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)(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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2021/060716 to CHO.
With regard to claim 1, CHO teaches an aerosol-generating device (5) comprising: a cartridge configured to store an aerosol-generating substance (20) ; a heater configured to heat the aerosol-generating substance (420); a power supply circuit configured to supply power to the heater ([60]); a puff sensor ([68]); and at least one processor ([75]) configured to: control the power supply circuit such that a temperature of the heater rises in a first period during which a puff is detected by the puff sensor ([80]-[81]); control the power supply circuit such that a first power is supplied to the heater in a second period subsequent to the first period in response to an intensity of the detected puff being equal to or less than a reference intensity([103] and [106]); and control the power supply circuit such that a second power is supplied to the heater in the second period in response to the intensity of the detected puff exceeding the reference intensity, the second power being higher than the first power ([109] and [129]).
With regard to claim 2, CHO teaches the second period ranges from a time point of completion of the detected puff to a time point of detection of a second puff ([100]-[106]).
With regard to claim 3, CHO teaches a memory configured to store data on puff intensity (450), wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: set the reference intensity based on the data on the puff intensity in response to a condition corresponding to the puff being satisfied ([74] and [91]-[92]); and add data on the intensity of the detected puff to the data on the puff intensity in response to the condition corresponding to the puff not being satisfied ([74]).
With regard to claim 4, CHO teaches the condition is whether a number of puffs detected in the cartridge is equal to or greater than a reference number ([74] and [83]).
With regard to claim 5, CHO teaches the at least one processor is further configured to set the reference intensity to be equal to a representative value of a plurality of intensity values included in the data on the puff intensity ([91]-[95]).
With regard to claim 6, CHO teaches the at least one processor is further configured to: determine a power to be supplied to the heater in the second period based on the reference intensity in response to power being supplied to the heater after lapse of a reference time period starting from a point in time of an interruption of supply of power to the heater ([100]-[106]); and determine the power to be supplied to the heater in the second period to be equal to the first power in response to power being supplied to the heater before the lapse of the reference time period ([100]-[106]).
With regard to claim 7, CHO teaches a difference between the first power and the second power is proportional to a difference between the intensity of the detected puff and the reference intensity ([113]-[115]).
With regard to claim 8, CHO teaches a housing having an insertion space ([40]), wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control the power supply circuit such that the first power is supplied to the heater in response to insertion of a stick into the insertion space ([40]).
With regard to claim 9, CHO teaches the at least one processor is further configured to control the power supply circuit such that the first power is supplied to the heater based on the aerosol-generating device being powered on in response to a user input ([89]-[90]).
With regard to claim 10, CHO teaches a method of operation of an aerosol-generating device (5) comprising a heater (420) and a puff sensor ([68]), and storing an aerosol-generating substance ([25]), the method comprising: controlling a temperature of the heater, wherein the heater is configured to heat the aerosol-generating substance in a first period during which a puff is detected by the puff sensor ([80]-[81]); supplying a first power to the heater in a second period subsequent to the first period in response to an intensity of the detected puff being equal to or less than a reference intensity([103] and [106]); and supplying a second power to the heater in the second period in response to the intensity of the detected puff exceeding the reference intensity, the second power being higher than the first power ([109] and [129]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATELYN W SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-5545. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F.
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/KATELYN W SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1749
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