DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the AIA first to file provisions. 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 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.
Application Status
This office action is in response to the submission filed 4/23/2026.
Claims 1-18 are currently pending and being examined.
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-6, 8-15, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Comunale US 2023/0069727.
Regarding claims 1 and 10:
Comunale teaches a system and method (see FIGS. 9A-9C) comprising:
generating a pressurized environment within an incompressible, airtight pressurized container (910/912; [0267]), the incompressible, pressurized container including a hollow housing portion (910) and an outer portion (912), the pressurized container being airtight and operable to maintain a pressure level in the pressurized environment in the hollow housing portion (via 930; [0273]), the pressurized environment being generated by a controllable pressure system (930) coupled to the airtight pressurized container through a pressure delivery conduit (see arrow above 930 in FIG. 9A; referenced in [0107]);
receiving, from a user interface, a request for a serving of a beverage (FIG. 11, 1110; [0270]);
controlling, through a control interface (920), opening and closing a first liquid transport conduit (946A) and a second liquid transport conduit (946B) to enable a flow of a first liquid ingredient from a first compressible container ([0270]) stored within the hollow housing portion and a flow of a second liquid ingredient ([0270]) from a second compressible container stored within the hollow housing portion, respectively, the flow of the liquid ingredients being propelled by pressure of the pressurized environment from within the hollow housing portion ([0267]);
mixing, by a mixing apparatus (980), the liquid ingredients to generate a re-hydrated beverage ([0285], [0270]); and
dispensing the re-hydrated beverage (via 990; [0279]).
Comunale does not explicitly disclose the first liquid ingredient being beer concentrate, the second liquid ingredient being alcohol, and the requested beverage being beer.
However, given that Comunale discloses “[a]ny one of the compressible liquid containers [940/960] contains distilled alcohol”; “[i]n various embodiments, the compressible liquid container 940 contains beer syrup”, and “[b]efore the beer syrup may be served and consumed, beer syrup needs to be hydrated, alcoholized, and carbonated” ([0270]); it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, at the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Comunale, to the extent necessary, such that, in the event the system was desired to produce a beer beverage to the consumer (e.g., see last sentence of [0201]), the first liquid ingredient is a beer concentrate/syrup, and the second ingredient is alcohol (both disclosed by Comunale), such that they can be mixed together and hydrated/carbonated to become beer for a thirsty consumer. A person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize this would be analogous to the “Rum and Coke” blending profile shown in FIG. 10A, where alcohol and a syrup-based beverage can be mixed, hydrated, carbonated, and dispensed to the consumer.
Regarding claim 2:
Comunale teaches the method of claim 1, as discussed above, further comprising retrieving a profile based on the request for a serving of beer (1120; [0310]-[0311]), the profile indicating a length of time to keep the first liquid transport conduit open and a second length of time to keep the second liquid transport conduit open (1130; [0313]), the controlling of opening and closing the first and second liquid transport conduits including opening and keeping open the first and second liquid transport conduits for the first length of time and the second length of time from the profile ([0313]), respectively, and closing the first and second liquid transport conduits (e.g., after the “period of time” dispensing; [0241]).
Regarding claim 3:
Comunale teaches the method of claim 1, as discussed above, wherein opening and closing the first liquid transport conduit comprises opening a solenoid valve that allows the beer concentrate to flow through the first liquid transport conduit ([0241]; [0279]).
Regarding claim 4:
Comunale teaches the method of claim 1, as discussed above, wherein the user interface and the control interface are part of a kiosk ([0090]).
Regarding claims 5 and 14:
Comunale teaches the method of claim 1 (and system of claim 10), as discussed above, but does not explicitly teach wherein the alcohol (that is mixed with beer concentrate) is vodka.
However, since Comunale teaches vodka being one of the possible ingredients (e.g., [0318]), and since vodka is known for having a relatively high alcohol content, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, at the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Comunale, by using vodka as the alcohol used to reconstitute the beer, since vodka is easily obtainable, and is useful for other mixed drinks beyond reconstituted beer.
