A. Background and Summary Hydration Labs, Inc. d/b/a Bevi (“Petitioner”) filed a Petition requesting post-grant review of claims 1–20 of U.S. Patent No. 11,724,927 B2 (Ex. 1001, “the ’927 patent”).
The ’927 patent provides examples of “[d]ifferent flavored products (e.g., syrups) [that] may be suitable, including flavors such as cola, diet cola, root beer, ginger ale, lemon lime, orange, ginger beer, black cherry, raspberry, grapefruit, strawberry, etc.” Ex. 1001, 3:64–67.
With respect to flavor selection, Cimatti explains: Custom ingredients can include ... flavorings such as: branded beverage concentrate, plum, blueberry, mango, cherry, grape, kiwi, strawberry, lemon, lime, passion fruit, apple, melon, tangerine, raspberry, orange, pomegranate, pineapple, coconut, grapefruit, acai, watermelon, peach, or any combination thereof.
Patent 11,724,927 B2 mate, coca extract, ginger, chlorophyll, aloe, cinnamon, ginseng, or any combination thereof.
For function selection, Cimatti explains that “the ingredients can include minerals such as boron, phosphorus, titanium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, molybdenum, cadmium, aluminum.” Id. And Cimatti specifically notes that “[t]he ingredients can also include additives such as vitamins, electrolytes, energy, calm, protein, fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, sweeteners and other functional ingredients such as: calcium, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, magnesium, caffeine, fiber, protein, taurine, ribose, omega 3, or any combination thereof.” Id. Petitioner additionally contends that Cimatti’s dispenser chooses from the multiple selectable reservoirs a flavor reservoir based on the selected flavor and a function reservoir based on the selected function and causes the beverage dispenser to generate an enhanced flavored mixture as recited in claim 1.