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 § 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 11 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. Particularly, claim 11 recites “to receive medicine-taking state information from the detector of the discharge device”. Claim 11 depends on claim 1. The Examiner does not comprehend what this limitation refers to.
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 1-3,5-6,8-9,11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park (KR 102157445).
Claim 1, Park discloses a discharge device (100) coupled to a storage container (110) accommodating contents to discharge a fixed quantity of the contents, the discharge device comprising: a fixed portion (120) configured to fix the discharge device (100) to the storage container (110); a passage portion (172) having an opening formed in a shape of a through-hole, through which the contents are discharged, at an upper end and configured to form a movement path for discharging the fixed quantity of the contents; and a passing movement portion (123) rotatably installed at the fixed portion (120) and configured to rotate for the contents to pass, wherein the passing movement portion (123) includes an opening member (124) configured to open or close the opening, a rotating shaft portion (125) connected to the opening member (124) and having a rotating shaft (125) that serves as a center of rotational movement, and a blocking member (127) connected to the rotating shaft portion (125) and configured to rotate together with the opening member (124), while the storage container (110) and the discharge device (100) are tilted at a critical angle of inclination from an angle of inclination of 0° at which the storage container (110) and the discharge device (100) stand upright, a center of gravity of the passing movement portion (123) is configured to be positioned relative to the rotating shaft (125) for rotation of the passing movement portion (123) to be suppressed, and the critical angle of inclination is an angle of the storage container (110) relative to the angle of inclination of 0° at which the contents come in contact with the opening member (124).
Claim 2, Park discloses wherein: at least a portion of the passing movement portion (123) is disposed to form one sidewall of the passage portion (172); the opening member (124) and the blocking member (127) are formed to be bent so that, in a state in which the opening member (124) closes the opening (122), the blocking member (127) opens the passage portion (172); when the storage container (110) and the discharge device (100) are tilted counterclockwise to have the critical angle of inclination from the angle of inclination of 0° at which the storage container (110) and the discharge device (100) stand upright, the contents enter the passage portion (172) due to gravity, apply impact to the opening member (124), cause the passing movement portion (123) to rotate, open the opening (122), and are discharged to the outside; and in a state in which the storage container (110) and the discharge device (100) stand upright, the center of gravity of the passing movement portion (123) is positioned between -90° and 0° relative to a horizontal axis having the rotating shaft as an origin.
Claim 3, Park discloses wherein: in the state in which the angle of inclination is 0° and the storage container (110) and the discharge device (100) stand upright, the center of gravity of the passing movement portion (123) is positioned in a fourth quadrant (see figures) about the rotating shaft (125) as the origin; until the angle of inclination of the discharge device (100) reaches the critical angle of inclination from 0°, the center of gravity of the passing movement portion (123) is positioned in the fourth quadrant and a first quadrant about the origin, the rotation of the passing movement portion is suppressed, the blocking member (127) does not block the passage portion (172), and the contents enter the passage portion (172) and are able to apply impact to the opening member (124); at the critical angle of inclination, the contents apply a stroke to the opening member (124), the passing movement portion (123) further rotates counterclockwise, and the contents are able to be discharged in a state in which the passing movement portion (123) is maximally rotated without further tilting of the discharge device (100); and in the state in which the passing movement portion (123) is maximally rotated, the center of gravity of the passing movement portion (123) is positioned in a second quadrant.
Claim 5, Park discloses a guide passage (182) connected to the passage portion (172) to guide the contents, wherein, due to tilting of the storage container (110), the contents move along the guide passage (182), enter the passage portion (172), and then are discharged to the outside through the opening (122), the fixed portion (120) includes a fixing member (121) fixed and coupled to a neck portion (116) of the storage container (110), and the fixing member (121) blocks an opening (170) of the neck portion (116), and the opening is formed to pass through one region of the fixing member (121).