Regarding claim 6:
Comunale teaches the method of claim 2, as discussed above, wherein the profile further indicates an amount of carbonation to add to the re-hydrated beer and the method further comprising adding the amount of carbonation to the re-hydrated beer prior to dispensing ([0306], amount of carbonation is part of the profile).
Regarding claims 8 and 17:
Comunale teaches the method of claim 6 (and system of claim 15), as discussed above, but does not teach wherein adding the amount of carbonation to the re-hydrated beer comprises adding carbonation to an amount of water received from a water line that is outside the incompressible pressurized container.
Comunale discloses embodiments that include adding carbonation to an amount of water received from a water line that is outside the incompressible pressurized container (e.g., [0193], “In some embodiments, the [outside] container 602 includes water that is coupled (e.g., via the liquid conduit 608) with a separate carbonator (e.g., such as carbonator 330) which may provide gas to create carbonated water. ”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, at the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method and system of Comunale, whereby adding the amount of carbonation to the re-hydrated beer comprises adding carbonation to an amount of water received from a water line that is outside the incompressible pressurized container, as taught by Comunale, since this would allow the carbonated water to be made on-the-fly, precluding the need to acquire large volumes of pre-carbonated water to make the beer.
Regarding claim 9:
Comunale teaches the method of claim 1, as discussed above, further comprising authenticating, by an authentication module, a consumer ID and dispensing the re-hydrated beer only if the consumer ID is authenticated ([0066]).
Regarding claim 11:
Comunale teaches the system of claim 10, as discussed above, further comprising data storage including a profile associated with the request for a serving of beer (1120; [0310]-[0311]), the profile indicating a length of time to keep the first liquid transport conduit open and a second length of time to keep the second liquid transport conduit open (1130; [0313]), the control interface configured to open and close the first and second liquid transport conduits including the control interface configured to open and keep open the first and second liquid transport conduits for the first length of time and the second length of time from the profile ([0313]), respectively, and close the first and second liquid transport conduits (e.g., after the “period of time” dispensing; [0241]).
Regarding claim 12:
Comunale teaches the system of claim 10, as discussed above, wherein the control interface configured to open and close the first liquid transport conduit comprises the control interface configured to open a solenoid valve that allows the beer concentrate to flow through the first liquid transport conduit ([0241]; [0279]).
Regarding claim 13:
Comunale teaches the system of claim 10, as discussed above, wherein the user interface and the control interface are part of a kiosk ([0090]).
Regarding claim 15:
Comunale teaches the system of claim 11, as discussed above, wherein the profile further indicates an amount of carbonation to add to the re-hydrated beer and the system further comprising a carbonator configured to add the amount of carbonation to the re-hydrated beer prior to dispensing ([0306], amount of carbonation is part of the profile).
Regarding claim 18:
Comunale teaches the system of claim 10, as discussed above, further comprising an authentication module configured to authenticate a consumer ID and dispensing the re-hydrated beer only if the consumer ID is authenticated ([0066]).
Claims 7 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Comunale, as applied above, and further in view of Vogt et al. US 2008/0142115.
Regarding claims 7 and 16:
Comunale teaches the method of claim 6 (and system of claim 15), as discussed above, but does not teach further comprising receiving an indication of an amount of head to have on the re-hydrated beer, the amount of carbonation being based on the indication of the amount of head.
Vogt discloses a related a related method and system comprising receiving an indication of an amount of head to have on the re-hydrated beer, the amount of carbonation being based on the indication of the amount of head ([0315]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, at the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method and system of Comunale, by receiving an indication of an amount of head to have on the re-hydrated beer, the amount of carbonation being based on the indication of the amount of head, as taught by Vogt, since this will give the user better customization of the beer.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARIUSH SEIF whose telephone number is (408) 918-7542. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:30 AM-6:00 PM PST.
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/DARIUSH SEIF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3731
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