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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Notice of Amendment
In response to the amendment(s) filed on 3/5/26, amended claim(s) 1 and 10, and canceled claim(s) 3 is/are acknowledged. The following new and/or reiterated ground(s) of rejection is/are set forth:
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 10, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0221578 to Hopkins in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0078707 to Loonan.
For claim 1, Hopkins discloses a syringe assembly (Abstract) comprising:
a syringe (Examiner’s Note: made up of the elements that it is recited as being) including a cylindrical body (312/412) (Figs. 17-31) (para [0093] and [017]) with a luer at a first end (320/420) (Figs. 17-31) (para [0096] and [110]) and a plunger opening at a second end (unlabeled, but as can be seen in Figs. 18 and 25), said luer including an exit opening (unlabeled, but as can be seen in Figs. 19-23 and 26-31);
a plunger unit (Examiner’s Note: defined by the elements it includes) including an adapter portion (generally the adapter structure that encompasses 349, 354, 356, 360, 362 / 449, 454, 456, 460, 462) (Figs. 21-22 and 28-29) (para [0095], [0098], [0103], [0109], [0111], and [0113]) and a receiving cavity (318/418) (Figs. 21-22 and 28-29) (para [0103] and [0112]), a first end of said adapter portion retaining a piston (354/454) (Figs. 21-22 and 28-29) (para [0095] and [0109]), said plunger unit insertable into a syringe opening and slidable within said cylindrical body during which said piston creates a fluid seal with an interior surface of said cylindrical body (as can be seen in Figs. 17-31) (also see para [0095], [0098], [0109], and [0113]), said adapter portion including a channel (356/456) (Figs. 21-22 and 28-29) (para [0098] and [0113]) extending along a length thereof to an opening at a bottom of said receiving cavity, said adapter portion for insertion of an intermediary connector or valve (360/460) (Figs. 18 and 25) (para [0098] and [0113]), said piston configured to (Examiner’s Note: functional language, i.e., capable of) frictionally interact with an inner surface of said cylindrical body to create a vacuum therewithin (see para [0095], [0098], [0109], and [0113]) and prevent said plunger unit from disengaging said cylindrical body of said syringe proximate said second end of said syringe (see either of 345 or 347 in Fig. 22 when 354/454 is pushed past these point(s)) (also see para [0095], [0098], [0109], and [0113]); and
a cannula (343/443) secured at one end within said luer (as can be seen in Figs. 17-31) and extending into said piston (para [0098] and [0113]) and extendable into said channel as said plunger unit is inserted farther into said syringe (para [0098] and [0113]).
Hopkins does not expressly disclose that the cylindrical body is a tapered body, said body having an inner surface and outer surface, and a taper along an entire length of said inner surface of said tapered body progressively increasing from a smaller inner diameter at said plunger opening to a larger inner diameter at said luer; and wherein said tapered body prevents said plunger unit from exiting said syringe and when said plunger unit is in a fully extended locked position within said syringe a vacuum in said syringe is created.
However, Loonan teaches that the cylindrical body is a tapered body (para [0045]) (also see para [0014] and [0016]-[0017]), said body having an inner surface (“inner surface,” para [0016]) and outer surface (“outer surface,” para [0016]), and a taper (“tapered,” para [0014] and [0016]-[0017]) along an entire length of said inner surface of said tapered body (“…tapered from the distal end towards the proximal end of the barrel body,” para [0016]-[0017]) progressively increasing from a smaller inner diameter at said plunger opening to a larger inner diameter at said luer (as can be seen in Fig. 5) (para [0045]) (also see para [0044]); and wherein said tapered body prevents said plunger unit from exiting said syringe (para [0013]-[0014]) and when said plunger unit is in a fully extended locked position within said syringe a vacuum in said syringe is created (para [0047]).
It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan to modify Hopkins such that the cylindrical body is a tapered body, said body having an inner surface and outer surface, and a taper along an entire length of said inner surface of said tapered body progressively increasing from a smaller inner diameter at said plunger opening to a larger inner diameter at said luer; and wherein said tapered body prevents said plunger unit from exiting said syringe and when said plunger unit is in a fully extended locked position within said syringe a vacuum in said syringe is created, in view of the teachings of Loonan, for the obvious advantage of preventing “unwanted suction or spillage of the contents” (see Abstract of Loonan).
For claim 4, Hopkins, as modified, further discloses wherein said tapered body is cylindrical and said piston is circular (as can be seen in Figs. 17-31).