Claim 6, Park discloses one or more detectors disposed in the passage portion (172) and including a light emitter (411) and a light receiver (412), wherein the light emitter and the light receiver are disposed to face each other with the passage portion (172) disposed therebetween at both sides of the passing movement portion (123) so that light radiated from the light emitter passes through a path along which the contents move in order to be discharged and is detected by the light receiver (412), and at least one of the one or more detectors is disposed at a height between a lower portion of the opening member (124) and the blocking member (127) while the angle of inclination is 0° or the critical angle of inclination.
Claim 8, Park discloses the detector (411,412) further includes a sensing controller (411,412 inherently possess a sensing controller) configured to process an optical signal detected by the light receiver (412), a communication module configured to perform wireless communication with an external device, a clock, and a storing portion; the sensing controller sends the processed signal to the external device through the communication module; and the storing portion stores the signal processed by the sensing controller (detectors with light receivers and light emitters inherently possess these features).
Claim 9, Park discloses a storage container (110) including a container main body (117) configured to accommodate contents and a neck portion (116), the storage container (110) comprising the discharge device (100) that is configured to be coupled to the container main body (117) or the neck portion (116), wherein the contents accommodated in the container main body (117) move along the passage portion (172) as the storage container (110) is tilted, and when the angle of inclination of the storage container (110) becomes the critical angle of inclination or more, a fixed quantity of the contents is discharged by the discharge device (100).
Claim 11, Park discloses a medicine-taking management device comprising: a storage container (110) having the discharge device (100) installed therein; a medicine-taking management server (700); and a user terminal (600), wherein the user terminal includes a communication portion (610) configured to perform wireless communication with the storage container (110) and the medicine-taking management server (700), an output portion (620), and a controller (630) configured to receive medicine-taking state information from the detector of the discharge device (100), receive medicine-taking schedule information from the medicine-taking management server (700) generate medicine-taking management information relating to a user by using the medicine-taking schedule information and the medicine-taking state information, and output the medicine-taking management information to the output portion (620), and the output portion (620) outputs the medicine-taking management information using text, images, or voice (figs.21-22).
Claim 12, Park discloses a discharge device (100) for discharging a fixed quantity of contents that is to be coupled to a container main body (110) accommodating the contents, the discharge device (100) comprising: a fixed portion (120) configured to fix the discharge device (100) to the container main body (110) and guide movement of the contents; and a passing movement portion (123) rotatably installed at the fixed portion (120) to move for the contents to pass, wherein the fixed portion (120) has a duct-type passage portion (172) configured to form a movement path for discharging the fixed quantity of the contents, and an opening (122;see figures) is formed at an upper end of the passage portion (172), the passing movement portion (123) includes an opening member (124) configured to open or close the opening, a rotating shaft portion (125) having a rotating shaft that serves as a center of rotational movement, and a blocking member (127) connected to the rotating shaft portion to rotate together with the opening member (124), in a state in which an angle of inclination is 0° and the container main body (110) and the discharge device (100) stand upright, a center of gravity of the passing movement portion (123) is positioned in a fourth quadrant, and the fourth quadrant is defined based on a horizontal axis, which has a center of the rotating shaft as an origin and belongs to a plane orthogonal to the rotating shaft and including the origin, and the origin, by the container main body being tilted counterclockwise from the angle of inclination of 0° by a user, the contents move along the passage portion (172), pass through the opening, and are discharged, until the angle of inclination reaches the critical angle of inclination from 0°, the center of gravity of the passing movement portion is positioned in the fourth quadrant and the first quadrant about the origin, a clockwise rotational force acts, the blocking member (127) does not block the passage portion (172), and the contents enter the passage portion and apply impact to the opening member (124), at the critical angle of inclination, the contents apply a stroke to the opening member (124), the passing movement portion (123) further rotates counterclockwise, and the contents are able to be discharged in the state in which the passing movement portion is maximally rotated without further tilting of the container main body (110), in the state in which the passing movement portion (123) is maximally rotated, the center of gravity of the passing movement portion is positioned in the second quadrant, a counterclockwise rotational force acts, and even in a state in which the contents are discharged and thus impact is not applied to the passing movement portion, the counterclockwise rotational force is maintained for the blocking member (127) to block the passage portion (172), and the critical angle of inclination is an angle of the discharge device (100) relative to the state in which the container main body (110) and the discharge device stand upright at which the contents come in contact with the opening member (124).
