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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 17 February 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This office action is responsive to the amendment filed 17 February 2026. As directed by the amendment: claims 1-20 are presently pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 17 February 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues Maskon does not determine the type of animal or that the dosage is given to a predetermined area, however, Maskon does determine the type of animal based on the camera and the determined values such as fork length, height, deviation, injuries, deviation and biomass, then from these determinations find the optimal point coordinates for vaccination and depth of vaccination. The system is also is coordinated against the origin of the fish which can change based on the type of fish that is being sorted and vaccinated (pg. 3, lines 10-24). This constitutes determining the type of animal that is being vaccinated as well as specifically states that a predetermined injection location is calculated by the device for the individual fish (Pg. 3, lines 10-24 & Pg. 4, lines 9-12).
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 8, and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Maskon AS (henceforth “Maskon”, WO 2012/008843).
Regarding claim 1, Maskon discloses a system for automatically delivering a substance to a predetermined area of an animal comprising (Fig. 1, pg. 2 lines 6-9):
a processor (control unit 11) configured for:
determining the type of animal received (Pg. 3, lines 10-24);
determining the predetermined delivery area of the animal based on the type of animal prior to receiving the animal (Pg. 4, lines 9-12), where the predetermined delivery area is an area that has been predetermined as to where a predetermined dosage of the substance is to be delivered (Pg. 3, lines 10-24, Pg. 4, lines 9-12),
a positioning device that positions the animal individually so as to prepare the predetermined delivery area the delivering the predetermined dosage of the substance(Fig. 1, 4a, Pg. 2, line 34- Pg. 3, lines 2-15, Pg. 4, lines 9-12 where the fish are separately injected meaning they are individually injected in the area of injection and the determined dosage is predetermined);
image capture device to capture at least one image of the relative position of the predetermined delivery area on the animal (Fig. 1, where the camera recognition unit 12 has at least one camera 13 for image capturing);
a delivery system to deliver a predetermined dosage of a substance to the predetermined delivery area of the animal (Fig. 4a, 6a, Pg. 4, lines 9-12, where the optimal injection point and depth are predetermined along with the dosage quantity); and system controller in communication with the positioning device, image capture device and delivery system (Pg. 8, lines 17-19, where each image is individually analyzed and communicated to the control unit which helps to vaccinate the fish separately and properly in the unit).
Regarding claim 2, Maskon discloses the system of claim 1 further comprising a sensing device for sensing the presence of the animal prior to positioning the animal (Pg. lines 31-33 & Pg. 3, lines 21-27, where the fish are transported and analyzed in order to properly position and inject the individual fish when vaccination occurs)
Regarding claim 3, Maskon discloses the system of claim 1 wherein the animal is one of the following categories of animal: fish (Abstract, where the device and method are for recognizing, vaccinating, sorting and data tracking living fish).
Regarding claim 8, Maskon discloses he system of claim 1 wherein the substance is a vaccine, medicament or biologic (Pg. 2, line 6).
Regarding claim 11, Maskon discloses a method of automatically delivering a substance to a predetermined targeted area of an animal comprising the steps of (Pg. 2, lines 6-9, Fig. 1):
determining the type of animal received (Pg. 3, lines 10-24);
determining the predetermined delivery area of the animal based on the type of animal prior to receiving the animal (Pg. 4, lines 9-12), where the predetermined delivery area is an area that has been predetermined as to where a predetermined dosage of the substance is to be delivered (Pg. 3, lines 10-24, Pg. 4, lines 9-12),
positioning an animal singularly, the animal having a predetermined targeted area for delivery of a substance (Pg. 8, lines 7-8, Fig. 2, 4a, where the fish are singularly vaccinated in a predetermined target area on the fish after being properly positioned);
determining the position of a predetermined targeted area on the animal (Pg. 9, line 35- Pg. 10, line 5, where the fish position is checked before injection and the data for injection point and depth is instructed prior to injection using detection of the fish);
providing a positionally adjustable delivery device system to accommodate positional differences in the targeted area of each animal (Pg. 9, line 35- Pg. 10, line 5, where the fish position is checked before injection and the data for injection point and depth is instructed prior to injection using detection of the fish);
adjusting the position of the delivery device system based on the position of the targeted area (Pg. 10, lines 3-4 and 6-8, where the injection is aligned using data and information about the fish which is gathered prior to the fish arriving in the injection area); and
activating the delivery device system (Pg. 10, lines 13-15), whereby a substance is delivered to the targeted area of the animal (Pg. 10, lines 16-18).
Regarding claim 12, Maskon discloses the method of claim 11 wherein the animal is one of the following: fish (Abstract, where the device and method are for recognizing, vaccinating, sorting and data tracking living fish).
Regarding claim 13, Maskon discloses the method of claim 11 wherein the step of determining the position of the predetermined targeted area of the animal is accomplished using an image capture device (Fig. 1, where the camera recognition unit 12 has at least one camera 13 for image capturing, the recognition unit 12 is used in positioning the fish in the proper area for injection in a predetermined target area).
Regarding claim 14, Maskon discloses the method of claim 13 wherein the image capture device is a camera (Fig. 1, where the camera recognition unit 12 has at least one camera 13 for image capturing).
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) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maskon AS (henceforth “Maskon”, WO 2012/008843) in view of Lang et al. (US 9,050,281).
Regarding claim 10, Maskon discloses the system of claim 1, however, Maskon does not specifically teach wherein the substance is intended to treat one or more of the following: Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis, coccidiosis, or colibacilosis.
Lang teaches a substance that is intended to treat coccidiosis (Abstract). By modifying the device of Maskon to use a vaccine to treat coccidiosis, it would improve the device by treating fish for a common disease that is finically costly and would stop fish from contracting the disease as well as save money by losing less fish (Col. 1, lines 21-29 from Lang).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to vaccinate the fish to prevent coccidiosis to stop a common disease and cut costs (Abstract, Col. 1, lines 21-29 form Lang).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HADEN M RITCHIE whose telephone number is (703)756-1699. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5:30pm.
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/HADEN MATTHEW RITCHIE/Examiner, Art Unit 3783
/BHISMA MEHTA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3783
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