For claim 10, Hopkins discloses a syringe assembly (Abstract) comprising:
a syringe (Examiner’s Note: made up of the elements that it is recited as being) including a cylindrical body (312/412) (Figs. 17-31) (para [0093] and [017]) with a luer at a first end (320/420) (Figs. 17-31) (para [0096] and [110]) and a plunger opening at a second end (unlabeled, but as can be seen in Figs. 18 and 25), said luer including an exit opening (unlabeled, but as can be seen in Figs. 19-23 and 26-31);
a plunger unit (Examiner’s Note: defined by the elements it includes) including an adapter portion (generally the adapter structure that encompasses 349, 354, 356, 360, 362 / 449, 454, 456, 460, 462) (Figs. 21-22 and 28-29) (para [0095], [0098], [0103], [0109], [0111], and [0113]) and a receiving cavity (318/418) (Figs. 21-22 and 28-29) (para [0103] and [0112]), a first end of said adapter portion retaining a piston (354/454) (Figs. 21-22 and 28-29) (para [0095] and [0109]), said plunger unit insertable into said syringe and slidable within said cylindrical body during which said piston creates a fluid seal with an interior surface of said cylindrical body (as can be seen in Figs. 17-31) (also see para [0095], [0098], [0109], and [0113]), said adapter portion including a channel (356/456) (Figs. 21-22 and 28-29) (para [0098] and [0113]) extending along a length thereof to an opening at a bottom of said receiving cavity, said adapter portion for insertion of an intermediary connector or valve (360/460) (Figs. 18 and 25) (para [0098] and [0113]), said piston configured to (Examiner’s Note: functional language, i.e., capable of) frictionally interact with an inner surface of said cylindrical body to prevent said plunger unit from disengaging said tapered body of said syringe proximate said second end of said syringe (see either of 345 or 347 in Fig. 22 when 354/454 is pushed past these point(s)) (also see para [0095], [0098], [0109], and [0113]); and
a cannula (343/443) secured at one end within said luer (as can be seen in Figs. 17-31) and extending into said piston (para [0098] and [0113]) and extendable into said channel as said plunger unit is Hopkins does not expressly disclose that the cylindrical body is a tapered body, a taper along an entire length of said tapered body progressively increasing from a smaller diameter at said plunger opening to a larger diameter at said luer.
Hopkins does not expressly disclose that the cylindrical body is a tapered body, said body having an inner surface and outer surface, and a taper along an entire length of said inner surface of said tapered body progressively increasing from a smaller inner diameter at said plunger opening to a larger inner diameter at said luer; and wherein said tapered body prevents said plunger unit from exiting said syringe and when said plunger unit is in a fully extended locked position within said syringe a vacuum in said syringe is created.
However, Loonan teaches that the cylindrical body is a tapered body (para [0045]) (also see para [0014] and [0016]-[0017]), said body having an inner surface (“inner surface,” para [0016]) and outer surface (“outer surface,” para [0016]), and a taper (“tapered,” para [0014] and [0016]-[0017]) along an entire length of said inner surface of said tapered body (“…tapered from the distal end towards the proximal end of the barrel body,” para [0016]-[0017]) progressively increasing from a smaller inner diameter at said plunger opening to a larger inner diameter at said luer (as can be seen in Fig. 5) (para [0045]) (also see para [0044]); and wherein said tapered body prevents said plunger unit from exiting said syringe (para [0013]-[0014]) and when said plunger unit is in a fully extended locked position within said syringe a vacuum in said syringe is created (para [0047]).
It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan to modify Hopkins such that the cylindrical body is a tapered body, said body having an inner surface and outer surface, and a taper along an entire length of said inner surface of said tapered body progressively increasing from a smaller inner diameter at said plunger opening to a larger inner diameter at said luer, wherein said tapered body prevents said plunger unit from exiting said syringe and when said plunger unit is in a fully extended locked position within said syringe a vacuum in said syringe is created, in view of the teachings of Loonan, for the obvious advantage of preventing “unwanted suction or spillage of the contents” (see Abstract of Loonan).
For claim 13, Hopkins, as modified, further discloses wherein said tapered body is cylindrical and said piston is circular (as can be seen in Figs. 17-31).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not address the new grounds of rejection necessitated by Applicant’s amendments presented in the response filed 3/5/26.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL LEE CERIONI whose telephone number is (313) 446-4818. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM PT.
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/DANIEL L CERIONI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791