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 .
Amendment
2. Receipt is acknowledged of the Amendment filed March 3, 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-4, 6, 15, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reid et al (2023/0384024), hereinafter Reid in view of Wellig et al (2022/0299954), hereinafter Wellig.
With respect to claim 1, Reid illustrates in figure 1, a disk manager (storage device 100) for managing medicine or other healthcare related devices (paragraph 0194), comprising: several receiving compartments(drawers 110 – figure 2 illustrates drawers and nests 205) for receiving one dental blank each (the configurations are flexible for different product sizes: paragraph 0005); and a display device (120, figure 1: paragraph 0066) assigned to each of the several receiving compartments for displaying in which of the several receiving compartments a dental blank is received; an input interface for inputting properties (identifying information) of the dental blank (paragraph 0101, “The user interface 120 can be used to specify the individual item to be stocked in each nest…”; a scanning device for scanning the received dental blank, wherein the scanning device comprises an optical camera, an RFID reader, a bar code reader and/or a QR code reader (paragraph 0164: the disk manager comprises a scanning device (optical scanner/bar code scanner) for scanning an item in the drawer: element 115); wherein an antenna or a sensor for detecting the received dental blank is assigned to each receiving compartment (paragraphs 0058: the cabinet includes detectors which determines if a compartment contains an item).
With respect to claims 2, 15, and 16, Reid discloses in paragraph 0101, the disk manager, wherein the disk manager comprises a storage device for storing the properties of the dental blank in the respective receiving compartment (“Once the divider configuration has been determined, the name or type of the item to be stored in each nest can be determined by the system. The system can include remote computer that can be used for specifying the items to be stocked in the storage device. The user interface 120 can be used to specify the individual item to be stocked in each nest and may also be used to link and identify product availability in related connected storage devices and direct the user to another storage device.” “The name or type of the item to be stored in each nest is saved in the database.”).
With respect to claims 3 and 19, Reid discloses in paragraph 0102, the disk manager, wherein the properties comprise available remaining material (“The name or type of the item and the nest identifier can be used by the system to notify the user about what items should be added into a nest when the nest is low on supplies or empty, and the nest that should receive the items.”), a color, an identification number, a size and/or a manufacturing material of the received blank (other properties are also disclosed by Reid).
With respect to claim 4, Reid illustrates in figure 2, the disk manager, wherein the disk manager can be composed of several modules (nests 205) with at least one receiving compartment.
With respect to claim 6, Reid discloses in paragraph 0061, the disk manager, wherein the receiving compartments comprise an inclination for stable positioning of the dental blank (the drawers 230 or nests 205 may include a change in physical structure, including a change in shape of the bottom surface of the drawer/nest).
It is noted that the claims recite the receiving compartment being for receiving a “dental blank”. This is an intended use and does not impose any structural limitation on the module or the storage compartment itself. See In re Schreiber, 128 F.3d 1473 (Fed. Cir. 1997). The structure is fully met by a compartment capable of receiving any article of generally similar dimensions, wherein the storage compartment includes the structural limitations set forth in the claims.
Reid teaches in paragraph 0066, the display being a touch screen 120, however fails to specifically teach the display device comprising a light-emitting diode, a liquid crystal display or an electronic paper.
With respect to claim 1, Wellig teaches in paragraph 0024, a user interface 22, which may be a touch screen LCD panel that functions as both display and keypad.
In view of Wellig’s teachings, it would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have the user interface display taught by Reid, be an LCD panel as is taught by Wellig. One would be motivated to use an LCD panel display as LCD panel displays are well-known, provide high resolution visual output, and are commonly used in user interface systems for electronic devices, as they improve usability and readability of displayed information.
5. Claims 17 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reid in combination with Wellig and in further view of Reid’s own teachings.
Reid’s teachings in combination with the teachings of Wellig are discussed above. Reid teaches a disk manager for managing stored items, including a plurality of receiving compartments each configured to hold a respective item, a scanning device for identifying items placed in the compartments, and a display associated with each compartment for indicating the presence and status of an item within the respective compartment. Reid further teaches storing and associating item-specific properties with each stored item, including utilization or capacity-related data reflecting prior processing or modification of the item. Reid however does not explicitly disclose that the stored utilization or capacity-related data (corresponding to nesting data) is used to determine whether additional usable material remains in the item for further processing or use.
However in view of Reid’s own teachings, it would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to the stored utilization/capacity data of Reid to determine whether further operations can be performed on the item. Such use merely applies known tracking information to its predictable purpose of assessing remaining usable capacity. Since Reid tracks prior modification or usage of an item, it would have been an obvious design choice to use that information to determine whether additional processing opportunities remain, in order to improve inventory efficiency and reduce waste.
Response to Arguments
6. Applicant’s arguments filed March 3, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The arguments improperly rely on distinctions in intended use and field of endeavor rather than the claimed structural limitations. Reid discloses a modular storage and inventory management system including receiving compartments (drawers/nests) for storing discrete items, along with associated display and monitoring functionality, and therefore teaches the structural framework of the claimed disk manager regardless of whether the stored items are characterized as medical products or dental blanks. The recitation of “dental blank” merely describes an intended use of the stored item and does not impart any structural limitation distinguishing the claimed compartments, sensors, scanning functionality, or inventory tracking features from those disclosed in Reid. Reid’s disclosure of tracking item status within individual compartments, including determining when items are low or require replenishment, reasonably corresponds to monitoring item quantity and remaining usable material. Similarly, applicant’s assertion that medicine cannot be used to produce a dental restoration are not persuasive, as the claims are directed to a storage and tracking system, not to the end use of the stored articles. With respect to the display limitation, Reid discloses a user interface/display device (120) for presenting compartment and inventory information, while Wellig merely provides a well-known implementation of display technology (e.g., LCD touch screen), and substitution of one known display type for another constitutes a predictable design choice within the skill in the art under KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398 (2007).
Conclusion
7. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Allyson N. Trail whose telephone number is (571) 272-2406. The examiner can normally be reached between the hours of 7:30AM to 4:00PM Monday thru Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael G. Lee, can be reached on (571) 272-2398. The fax phone number for this Group is (571) 273-8300.
Communications via Internet e-mail regarding this application, other than those under 35 U.S.C. 132 or which otherwise require a signature, may be used by the applicant and should be addressed to [allyson.trail@uspto.gov].
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/ALLYSON N TRAIL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
April 27, 2026
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