DETAILED ACTION
This is a Non-final office action on the merits. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (the Office) has received claims 1-10 in application number 18/791,659. Claims 1-10 are pending and have been examined on the merits.
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 § 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication 2024/0177841 (Mamaghani) in view of U.S. Patent Publication 2023/0063985 (Alemany).
Regarding Claim 1:
Mamaghani teaches a container with compartments with weight sensors in them that are connected to an inventory tracking system. Mamaghani teaches: A system comprising: a product enclosure comprising: a plurality of product compartments, each product compartment supporting one or more products; ([0101] “a container arranged to store a plurality of inventory items at a plurality of storage sites within the container”).
a processor; ([0061] “The controller 102 can be… a processor”.
a memory, wherein the processor is communicatively coupled with the memory; ([0096] “A storage medium may be coupled to the processor”).
for each product compartment, a scale sensor configured to output a weight value indicative of a weight of the one or more product, operatively associating the base and the processor; ([0101] “each of the plurality of storage sites including a scale configured to generate a value defining the weight of the inventory item located at the storage site having the scale”).
and an inventory management module and wherein the processor is operable to… continuously make a real-time determination of a quantitative change in the one or more products based on a change in the outputted weight value of one or more of the plurality of product compartments ([0035] “real-time inventory management… the inventory management system may use smart weight scales to determine which item has been removed and the quantity of the item that was removed”
and an identification of each location indication associated with said change in the outputted weight value, ([0109] “monitoring and storing, by the controller, removal or placement of inventory items at respective locations in the container by the user and weights or partial weights of the inventory items removed or placed; and alerting, by the controller, the user if any inventory item is removed from or placed at in incorrect location”).
and maintain a database comprising the real-time determination. ([0067] “the database 118 may contain inventory product quantities and/or counts”).
Mamaghani does not specifically teach: for each product compartment, generate a map of the one or more products compartment, wherein the map provides a location indication of each said product; Alemany teaches a food inventory tracking system with load cell sensors in a refrigerator. Alemany teaches this: ([0013] “generating a three-dimensional location map of an interior of the refrigerated food storage compartment… for each segment of the three-dimensional location map, identifying a type of food item within said segment based on the images and weight measurements associated with said segment, for each food item that was identified, calculating a current amount of said food item based on the images and weight measurements associated with the segment in which the food item is located, and for each food item that was identified, reporting to a user the type of said food item and the amount of said food item”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to generate a map of the products sensed by the weight sensors, as taught by Alemany, in the inventory control system taught by Mamaghani due to the fact that the location and quantities of each item was known in the system taught by Mamaghani (see above) and it would be predictable that that information in the form of a map would improve the efficiency of communication and storage of the location and quantity data.
Claims 2-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication 2024/0177841 (Mamaghani) in view of U.S. Patent Publication 2023/0063985 (Alemany) in view of U.S. Patent Publication 2019/0051083 (Goldberg).
Regarding Claim 2:
Mamaghani in view of Alemany teach all of the elements of Claim 1. Mamaghani teaches: The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of product compartments is inaccessible from an exterior environment but for an opening in an open condition; and a… door movable between the open condition and a closed condition preventing access to the plurality of product compartments. ([0062] “door”).
Mamaghani does not specifically teach: roller (door). Goldberg teaches an autonomous kiosk food preparation vending machine with compartments with roll-up doors. Goldberg teaches roller door: ([0155] “rollup door”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a roll up door, as taught by Goldberg, for the doors taught by Mamaghani due to simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results since each element merely performs that same function as it does separately.
Regarding Claim 3:
Mamaghani in view of Alemany teach all of the elements of Claim 1. Mamaghani in view of Alemany and Goldberg teach all of the elements of Claim 2. Mamaghani teaches: The system of claim 2, wherein the product enclosure further comprises an authentication sensor operatively associated with the… door such that movement to the open condition requires verification of the authentication sensor. ([0062] “the controller 102 may not send a signal to the at least one door lock 105 to open a door unless a user attempting to access the cabinet 101 has been identified and/or authenticated”).
Mamaghani does not specifically teach: roller (door). Goldberg teaches an autonomous kiosk food preparation vending machine with compartments with roll-up doors. Goldberg teaches roller door: ([0155] “rollup door”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a roll up door, as taught by Goldberg, for the doors taught by Mamaghani due to simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results since each element merely performs that same function as it does separately. In the interest of compact prosecution, Examiner notes that Goldberg also teaches a locking door requiring authentication for opening (see at least [0080] “authentication” and [0075] “keycode” and [0076] “QR code” and [0077] “biometric… used to identify customers”).
Regarding Claim 4:
Mamaghani in view of Alemany teach all of the elements of Claim 1. Mamaghani in view of Alemany and Goldberg teach all of the elements of Claim 2-3. Mamaghani also teaches: The system of claim 3, wherein when the product enclosure is stocked with a product, the location indication and a unit weight of each product is received by the server as an inventory stocking data. ([0050] “product setup process in an inventory management system may be performed… a user may be queried to provide manual entry of such weight information”).
Regarding Claim 5:
Mamaghani in view of Alemany teach all of the elements of Claim 1. Mamaghani in view of Alemany and Goldberg teach all of the elements of Claim 2-4. Mamaghani also teaches: The system of claim 4, wherein a summation, for each product compartment, of the unit weights for the one or more products is a baseline for the real-time determination of the change in the outputted weight value. ([0048] “the weight of a shelf or container in a cabinet may be measured, tracking multiple products” and [0088] “raw weight measurements for the scale or pad may be averaged together at a second predetermined sample rate… a weight measurement for the scale or pad may be converted to a “real-world” weight measurement (e.g., a weight measurement in grams) by calibrating the scale or pad… the “real-world” weight measurement may be refined by combining the “real-world” weight measurement with weight measurements from other scales or pads tracking the same product”).
