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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/4/26 has been entered.
Claims 1, 3-13 and 15 are pending.
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.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8-13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng (US 2022/0071440, previously cited) in view of Attia, et al. (US 2005/0011957, herein Attia).1 Regarding claims 1 and 13, Tseng teaches a system comprising a container (paragraph 0022: coffee capsule 200) and a machine for preparing a beverage and/or foodstuff therefrom (paragraph 0022: coffee capsule machine 100), the container including: a body portion comprising a storage portion for containing a precursor material (see annotated Fig. 5 below); a closing member to close the storage portion (see annotated Fig. 5 below), and; a machine-readable code storing preparation information, wherein the machine readable code is formed by one or more units (paragraph 0027: identification code 201), the machine including: a code reading system to read the code of the container (paragraph 0024: control unit 1); a processing unit for processing the precursor material of the container (paragraph 0024: control circuit 12), and; electrical circuitry to control the processing unit based on the preparation information read from the code container (paragraph 0024: control panel 11), the code reading system including a code reader to obtain a digital image of the code (paragraph 0024: camera 13), and the code reading system includes electrical circuitry to determine from the digital image of the code if the container is in a reading position based on a predetermined condition of the digital image of the code (paragraph 0032: step 540), wherein the predetermined condition is based on a geometric property of the code (paragraph 0032: step 540, see also paragraph 0053 and additional discussion below), and if said condition is met, then the electrical circuitry is configured to process the code to extract the preparation information in the reading position (paragraph 0027: obtaini8ng the extraction information).
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Tseng does not explicitly teach the geometric property comprises a dimension, an angle, or a property defined by the one or more units that form the machine-readable code and/or a surround that the machine-readable code is arranged on. Attia teaches the geometric property comprises a dimension, an angle, or a property defined by the one or more units that form the machine-readable code and/or a surround that the machine-readable code is arranged on (paragraph 0096). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Tseng and Attia, because such a combination because such a combination aids in properly orientating the code on the container. Regarding claim 3, Tseng teaches the geometric property is based on a size of one or more units forming the code crossing a threshold size (paragraph 0027: decoding the code requires a minimum size to be read). Regarding claim 4, Tseng teaches the geometric property is based on a number of units forming the code arranged within a predetermined area crossing a threshold (paragraph 0027: an improper number of units in a QR code will result in the code being unable to be read). Regarding claim 5, Tseng teaches the geometric property is based on a geometric pattern of the code (paragraph 0027: decoding the code). Regarding claim 6, Tseng teaches the predetermined condition is based on an optical property of the code (paragraph 0027: decoding the code). Regarding claim 8, Tseng teaches the code reading system includes a positioning mechanism to apply a loading condition to transfer the container to a reading position (paragraph 0030: step 520), and the digital image is obtained in the reading position (paragraph 0032: step 540). Regarding claim 9, Tseng teaches the positioning mechanism is arranged to apply said loading condition as increasing in magnitude and the detection system is arranged to determine said predetermined condition during the application of said increasing in magnitude load condition (paragraph 0032). Regarding claim 10, Tseng teaches the electrical circuitry is configured to maintain the load condition as the same as when the predetermined condition is met and to read the code with the container subject said maintained load condition (paragraph 0032). Regarding claim 11, Tseng teaches the electrical circuitry is configured to control the positioning mechanism to reapply the loading condition if the predetermined condition for reading the code is not met and/or it is determined in the reading position when processing the code that it cannot be read (paragraph 0032). Regarding claim 12, Tseng teaches the positioning mechanism is configured with the container in the reading position the code of the container to be in contact with a code reader of the code reading system and with the container in an unloaded holding position with the code separated from the code reader (paragraph 0032). Regarding claim 15, Tseng teaches a method of reading a code of a container for containing a precursor material for preparing a beverage and/or foodstuff, the method comprising: obtaining a digital image of the code (paragraph 0024: camera 13); determining if a predetermined condition of the digital image of the code for reading the code is met from the digital image of the code, and if met; processing the code to extract the preparation information (paragraph 0032: step 540).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tseng in view of Attia and in further view of Yuasa (US 2022/0147723, previously cited).2 Regarding claim 7, Tseng in view of Attia teaches the system of claim 1, as discussed above. Tseng in view of Yuasa does not explicitly teach wherein the code is formed of units which are 50 - 200 μm, and are arranged within an area of 600 - 1600 μm. Yuasa teaches wherein the code is formed of units which are 50 - 200 μm, and are arranged within an area of 600 - 1600 μm (paragraph 0200: the dimensions will yield the claimed area as well).3 It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Tseng in view of Attia and Yuasa, because such a combination aids in properly orientating the code on the container.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 3-13 and 15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW MIKELS whose telephone number is (571)270-5470. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 7:30 AM ET - 5:00 PM ET, Friday 7:30 AM ET - 11:30 AM ET, the Examiner is on central time.4
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/MATTHEW MIKELS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
1 In addition to the cited portions, please see also the associated figures.
2 In addition to the cited paragraphs, please see also the associated figures.
3 Note that the disclosed range, 100-250 μm, and the claimed range, 50-200 μm, overlap. In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
4 The Examiner can also be reached at matthew.mikels@uspto.gov.
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