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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
Reference characters K and S (see page 8, line 2 are not present in any of the drawings.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required:
The recitations of the information recorded on the data carrier being the “type” of the seal or fitting housing, “unique ID number” or a “filling quantity of the keg”, as recited in claim 17 do not have an antecedent basis in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 10, 12, 14, 17-20, 22 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2005/085076 (as cited by the Applicant, hereinafter ‘076).
In regard to claim 10, the ‘076 reference discloses fitting assembly (see Figure 2) for a beverage keg 1, the fitting assembly comprising:
a fitting housing 4 having a resilient riser pipe 6 arranged therein; and
a seal 9 arranged between the fitting housing and the resilient riser pipe, wherein an electronic data carrier 36 (see Figure 11) is located at the seal or in a cover of the seal.
In regard to claim 12, the data carrier 36 comprises an at least partially encircling ring portion (see Figure 11).
In regard to claim 14, the data carrier is cast into the seal.
In regard to claim 17, the information recorded on the data carrier may include the age of the beverage, (i.e., the filling date, see page 1, lines 12-17) or the manufacturer (i.e., the producer, see page 1, lines 12-17).
In regard to claim 18, the filling assembly further comprises a sealing body 12, a first spring 7 and a second spring (not numbered, the second spring being defined by the inner spring abutting element 12 as seen in Figure 2), wherein
the fitting housing 4 has a conical internal sealing surface (see Figure 2) which tapers towards an upper end of the resilient riser pipe 6;
the seal 9 is inserted between the conical internal sealing surface and the upper end of the resilient riser pipe;
the resilient riser pipe is pressed against the conical internal sealing surface with the seal due to a first spring force of the first spring 7;
the seal is arranged on an inside in the upper end of the resilient riser pipe; and
in the upper end of the resilient riser pipe, the sealing body 12 is arranged in a resiliently relatively moveable manner such that the sealing body comes to rest in a form-fitting manner against an inner sealing surface of the seal due to a second spring force of the second spring.
In regard to claim 19, the resilient riser pipe is moveable relative to the fitting assembly.
In regard to claim 20, the data carrier 36 comprises a fully circular ring section (see Figure 11 and page 7, lines 24-27).
In regard to claims 22 and 23, the data carrier, although cast within the seal (see Figure 11), is also considered to be cast under a cover of the seal (Figure 2 shows a cover mounted over the seal 9 wherein the data carrier 36 is cast within the seal and under the cover.
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 11, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘076 in view of Riis (US 2016/0137478).
In regard to claims 11, 15 and 16, although the ‘076 reference does not disclose the data carrier is an RFID tag or is operable without energy and includes code protection, attention is directed to the Riis reference, which discloses another fitting assembly for a beverage keg wherein an electronic data carrier in the form of an RFID tag is positioned within the gasket (see paragraph 0016) in order to enable a user to reliably access information regarding the fitting assembly and/or beverage keg. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made any suitable an know type of electronic data carrier (having conventional features such as being operable without energy and code protection) including an RFID tag type data carrier can be used in the ‘076 reference in order to enable a user reliably access information regarding the fitting assembly and/or beverage keg.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13 and 21 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The Crick reference is cited as being directed to the state of the art as another beverage keg dispensing system employing an RFID tag therein.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID J WALCZAK whose telephone number is (571)272-4895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6:30-4:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Angwin can be reached at 571-270-3735. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DJW
7/2/26
/DAVID J WALCZAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754
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