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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: paragraph [0060], which refers to the provisional priority document should probably be moved up to the beginning of the specification.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 102697405 A, taken together with WO 2016/106794 A1.
CN 102697405 A (Figs. 1, 2, and 8) discloses a wine decanter (8) having an opening at the top thereof for removably receiving an aerator (2) having a funnel top inlet for receiving wine to be aerated as it is poured into and through the aerator and ultimately into the decanter (8). The aerator and the decanter cooperate to define at least a three-stage tortuous fluid path through the aerator and into the decanter, the three stage tortuous path including the first funnel flow through stage at the top end of the aerator, the second stage wherein wine and air contact at the aerator body (5), and the third stage where the wine contacts the bottom wall of the decanter after exiting the aerator through outlet passage (4). CN ‘405 fails to disclose that the decanter is received on a base member.
WO 2016/106794 A1 (English Abstract; Figs. 1-4) discloses a decanter support base (1) with an integral, removable coaster element (11) for supporting a wine decanter into which wine is to be poured through a removable aerator (5). It would have been obvious for an artisan at the time of the filing of the application, to provide the decanter and aerator combination, as disclosed by CN ‘405, with a decanter base with an integral removable coaster element, in view of WO ‘794, since such would provide a stable, stationary structure to support the decanter firmly in place during decanting of the wine into the decanter, thereby avoiding spillage of the wine during the decanting process.
Claims 3-6, 8, and 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the reference combination as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, and further in view of Zhou.
The reference combination as applied to claims 1 and 2 above substantially discloses applicant’s invention as recited by instant claims 3-6, 8, and 10-20, except for the deflector plate positioned within a fluid path through the funnel, as recited by instant claims 3, 8 and 15; the deflector plate spreading the fluid from the center of the funnel toward a gap between the outer edge of the deflector plate and the funnel, as recited by instant claims 5, 10 and 18; to help define at least a two-stage tortuous flow path through the aerator, as recited by instant claims 4, 8 and 15; the aerator body downstream of the funnel to help define the two stage tortuous path, as recited by instant claims 4, 6, 8, 11, 15, and 19; the support plate with arms coupled to the funnel, as recited by instant claims 12, 14, and 20; with the aerator body and deflector plate being coupled to the support plate, as recited by instant claim 13. It is noted that the primary reference combination, as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, as considered to fully disclose the base with the integrated coaster that can receive the aerator, the decanter being received on the base, and the decanter having an opening to interface with the aerator, as recited by instant claims 16 and 17.
Zhou (Fig. 1) teaches a wine aerator having very similar construction to the aerator as suggested by the primary reference combination, as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, wherein the Zhou aerator includes an upper entry funnel (60) having a curved deflector plate (23) therein for deflecting the poured wine away from the center of the funnel and into the gap between the outer edge of the deflector plate and the funnel surface to initially aerate the fluid stream (claims 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, and 18). Zhou further discloses an aerator body (mixing chamber 30) provided downstream of and proximate to the outlet of the funnel, wherein the fluid is deflected and spread along the outer wall surfaces of the aerator body (mixing chamber 30) to perform a further or second stage aeration via a second stage tortuous flow path of the fluid across the aerator body surfaces (claims 4, 6, 8, 11, 15, and 19). Zhou also discloses a support plate (20) that is positioned between the deflector plate and aerator body and that has perforations therethrough to allow for fluid flow through the plate, the material of the plate around the perforations forming solid structural portions having an equivalent function to applicant’s claimed support plate arms, the aerator body and the deflector plate being coupled to the support plate by central tube (21) and outer structure (10) of the overall aerator (claims 12-14, and 20). It would have been obvious for an artisan at the time of the filing of the application, to modify the aerator, as suggested by the primary reference combination as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, to have the construction of the aerator of Zhou, since such would provide an aerator capable of properly aerating the wine being decanted from a bottle into the decanter of the reference combination, the aerator having a sturdy structure that is easy to clean and maintain due to having no moving parts, and would provide at least a two-stage tortuous path aeration to the wine passing through the aerator from the funnel entry, across the deflector plate, through the support plate and onto all of the surfaces of the aerator body located at the downstream end of the aerator prior to entry into the container portion of the decanter.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the reference combination as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of DE 102013000042 B3.
The reference combination as applied to claim 6 above substantially discloses applicant’s invention as recited by instant claim 7, except for the decanter having a raised bottom surface to spread and distribute the aerated stream from the aerator.
DE 102013000042 B3 (The Figure) discloses a decanter 91) having a raised bottom surface for receiving and distributing the aerated wine that enters the decanter through the aerator (7) arranged in the top inlet opening of the decanter. It would have been obvious for an artisan at the time of the filing of the application, to provide the decanter, as disclosed by the reference combination, as applied to claim 6 above, with an upwardly raised bottom inner surface, in view of DE ‘042, since such would provide for a uniform mixing of the aerated wine product as it is delivered to the decanter through the aerator arranged at the top inlet opening of the decanter.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the reference combination as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Kilduff et al.
The reference combination as applied to claim 8 above, substantially discloses applicant’s invention as recited by instant claim 9, except for the aerator body being in the shape of a sphere.
It is noted that paragraph [0022] of the instant specification states that the aerator body can be of practically any three-dimensional shape or form without departing from the intended scope of the invention.
Kilduff et al (38 in Fig. 2A; col. 4, lines 7-14) discloses a wine aerator similar in construction to that of the reference combination as applied to claim 8 above, wherein a curved surface, three-dimensional aerator body (38) is arranged within the aerator at a position below the outlet of the funnel, which directs the wine through the aerator. It would have been obvious for an artisan at the time of the filing of the application, to modify the aerator body (mixing chamber) of the reference combination as applied to claim 8 above, to be in the form of a three dimensional solid structure, in view of Kilduff et al, since such would smoothly redirect the flow of wine from the substantially vertical bulk flow to a thin film flow across the aerator body, thereby providing more surface area available for aeration of the fluid.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/C.S.B/9-20-26
/CHARLES S BUSHEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776
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