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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganiger US 20210139040 in view of KXAN, “KXAN Investigates re-tests shops that failed our oil change investigation”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Scr5EbrPEA, Dec 16, 2014 hereafter KXAN in further view of Powers WO 2015060816.
With respect to claim 1, Ganiger teaches a method for verifying a source of oil comprising:
obtaining a plurality of samples for each of a plurality of oil products “different lubricants can have different healthy compositions” (0035, lines 20-25) from a specific source;
scanning “a plurality of locations/points along the lubrication circuit” (0032, lines 35-40) each of the plurality of samples (fig 1, 104) with a hyperspectral scanner (fig 3, 206) (fig 1, 108) ( col 2, 0053, lines 8-10) to produce a hyperspectral image “captured image” (abstract, lines 25-27) for each of the plurality of samples;
associating a produced hyperspectral image (fig 1, 104) with each of the plurality of oil products;
creating a spectral characteristics model database (fig 1) using the hyperspectral images produced for the plurality of oil products;
scanning “different baseline signatures at each of those three locations” (0036, lines 10-12) at least one sample of a delivered oil product (fig 1, 116) with a hyperspectral scanner to produce a hyperspectral image for the delivered oil product;
comparing (fig 1, 118) the hyperspectral image (fig 1, 116) for the delivered oil product against the hyperspectral images in the spectral characteristics (fig 1, 104) “signature component…compare them with the baseline digital signatures” (0046, lines 1-10) model database; and
verifying “health of lubricant” (fig 7, 710) the delivered oil product.
The combination does not specifically teach a delivered oil product from an unverified source.
KXAN, in the same field of endeavor as Ganiger of investigating engine oils, teaches customers may unknowingly purchase fraudulent delivered oil products i.e. unverified which are labeled as synthetic but are actually cheaper conventional oils (fig 1). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to try to analyze unverified oils to avoid fraudulent purchases of low-quality oil.
PNG
media_image1.png
906
1436
media_image1.png
Greyscale
The combination does not specifically teach determining if images match.
Powers, in the same field of endeavor as Ganiger analyzing the difference in spectrums to characterize a fluid (fig 5, Ganiger), teaches a difference between a spectrum of sample to a standard spectrum is obtained to one or more of the unknown interferents or characteristics of interest present in a fluid in the event spectrum of the sample and standard spectrum do not exactly match (0043, lines 1-6). Powers further teaches a match is made for the difference spectrum when identifying the unknown interferents (0044, lines 14-15). At the time prior to the effect filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to try the known technique of closely matching spectrum based upon slight difference to characterize samples for quality control purposes.
With respect to claim 2 according to claim 1, the combination teaches the method wherein the hyperspectral images are in the range of from 400 nm to 1,000 nm (fig 6, Ganiger).
With respect to claim 3 according to claim 1, the combination teaches the method wherein scanning each of the plurality of samples with a hyperspectral scanner to produce a hyperspectral image for each of the plurality of samples comprises at least one of:
varying at least one ambient condition “measured in one or more of the visible spectrum, the infrared (IR) spectrum, the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum” (0040, col 2, lines 1-5 Ganiger) of the scanning process.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganiger US 20210139040 in view of KXAN, “KXAN Investigates re-tests shops that failed our oil change investigation”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Scr5EbrPEA, Dec 16, 2014 hereafter KXAN in further view of Powers WO 2015060816 in further view of YU CN 104331976.
With respect to claim 4 according to claim 1, the combination does not teach rejecting a product if no matching hyperspectral image can be found.
Yu, in the same field of endeavor as Ganiger of spectral imaging, teaches when an image of a spectrum and pre-stored image of a spectrum do not match, the object may be determined as false (0010). Examiner takes official notice with regards to the rejection of an object/product after it is determined to be false. At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to reject unmatched oil products during the combination’s comparison since it may be determined the oil product is a counterfeit.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganiger US 20210139040 in view of KXAN, “KXAN Investigates re-tests shops that failed our oil change investigation”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Scr5EbrPEA, Dec 16, 2014 hereafter KXAN in further view of Powers WO 2015060816 in further view of Costa US 20040206913.
With respect to claim 5 according to claim 1, the combination teaches scanning at least one sample of a delivered oil product from an unverified refinery/source (fig 1 KXAN).