Claim 13, Park discloses a guide passage (182) connected to the passage portion (172) to guide the contents, wherein the contents move along the guide passage, enter the passage portion, and then are discharged to the outside through the opening (122), and the passing movement portion (123) is disposed to form one sidewall of the passage portion (172).
Claim 14, Park discloses one or more detectors including a light emitter (411) and a light receiver (412), wherein the light emitter and the light receiver are disposed to face each other with the movement path of the contents disposed therebetween at both sides of the passing movement portion (123), and light radiated from the light emitter passes through the movement path for discharging the contents and is detected by the light receiver (412), and the one or more detectors are disposed so that, while the angle of inclination is 0°, the light radiated from the light emitter passes through the passage portion (172) between a lower portion of the opening member (124) and an upper portion of the blocking member (127).
Claim 15, Park discloses a storage container (110) including a container main body (117), which accommodates contents, and a neck portion (116), the storage container comprising the discharge device (100) that is configured to be coupled to the container main body (117) or the neck portion (116), wherein the contents accommodated in the container main body move along the passage portion (172) as the storage container (110) is tilted, until the angle of inclination of the storage container reaches the critical angle of inclination, rotation of the passing movement portion (123) of the discharge device (100) is suppressed, and when the angle of inclination of the storage container becomes the critical angle of inclination or more, the passing movement portion (123) of the discharge device rotates, and a fixed quantity of the contents is discharged.
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 4,7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (KR 102157445).
Claim 4, although Park does not explicitly disclose wherein: (90-M)<a<(90-C) where a is an angle at which the center of gravity of the passing movement portion (123) is positioned relative to a horizontal axis of a plane orthogonal to the rotating shaft (125) in the state in which the angle of inclination is 0° and the discharge device (100) stands upright, C is the critical angle of inclination of the passing movement portion (123), and M is a maximum angle at which, when the contents apply impact to the opening member (124), the passing movement portion (123) rotates due to the impact; and C<M, it would have been very obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to configure any number of arbitrary angle inclination since it merely requires routine skill in the art to implement and such implementation does not impart any novelty on the claim limitation whatsoever.
Claim 7, Park discloses wherein: the plurality of detectors including the light emitter (411) and the light receiver (412) are linearly disposed in a direction in which the contents move through the passage portion (172); and at least one of the plurality of detectors (411,412) is disposed to be positioned from the passage portion (172) than the blocking member (127).
Although Park does not disclose the plurality of detectors including the light emitter and the light receiver are linearly disposed from an upstream side to a downstream side in a direction in which the contents move through the passage portion; and at the maximum angle of inclination, at least one of the plurality of detectors is disposed to be positioned more downstream from the passage portion than the blocking member, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to rearrange the plurality of detectors of the Park invention into any arbitrary positions within the dispenser since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Claim 10 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (KR 102157445) in view of Geboers et al. (US 8,622,241).
Claim 10, Park discloses a content management system comprising: a storage container (110) having the discharge device (100) installed therein; a content management server (700); and a user terminal (600), wherein the storage container (110) includes a control module, a communication module (500) configured to perform wireless communication with an external device and the control module is able to communicate with the user terminal (600) or the external device through the communication module.
Park does not disclose wherein the storage container includes a communication module configured to perform wireless communication with an external device, a clock, and a storing portion.
Geboers discloses wherein the storage container (fig.27) includes a communication module configured to perform wireless communication with an external device, a clock, and a storing portion (C25:L30-67; the wireless communication communicates with the remote surveillance system, which inherently possess storing of data by a storing portion and the time of the data, i.e. clock). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the device of Park with wherein the storage container includes a communication module configured to perform wireless communication with an external device, a clock, and a storing portion in order to further enhance the therapy compliance.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AYODEJI T OJOFEITIMI whose telephone number is (571)272-6557. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/AYODEJI T OJOFEITIMI/Examiner, Art Unit 3651
/GENE O CRAWFORD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3651