specific production run (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0056]-[0060]).
Regarding Claim 18: The method according to claim 17, further comprising providing notifications to an operator of the filling plant before an expiration date of unused packaging material elements or partially used packaging material elements present in the warehouse (at least See Schoening Abstract; [0049]-[0051]).
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.
Claims 6-7, 10-11, 14-15 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schoening “US 2019/0303848 A1” (Schoening) in view of Wetsch et al. “US 2017/0183139A” (Wetsch) and in further view of Schoening et al. “US 9,224,125 B2” (Schoening).
Regarding Claim 6: The system according to claim 1, wherein the control is configured to provide information on which of the packaging material elements are in stock and on a respective usage rate (at least see Schoening-125 8:5-25).
Regarding Claim 7: The system according to claim 6, wherein the control system is configured to provide, for each of the packaging material element: information on which of the at least one filling machine the respective packaging material element- has been used; a date and time of respective filling operations; and a number of produced packages and wasted packages, based on which the respective usage rate is determined (at least see Schoening-125 9:1-20).
Regarding Claim 10: The system according to claim 1, wherein the filling plant comprises a control device configured to control operation thereof and wherein the at least one filling machine is configured to: read the second tag element on the packaging material element(5) to retrieve an identification code indicative of the related multilayer composite packaging material and/or of the related composite packages; and provide the identification code to the control device; wherein the control device is configured to automatically set operational parameters of the filling plant as a function of the identification code (at least see Schoening-125 5:10-30).
Regarding Claim 11: The system according to claim 10, wherein the control device is configured to inhibit the filling operations if-responsive to the operational parameters associated with the identification code do-not matching a current production (at least see Schoening-125 6:45-65).
Regarding Claim 14: A filling plant, comprising the stock management system according any of the preceding claims claim 1 (at least see Schoening-125 Figs. 1-2).
Regarding Claim 15: The filling plant according to claim 14, wherein the at least one
filling machine comprises at least one or more of the following: -a conveying device for advancing a web of the multilayer composite packaging material along an advancement path; -a tube forming device for forming a tube from the web-(4) of the multilayer packaging material; -a sealing device for longitudinally sealing the tube; -a filling device for filling the tube with the pourable food product; or -a package forming unit for forming the tube and to transversally seal the tube for at least partially defining the composite packages (at least see Schoening-125 10:20-67).
Regarding Claim 19: The method according to claim 16, further comprising: reading the second tag element on the packaging material element with the at least one filling machine to retrieve an identification code indicative of the related multilayer composite packaging material and/or of the related composite packages, the filling plant comprising a control device configured to control operation thereof; and providing the identification code with the at least one filling machine to the control device, wherein the control device is configured to automatically set operational parameters of the filling plant as a function of the identification code (at least see Schoening-125 5:10-30).
Regarding Claim 20: The method according to claim 19, further comprising: determining whether the operational parameters associated with the identification code do not match a current production; and inhibiting the filling operations with the control device, responsive to the operational parameters associated with the identification code not matching a current production (at least see Schoening-125 6:45-65).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made (Pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA FITF) to use Schoening-125’s teachings in Schoening’s enabled, for the advantage of to achieve automated inventory-aware control of filling operations to coordinate inventory and machine operations for efficient production.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FATEH M OBAID whose telephone number is (571)270-7121. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 A.M to 4:30 P.M.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ryan Zeender can be reached at (571) 272-6790. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FATEH M OBAID/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
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