The combination does not teach completion in less than one minute per sample.
Costa, in the field of same field of endeavor as Ganiger of spectral imaging, teaches an image is obtained within about 30 seconds of the beginning or ending of the spectral scan (0632, lines 5-7). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to try to scan an image in less than one minute via the combination hyperspectral scanner based on design incentives or other market forces for faster quality checks. Examiner notes in appropriate circumstances, it might be reasonable to take official notice of the fact that it is desirable to make something faster, cheaper, better, or stronger without the specific support of documentary evidence. See MPEP 2144.03.
With respect to claim 6 according to claim 5, the combination teaches scanning at least one sample of a delivered oil product from an unverified refinery/source (fig 1 KXAN) in less than 30 seconds “within about 30 seconds” per sample (0632, lines 5-7 Costa).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganiger US 20210139040 in view of KXAN, “KXAN Investigates re-tests shops that failed our oil change investigation”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Scr5EbrPEA, Dec 16, 2014 hereafter KXAN in further view of Powers WO 2015060816 in further view of Costa US 20040206913 in further view of Cole-Palmer, “Mettler Toledo UV5 UV/Visible Scanning Spectrophotometer; 100 to 240 VAC”, https://www.coleparmer.com/i/mettler-toledo-uv5-uv-visible-scanning-spectrophotometer-100-to-240-vac/8370000, Dec 9, 2016 hereafter Cole-Plamer.
With respect to claim 7 according to claim 6, the combination teaches the method wherein scanning at least one sample of delivered oil product from an unverified refinery/source (fig 1 KXAN).
The combination does not teach completion in less than 10 seconds per sample.
Cole-Palmer, in the field of same field of endeavor as Ganiger of spectral imaging, teaches images may be scanned in as little as 1 second (pg. 3). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to try to scan an image in less than 10 seconds via the combination hyperspectral scanner based on design incentives or other market forces for faster quality checks. Examiner notes in appropriate circumstances, it might be reasonable to take official notice of the fact that it is desirable to make something faster, cheaper, better, or stronger without the specific support of documentary evidence. See MPEP 2144.03.
Claim(s) 8-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganiger US 20210139040 in view of KXAN, “KXAN Investigates re-tests shops that failed our oil change investigation”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Scr5EbrPEA, Dec 16, 2014 hereafter KXAN in further view of Powers WO 2015060816 in further view of He CN 111829961.
With respect to claim 8 according to claim 1, the combination does not teach the spectral characteristics model database is stored to a Cloud-based server.
He, in the field of same field of endeavor as Ganiger of spectral imaging, teaches a wireless transceiver i.e. mobile phone in communication between a spectrometer and cloud base server, wherein the cloud server preprocesses the data and selects a corresponding model stored in the cloud (abstract). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine a wireless transceiver and cloud-based server with the combination’s hyperspectral scanner to hold large amounts of spectral data enabling quality control of several types of products.
With respect to claim 9 according to claim 8, the combination teaches the method wherein the hyperspectral scanner comprises:
a light emitter (fig 3, 206 Ganiger) for directing light into a sample;
a light receiver (fig 3, 208 Ganiger) to receive reflected light from the sample;
a photoelectric converter (fig 3, 208 Ganiger) for converting incremental bands of the reflected light into sample reflectance numbers “visible reflectance intensity” (0053, col 2, lines 1-5 Ganiger); and
a wireless transceiver “mobile phone …upload the spectrum to the cloud” (abstract, He) for communicating to the Cloud-based server, the server comprising processing software “model stored in the cloud” (abstract, He) to match the hyperspectral image of the delivered oil to a hyperspectral image in the database hyperspectral image in the database (0043, lines 1-6 Powers).
With respect to claim 10 according to claim 9, the combination does not teach the method wherein the hyperspectral scanner is portable.
He, in the field of same field of endeavor as Ganiger of spectral imaging, teaches a portable imaging spectrometer i.e. hyperspectral scanner (abstract). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to try to reduce combination’s hyperspectral scanner into a portable hyperspectral scanner to yield the predictable results of imaging a sample in remote locations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAURICE C SMITH whose telephone number is (571)272-2526. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kara Geisel can be reached at (571) 272-2416. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MAURICE C SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 2877