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
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(s) 1 - 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Courbat et al. (US 2024/0130437 A1), hereinafter referred to as Courbat, in view of Chen (US 2023/0115077 A1).
With reference to claim 1, Courbat teaches a method of monitoring an aerosol generating article comprising a capacitor, the capacitor comprising an electrolyte which, when heated, generates an aerosol for inhalation by a user (Fig. 5, ¶0229, ¶230). However Courbat is silent with regards to method comprising estimating or determining the amount of electrolyte. Courbat does teach measuring an electrical property (¶0213). Chen teaches measuring an electrical property of the aerosol being used in a capacitor and estimating or determining the amount of electrolyte (¶0031). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Chen with the method of Courbat so as to inform the consumer with information on the remaining amount of usage (Chen, ¶0004).
With reference to claim 2, Courbat as combined above further teaches comprising notifying the amount of electrolyte to the user (Chen, ¶0068, ¶0069). With reference to claim 3, Courbat as combined above further teaches the amount of electrolyte is estimated or determined from one or both of: one or more electrical parameters of the capacitor, anda time taken to discharge or charge the capacitor between predefined upper and lower limits (Chen, ¶0061). With reference to claim 4, Courbat as combined above further teaches the one or more electrical parameters of the capacitor are estimated or determined using at least one of voltage and current measurements obtained when the capacitor is being discharged or charged (Chen, ¶0058, ¶0108). With reference to claim 5, Courbat as combined above further teaches the at least one of voltage and current measurements are obtained when the capacitor is being discharged or charged between predefined upper and lower limits (Chen, ¶0107).
With reference to claim 6, Courbat as combined above further teaches the predefined upper limit is where the capacitor (6) is substantially fully charged, and the predefined lower limit is where the capacitor (6) is substantially fully discharged (Chen, ¶108). With reference to claim 7, Courbat as combined above further teaches heating the electrolyte to generate an aerosol for inhalation by a user by at least one of discharging and charging the capacitor in a narrower range than the range defined by the predefined upper and lower limits for estimating or determining the amount of electrolyte (Courbat, ¶0218). With reference to claim 8 Courbat as combined above further teaches in an initial step an initial value of one or more electrical parameters of the capacitor is estimated or determined, in one or more subsequent steps a subsequent value of one or more electrical parameters of the capacitor is estimated or determined, and wherein for each subsequent step at least the respective subsequent value is used to estimate or determine the amount of electrolyte in the capacitor, and optionally both the initial value and the respective subsequent value are used to estimate or determine the amount of electrolyte in the capacitor (Chen, ¶0058, ¶0108).
With reference to claim 9, Courbat as combined above further teaches in an initial step an initial time taken to discharge or charge the capacitor between predefined values is estimated or determined, in one or more subsequent steps a subsequent time taken to discharge or charge the capacitor (6) between predefined values is estimated or determined, and wherein for each subsequent step at least the respective subsequent time is used to estimate or determine the amount of electrolyte in the capacitor, and optionally both the initial time and the respective subsequent time are used to estimate or determine the amount of electrolyte in the capacitor (Chen, ¶0058, ¶0108).
With reference to claim 10, Courbat as combined above further teaches the initial step is carried out before a pre-heating phase (Chen, ¶0108). With reference to claim 11, Courbat as combined above further teaches each subsequent step is carried out during a heating or vaping phase (Chen, ¶0108). With reference to claim 12, Courbat as combined above further teaches each subsequent step is carried out in response to a puff detection (Courbat, ¶0255). With reference to claim 13, Courbat as combined above further teaches each subsequent step is carried out during a heating or vaping phase where the temperature of the capacitor varies according to a temperature profile, and wherein each subsequent step is carried out when the temperature of the capacitor is kept substantially constant according to the temperature profile (¶0256). With reference to claim 15, Courbat as combined further teaches An aerosol generating system comprising: an aerosol generating article comprising a capacitor (Fig. 5, 15 and 16), the capacitor comprising an electrolyte which, when heated, generates an aerosol for inhalation by a user (Fig. 5, 18, ¶229, ¶230); and an aerosol generating device in which the aerosol generating article is received, the aerosol generating device further comprising a controller adapted to implement the method according to any of claims 1 (Fig. 5, 38, ¶0227).
With reference to claim 16, Courbat as combined above further teaches the initial step is carried out before a pre-heating phase (Chen, ¶0108). With reference to claim 17, Courbat as combined above further teaches each subsequent step is carried out during a heating or vaping phase (Chen, ¶0108). With reference to claim 18, Courbat as combined above further teaches each subsequent step is carried out in response to a puff detection (Courbat, ¶0255). With reference to claim 19, Courbat as combined above further teaches each subsequent step is carried out during a heating or vaping phase where the temperature of the capacitor varies according to a temperature profile, and wherein each subsequent step is carried out when the temperature of the capacitor is kept substantially constant according to the temperature profile (¶0256).
With reference to claim 20, Courbat as combined above further teaches during the initial step and each subsequent step the capacitor is discharged or charged at least twice (Chen, ¶0108).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Frake (US 2022/0125110 A1) teaches an aerosol-generating device having capacitance based power control.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY H CURRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7505. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm, EST.
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/GREGORY H CURRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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