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 § 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 1,3-5,15,19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hieb et al. (US 2008/0135574).
Claim 1, Hieb discloses a device for dispensing garnishes, comprising: a plurality of slots (fig.23; slots wherein 151 cover) arranged vertically into a column (fig.23), each slot configured to hold a garnish for a beverage from a plurality of garnishes; an element (136) configured to enter a slot in the plurality of slots to push the garnish from the slot; an actuator (138) attached to the element (136) and configured to push the element (136) into the slot to dispense the garnish from the slot into a container (30) for the beverage; and a controller (the vending machine of Hieb inherently has a controller which controls and selects which slot to dispense articles from) configured to select which of the plurality of slots to dispense the garnish from.
Claim 3, Hieb discloses wherein the plurality of slots (fig.23; slots wherein 151 cover) are each arranged such that, when the element (136) pushes a respective garnish from a respective slot, the respective garnish free falls into the container (30).
Claim 4, Hieb discloses wherein the element (136) and the actuator (138) are fixedly attached to a beverage dispenser (fig.1) and wherein the plurality of slots (fig.23; slots wherein 151 cover) are arranged in a cartridge (140) removable from the beverage dispenser.
Claim 5, Hieb discloses wherein the plurality of garnishes are each a pre-portioned garnish. Claim 5 fails to further structurally limit the apparatus claim and only further limit the material handled by the apparatus and therefore does not determine patentability (see at least MPEP 2114,2115).
Claim 15, Hieb discloses a refrigeration unit (para.0193) containing the plurality of slots to keep the plurality of garnishes chilled.
Claim 19, Hieb discloses wherein the beverage is a cocktail containing alcohol. Claim 19 fails to further structurally limit the apparatus claim and only further limit the material handled by the apparatus and therefore does not determine patentability (see at least MPEP 2114,2115).
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 6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hieb et al. (US 2008/0135574).
Claim 6, although Hieb does not explicitly disclose wherein the cartridge (140) is configured to be sanitized when removed from the beverage dispenser and loaded with the plurality of garnishes, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to sanitize the cartridge when it’s removed from the beverage dispenser if it looks unclean or dirty.
Claim 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hieb et al. (US 2008/0135574) in view of Gardia et al. (US 2004/0016765).
Claim 20, Hieb does not disclose weighing the container (30) with a scale to determine that the container received the garnish.
Gardia discloses weighing the container with a scale (100) to determine that the container received the item (para.0042). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the device of Hieb with weighing the container with a scale to determine that the container received the garnish to ensure efficient and effective dispensing of the articles being dispensed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2,7-14,16-18 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.
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