Regarding Claim 6:
Mamaghani in view of Alemany teach all of the elements of Claim 1. Mamaghani in view of Alemany and Goldberg teach all of the elements of Claim 2-5. Mamaghani also teaches: The system of claim 5, wherein the real-time determination is based on the inventory stocking data. ([0057] “smart events logic may be applied to an inventory management system to refine inventory tracking by unit weight and count… In an inventory restocking event, weight may be added, indicating that a product was added to the scale or pad. A known value for full product container count may be used to add stock to the scale or pad”).
Regarding Claim 7:
Mamaghani in view of Alemany teach all of the elements of Claim 1. Mamaghani in view of Alemany and Goldberg teach all of the elements of Claim 2-6. Mamaghani also teaches: The system of claim 6, wherein the inventory management module is configured to track a level for each product. ([0067] “the database 118 may contain inventory product quantities and/or counts”).
Regarding Claim 8:
Mamaghani in view of Alemany teach all of the elements of Claim 1. Mamaghani in view of Alemany and Goldberg teach all of the elements of Claim 2-7. Mamaghani also teaches: The system of claim 7, wherein the inventory management module is configured to forecast a future demand for each product based on the real-time determination. ([0040] “a previous number of weeks of ordering history, e.g., four or eight weeks, may be used to estimate or predict requirements for the same medicine for a future period of time, e.g., the next two weeks”).
Regarding Claim 9:
Mamaghani in view of Alemany teach all of the elements of Claim 1. Mamaghani in view of Alemany and Goldberg teach all of the elements of Claim 2-8. Mamaghani also teaches: The system of claim 8, wherein the inventory management module is configured to plan a replenishment for each product based on the real-time determination and an inventory threshold for said product, wherein the inventory threshold is received by the server. ([0044] “analyze history or histories of product orders and related events. As an example, the smart ordering system may predict at least one optimal inventory count of a product, e.g., for near-term needs based on any or any combination or all for the following input variables: minimum stock quantity for the product, recent product usage, seasonal product usage, expiring product stock, and/or past waste events.”).
Regarding Claim 10:
Mamaghani in view of Alemany teach all of the elements of Claim 1. Mamaghani in view of Alemany and Goldberg teach all of the elements of Claim 2-9. Mamaghani also teaches: The system of claim 9, wherein the inventory management module is configured to transmit alerts for each product based on the real-time determination and the inventory threshold for said product. ([0044] “The smart ordering system may submit ordering information for approval by, e.g., a clinic, pharmacy, hospital, or the like. In some examples the smart ordering system may, if an order for a particular product is approved or times out, submit the order via an API of the supplier (i.e., that hooks into the supplier's software) and/or via a URL/website, e.g., through an automated ordering system. In the alternative the order may be done manually”). Examiner is interpreting Applicant’s alert to be equivalent to Mamaghani’s message to human approvers that a certain quantity of a certain item is short and needs to be ordered.
Relevant Prior Art Not Relied Upon
The prior art is made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. The additional cited art further establishes the state of the art at the time of applicant’s application.
U.S. Patent Publication 2021/0272409 (Poliner) teaches an article dispensing system with a plurality of compartments and each compartment has a weight scale that is used to determine quantity of items inside it. (see at least [0011] – [0015] and [0021]).
U.S. Patent 11,741,447 (Matheson) teaches weight sensors on shelves that can detect and identify individual items on shelves based on their sensed position and exact weight (see at least [Column 6, lines 30 - Column 7, line 6]).
U.S. Patent Publication 2008/0122615 (Shoenfeld) teaches a dispensing cabinet with locking compartments that require authentication to open and inventory tracking software. (see at least [0009]).
U.S. Patent Publication 2020/0074402 (Adato) teaches smart shelves in, for example a refrigerator (see at least [0132] and [0224]) that have weight sensors on each shelf connected to an inventory system that detects the quantity of items on each shelf (see at least [0211] and [0214]). The system performs a demand analysis for each item that provides an alert when a shortage is detected (see at least [0218], [0258], [0308] and [0314]). The system can detect if an item is merely picked up and replaced (see at least [0144]).
U.S. Patent Publication 2008/0103939 (Gibb) teaches a smart refrigerator that has weight sensors on each shelf that can tell the difference between products in real-time based on the precise weight (see at least [0045] – [0048]). The system can detect if an item is merely picked up and replaced (see at least [0061]).
U.S. Patent Publication 2021/0380342 (Wright) teaches an automatic carousel for grocery pick up with individual compartments with roll up doors (see at least [0050]) that require authentication to access (see at least [0061]).
U.S. Patent Publication 2019/0311319 (Cote) teaches a refrigerator that has sensors on shelves connected to a system that tracks inventory of products (see at least [0022]) and returns an alert in the event of shortages based on pre-set thresholds (see at least [0032]).
U.S. Patent Publication 2004/0249502 (Troung) teaches a mobile vending machine with compartments with sliding doors (see at least [0014]) and weight sensors (see at least [0040]) and a system that determines quantity dispersed and in stock (see at least [0061]-[0062]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIMBERLY S BURSUM whose telephone number is (571)272-8213. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM.
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/KIMBERLY S. BURSUM/Examiner, Art Unit 3627