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 40 – 43 and 45 - 52 in the reply filed on 2/6/26 is acknowledged.
Claims 21 – 39 and 44 have been cancelled.
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) 40 – 43, 45 and 46 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Drobish (4533069).
Regarding claim 40, the Drobish reference discloses an additive vessel (10) comprising; an outer wall (50) defining a generally cylindrical shape having an outlet end (26) and a plunger end (60) opposite the outlet end, the outer wall having an outlet opening (23) at the outlet end and defining an interior space; a liquid additive contained in the interior space (col. 3, line 65 – col. 4, line 5) and configured to be mixed with a drinkable liquid (i.e., capable); a valve (30, 31) at the outlet opening configured to permit dispensing of the additive from interior space in response to pressure in the interior space above a threshold; and a plunger (70) movable relative to the additive vessel within the interior space in a direction from the plunger end toward the outlet end to dispense the liquid additive through the valve. See col. 7, line 53 – col. 9, line 13.
Regarding claim 41, further comprising an O-ring (40; Figure 1) at the outlet end of the outer wall configured to form a seal with an additive holder.
Regarding claim 42, wherein the O-ring (40) is between the valve (30, 31) and the interior space. See position of O-ring (40) in Figure 4.
Regarding claim 43, wherein the valve (30, 31) is a one-way valve. See col. 3, line 68 – col. 4, line 1.
Regarding claim 45, wherein the outer wall comprises a first portion (150) defining a generally cylindrical shape and a second portion (120) of a lesser diameter than the first portion. See Figure 3.
Regarding claim 46, wherein the second portion (120) is located at the outlet end (26) of the outer wall.
Claim(s) 40, 45 – 47, 49, 50 and 52 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Henault et al. (4950237).
Regarding claim 40, the Henault et al. reference discloses an additive vessel (14; Figs. 1 - 3) comprising; an outer wall (10, 11) defining a generally cylindrical shape having an outlet end (defined at 8) and a plunger end (defined by lower end of stem 18) opposite the outlet end, the outer wall having an outlet opening (17) at the outlet end and defining an interior space (15); a liquid additive (col. 1, lines 37 – 38 and col. 3, lines 51 - 53) contained in the interior space and configured to be mixed with a drinkable liquid (i.e., capable); a valve (16) at the outlet opening configured to permit dispensing of the additive from interior space in response to pressure in the interior space above a threshold (i.e., applying pressure to stem 18 and opening valve 16); and a plunger (stem 18) movable relative to the additive vessel within the interior space in a direction from the plunger end toward the outlet end to dispense the liquid additive through the valve. See col. 3, lines 33 – 48.
Regarding claim 45, wherein the outer wall comprises a first portion defining a generally cylindrical shape and a second portion of a lesser diameter than the first portion. See Annotated Figure 1.
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Regarding claim 46, wherein the second portion (120) is located at the outlet end (26) of the outer wall.
Regarding claim 47, wherein the plunger (18) comprises a distal portion configured to be received within an interior space of the second portion of the outer wall when the plunger is adjacent the outlet end. See Annotated Figure 1.
Regarding claim 49, wherein the direction in which the plunger (18) is movable relative to the additive vessel is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the outer wall. See movement of plunger (18) in Figures 1 – 3.
Regarding claim 50, wherein the valve (16) is a two-way valve. Valve (16) is configured to be opened and allow flow in both directions.
Regarding claim 52, further comprising a cap (19) configured to be coupled to the outer wall (10, 11) of the additive vessel, wherein the cap is configured to be coupled with a dispensing assembly (14) to lock the additive vessel in engagement with the dispensing assembly. See Figure 1.
Claim(s) 40 – 43 and 45 - 49 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gassaway (2898007).
Regarding claim 40, the Gassaway reference discloses an additive vessel (1) comprising; an outer wall (2) defining a generally cylindrical shape having an outlet end (4) and a plunger end (3) opposite the outlet end, the outer wall having an outlet opening (8) at the outlet end and defining an interior space; a liquid additive contained in the interior space (see claim 1) and configured to be mixed with a drinkable liquid (i.e., capable); a valve (8c) at the outlet opening configured to permit dispensing of the additive from interior space in response to pressure in the interior space above a threshold (see Fig. 1); and a plunger (5) movable relative to the additive vessel within the interior space in a direction from the plunger end toward the outlet end to dispense the liquid additive through the valve. See col. 3, lines 51 – 69.
Regarding claim 41, further comprising an O-ring (7a) at the outlet end of the outer wall configured to form a seal with an additive holder.
Regarding claim 42, wherein the O-ring (7a) is between the valve (8c) and the interior space. See Figure 2.
Regarding claim 43, wherein the valve (8c) is a one-way valve. See col. 3, line 33 - 43.
Regarding claim 45, wherein the outer wall comprises a first portion (defined at 2) defining a generally cylindrical shape and a second portion (7) of a lesser diameter than the first portion. See Figure 2.
Regarding claim 46, wherein the second portion (7) is located at the outlet end (4) of the outer wall.
Regarding claim 47, wherein the plunger (5) comprises a distal portion (Figure 2) configured to be received within an interior space of the second portion (7) of the outer wall when the plunger is adjacent the outlet end (4). See shape of plunger (5) and Col. 2, lines 55 – 60.
Regarding claim 48, wherein the valve (8c) is a one-way valve arranged to permit dispensing of the additive through the valve in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the outer wall. See col. 3, lines 20 – 56 and Figure 1.
Regarding claim 49, wherein the direction in which the plunger is movable relative to the additive vessel is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the outer wall (inherent).
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) 50 and 51 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gassaway and Henault et al. in view of Anderson (8701906).
Regarding claim 50, the Gassaway and Henault et al. references disclose the invention as claimed (discussed supra), but don’t disclose having two-way valves. The Anderson reference discloses another additive vessel having a two-way valve (18; i.e. push-pull), which can be manually positioned by the user. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date to modify the Gassaway and Henault et al. devices to have two-way valves as, for example, taught by the Anderson reference, since two-way valves are well-known in the art, conventional and would be obvious to try without unexpected results.
Regarding claim 51, the two-way valve (18) would inherently allow air to enter the vessel when open and not dispensing.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The James et al. (10464797) reference discloses a post-mix beverage system having a plunger (124) and two-way valve (126).
The Lane et al. (8684231) reference discloses an additive vessel (Figs. 1 and 2) having a plunger (24) and additive (20).
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/TIMOTHY L MAUST/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753