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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-12 in the reply filed on 01/12/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 2-4 are 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.
Claim 2 recites the limitation “wherein there is an absence of empty-receptacle-detecting sensors arranged below, above, or to the rear portion of the microingredient receptacle”.
The term “rear” is arbitrarily determined and should be explicitly defined relative to, for example, the exit boundary of the receptacle.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “the valve-controlled pressurized water source”, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent 8,277,111 (Englot).
In Re claim 1 Englot discloses a microingredient feed additive dispensing apparatus comprising: a frame (support frame 102); a microingredient receptacle (110, 111) having a front portion (portion near sensor 132) and a rear portion (portion which dispenses into hopper 140); one or more receptacle mounts (shown in Figure connecting receptacle to weigh scale 130 which is in turn connected to the frame) mounting the microingredient receptacle to the frame; a plurality of microingredient bins (120) oriented above the microingredient receptacle so that when ingredients are dispensed from the bins, they are received by the microingredient receptacle; on or more empty-receptacle-detecting sensors (load cells 132) arranged at the front portion of the microingredient receptacle; and a drive (vibration generating drive 115) coupled to the receptacle to feed the microingredients toward and over an exit boundary of the microingredient receptacle (Column 3, lines 30-67).
In Re claim 2 Englot discloses a controller (control system 200); and an absence of empty-receptacle-detecting sensors arranged below, above, or to the rear of the receptacle so that the controller receives signals relating to the weight of the receptacle (which indicate whether it contains material) from sensors which are located in front of the receptacle only (sensors 132 are located on the front side of the receptacle in Figure 2).
In Re claim 4, statements of intended use are considered anticipated where the prior art apparatus could perform the claimed use. In this case, the Englot controller could perform the claimed calculations.
In Re claim 5 Englot discloses a vibratory tray (tray 110 and vibration creating driver 115).
In Re claim 8 Englot discloses a frame (frame 102 and weigh scale 130) which would necessarily flex when placed under a load.
In Re claim 10 Englot discloses an eductor bowl (140) situated below the discharge end of the vibratory tray; and one or more nozzles (142) located adjacent an upper portion of the eductor bowl to direct liquid into the bowl.
In Re claim 11 Englot discloses an eductor (151) situated below the eductor bowl and in fluid communication with a suction inlet of the bowl (shown in Figure 5), and a pressurized water supply in fluid communication with the main inlet of the eductor (152), wherein the valve-controlled pressurized water source is in fluid communication with both the eductor and the flush nozzles (Column 4, lines 35-49).
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) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Englot.
In Re claim 7 Englot discloses many limitations, including load cells (132) which are determined to measure a weight of a tray, but doesn’t explicitly disclose a strain gauge.
A strain gauge is an old and well-known device for determining load. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice for one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to use a strain gauge as the load cell of Englot, since the substitution of one known element for another known element to achieve predictable results requires only ordinary skill in the art.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Englot in view of US Patent 4,002,270 (Reiner).
In Re claim 9 Englot discloses many limitations, but doesn’t disclose load cells for each of the ingredient bins.
Reiner discloses a microingredient dispensing system which dispenses ingredients from a bin (H) which is weighed during dispensing (Column 5, lines 43-67).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the Englot apparatus by providing additional load cells to weigh the ingredient bins, in order to provide a check on the weight of each microingredient being dispensed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 6 and 12 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 JASON KAROL NIESZ whose telephone number is (571)270-3920. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 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, Craig Schneider can be reached at 571 272 3607. 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.
/JASON K NIESZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753