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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I (claims 1-16 and 21-24) in the reply filed on 8/12/2025 is acknowledged.
Double Patenting
Claims 21 and 22 are the same.
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)(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) 10 and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brown (US2017/0158424).
10. Brown teaches an active-ingredient releasing beverage container (Fig. 1), comprising: a container body (1); an interior chamber defined at least partially by the container body and configured to hold a beverage; a lid (8) sealably coupled to the container body and at least partially aligned with the interior; and an active ingredient release component (5) configured to release an active ingredient into the interior to mix with the beverage upon mechanical agitation (the container is configured to be agitated if a user shakes the container a little, which would allow the ingredient (5) to be further released throughout the liquid).
24. Brown teaches an active-ingredient releasing beverage container (Fig. 1), comprising a container body (1); an interior chamber defined at least partially by the container body and configured to hold a beverage; a lid (8) sealably coupled to the container body and at least partially aligned with the interior; and an active ingredient release component (5) configured to release an active ingredient into the interior to mix with the beverage upon filling the container with liquid below a specific pH (where the container is configured to release an active ingredient upon filling, if a user releases the ingredient (5) first then pours the liquid).
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.
Claim(s) 1-9, 11-14, 16 and 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brown (US2017/0158424), in view of Upsdell (US2022/0186063).
1. Brown teaches a dosing beverage container (Fig. 1), comprising: a container body (1); a chamber defined at least partially by the container body and configured to hold a liquid; a lid (8) sealably coupled to the container body to seal the chamber. Brown DIFFERS in that it does not disclose a cannabinoid release component is applied to at least a portion of the interior and is configured to release at least one cannabinoid into the interior of the container upon filling the container with liquid. Attention, however is directed to Upsdell which discloses a cannabinoid release component (abstract), therefore, it would have been obvious, to one of ordinary skill within the art, at the time the invention was made, to modify Brown, in view of them teachings of Upsdell, by employing a cannabinoid release component, in order to employ an alternative release component if a user desires a cannabinoid substance.
2. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 1 wherein the cannabinoid release component is configured to release the at least one cannabinoid upon filling the container with liquid above a specific temperature.
3. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 1 wherein the cannabinoid release component is configured to release the at least one cannabinoid upon filling the container with liquid below a specific pH (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
4. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 1, further comprising a cannabinoid coating on an interior of the container body, wherein the cannabinoid coating includes the at least one cannabinoid and at least one binder compound (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
5. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 4 wherein the at least one binder compound is comprised of pectin, agarose, carrageenan, alginate, chitosan or other polysaccharide (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this) (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
6. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 5 wherein the cannabinoid release component is configured to release the at least one cannabinoid upon filling the container with liquid comprising one or more enzymes (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
7. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 1 wherein the container body includes a wall layer and at least one liner layer, wherein the at least one liner layer is located on at least part of the wall layer within the interior, and wherein the at least one liner layer is configured to at least partially prevent the cannabinoid from contacting the wall layer when the cannabinoid is released from the cannabinoid release component (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
8. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 7 wherein at least part of the at least one liner layer is adhered to the cannabinoid release component (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
9. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 7 wherein the at least one cannabinoid is at least one first cannabinoid, further comprising a cannabinoid layer coupled to at least part of the at least one liner layer, wherein the cannabinoid layer includes at least one second cannabinoid and at least one binder compound (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
11. The active-ingredient releasing beverage container of claim 10. Brown DIFFERS in that it does not disclose the active ingredient includes a cannabinoid, an alkaloid, and/or a psychedelia compound. Attention, however is directed to Upsdell which discloses a cannabinoid release component (abstract), therefore, it would have been obvious, to one of ordinary skill within the art, at the time the invention was made, to modify Brown, in view of them teachings of Upsdell, by employing a cannabinoid release component, in order to employ an alternative release component if a user desires a cannabinoid substance.
12. The active-ingredient releasing beverage container of claim 10. Brown DIFFERS in that it does not disclose the active ingredient release component includes an active ingredient coating applied to at least a portion of the interior, wherein the coating includes the active ingredient and at least one binder compound. Attention, however is directed to Upsdell which discloses a cannabinoid release component that has a binder coating (abstract), therefore, it would have been obvious, to one of ordinary skill within the art, at the time the invention was made, to modify Brown, in view of them teachings of Upsdell, by employing a cannabinoid release component, in order to employ an alternative release component if a user desires a cannabinoid substance.
13. The active-ingredient releasing beverage container of claim 12 wherein the active ingredient coating is configured to release the active ingredient when the container is shaken or agitated for a specific period of time or with specific amount of force (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
14. The active-ingredient releasing beverage container of claim 10 wherein the active ingredient release component further includes a conditioning component configured to contain the active ingredient and to be actuatable to release the active ingredient (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
16. The active-ingredient releasing beverage container of claim 10 wherein the container body includes a container wall, and wherein the active ingredient release component includes a liner positioned inwardly from the container wall, wherein the liner is at least partially adhered to the active ingredient release component (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
21. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 1 wherein the at least one cannabinoid is a tetrahydrocannabinol or a cannabidiol (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
22. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 1 wherein the at least one cannabinoid is a tetrahydrocannabinol and a cannabidiol (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
23. The cannabinoid-dosing beverage container of claim 1 wherein the cannabinoid release component comprises at least one terpenoid (Brown in view of Upsdell teaches this).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 15 is 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 KAREEN KAY THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)270-5611. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am-5:00pm.
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/KAREEN K THOMAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736