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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/23/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: Lines 3-4 reading “is shaped to substantially conform natural curve” should read --is shaped to substantially conform to a natural curve--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: Line 2 reading “flow separation member” should read --flow separation membrane--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 19 is objected to because of the following informalities: Lines 2-3 have two instances of “the storage space” and should likely read --the storage housing--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 11 recites the limitation “wherein an upper portion of the storage housing has a milk outlet for discharging the stored breast milk to outside of the breast pump” whereas Claim 12 recites the limitation “a stopper for opening and closing the milk outlet.” In PGPub paragraph 0034, the milk outlet hole is designated as 720 or 130 and the stopper is designated as element 430. The stopper 430 does not appear to have any relationship to milk outlet hole 130. Furthermore, if the milk outlet hole is 720, it is unclear how milk could be discharged therefrom where even if stopper 430 is removed, lid 400, separation membrane 500, and funnel connector 300 are still in place, blocking discharge from milk outlet hole 720. Appropriate correction and/or clarification is required.
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 1-11 and 13-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (USPGPub 2018/0104396) in view of Silver et al. (USPGPub 2011/0071466) above, and further in view of Yuen (USPGPub 2005/0228342).
Re Claim 1, Park teaches a breast pump (Park Figs. 1-5) comprising: a contact housing (100) comprising a protruding part (110) configured to correspond to a mother's nipple and extend toward an interior of the breast pump (as seen in Park Fig. 7); a first space-defining member (200) coupled to the protruding part (110) to define a first inner space (200-1) (Park Fig. 3); a second space-defining member (300) defining a second inner space (500-3) linked with the first inner space (200-1) (Park Figs. 4, 5 and 7 - connected together via flow passage 310; ¶ 0038); a storage housing (700) comprising a coupling hole (410-1) (as seen in Park Fig. 1 - slot in housing 700 upon which air nozzle 410 protrudes) corresponding to the second inner space (500-3), the storage housing (700) being coupled with the contact housing (100) to form a unit to store breast milk (Park Figs. 2 and 8); a flow separation membrane (500) configured to divide the second inner space (500-3) into a first portion (500-2) and a second portion (500-1) (Park Annotated Fig. 2 below; ¶ 0039), the first portion (500-2) linked with the first inner space, the second portion (500-1) linked with the coupling hole (Park ¶ 0039-0040); and an attachable pump module (800) configured to suck air of the second portion (500-1) through the coupling hole (410-1) (as seen in Park Annotated Fig. 2 below), and the attachable pump module (800) is detachably coupled to an outer end of the coupling hole (410-1) (Park ¶ 0049 - wherein the pump 800 is detachably coupled to cover 400 via air tube 420 through slot inside housing 700, as seen in Fig. 1).
However, Park fails to teach wherein the flow separation membrane is directly coupled to an inner end of the coupling hole. Silver teaches a breast pump (Silver Fig. 1) comprising a storage housing (16, 18) comprising a coupling hole (point at which tube 20 connects) corresponding to a second inner space (Silver Fig. 5; ¶ 0059 - "clamshell-like chamber made of a front housing 18 and a rear housing 16"); and a flow separation membrane (14), wherein the flow separation membrane (14) is directly coupled to an inner end of the coupling hole (as seen in Silver Fig. 5), wherein the storage housing doubles as part of the outer surfaces of the breast pump and the housing for the diaphragm, thus reducing the number of parts in the device (Silver Fig. 5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have configured the flow separation membrane and coupling hole of Park such that the flow separation membrane is directly coupled to an inner end of the coupling hole similar to that as taught by Silver, the embodiment housing for the diaphragm, thus reducing the number of parts in the device (Silver Fig. 5).
Park in view of Silver fail to teach the attachable pump module being on the storage housing, the attachable pump module airtightly coupled to the coupling hole and configured to touch the storage housing when the attachable pump module is attached to the storage housing. Yuen teaches a breast pump (10) (as seen in Yuen Fig. 2) comprising an attachable pump module (22) that is coupled on a storage housing (12, 14, 18) (as seen in Yuen Figs. 2-3), the attachable pump module (22) airtightly coupled to a coupling hole (16) and configured to touch the storage housing (12, 14, 18) when the attachable pump module (22) is attached to the storage housing (12, 14, 18) (Yuen ¶ 0024-0026), the configuration for providing a compact design and ease of cleaning the storage housing after disconnecting the attachable pump module, thus preventing water damage to the attachable pump module (Yuen Fig. 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have configured the pump module of Park in view of Silver to be on the storage housing, the attachable pump module airtightly coupled to the coupling hole and configured to touch the storage housing when the attachable pump module is attached to the storage housing as disclosed by Yuen for providing a compact design and ease of cleaning the storage housing after disconnecting the attachable pump module, thus preventing water damage to the attachable pump module (Yuen Fig. 2).
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Re Claim 2, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park further teaches wherein operating the attachable pump module (800) allows the air of the second portion (500-1) to be sucked in to the attachable pump module (800) through the coupling hole (410-1) (Park Annotated Fig. 2 above), the flow separation membrane (500) to move toward the coupling hole (410-1), the first portion (500-2) to be expanded to form a vacuum pressure, and the vacuum pressure to be transferred to the first inner space (200-1) to act as a force for extracting breast milk from a mother's breast (Park ¶ 0039; Figs. 7-8; Annotated Fig. 2).
Re Claim 3, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park further teaches a breast milk outlet tube (210) linked with the first inner space (200-1) (as seen in Park Fig. 5); and a silicone valve (600) comprising one end coupled to an outlet of the breast milk outlet tube (210) and a second pointed end comprising a cut line, wherein breast milk flows out through the cut line and is filled into the storage housing (Park Fig. 5; ¶ 0044 - duckbill valve).
Re Claim 4, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park further teaches wherein operating the pump module (800) renders: the air of the second portion (500-1) to be sucked into the pump module (800) through the coupling hole (410-1), a distance between the flow separation membrane (500) and the coupling hole (410-1) to change, the first portion (500-2) to be expanded to form a vacuum pressure, and the vacuum pressure to be transferred to the first inner space (200-1) to act as a force for extracting breast milk from a mother's breast (Park ¶ 0039; Figs. 7-8; Annotated Fig. 2).
Re Claim 5, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein the protruding part (110) extends toward the interior of the breast pump along a target direction (Park Figs. 4-8); the contact housing (100) has a first projection (100-1) along the target direction (Park Annotated Fig. 2 above); the storage housing (700) has a second projection (700-1) along the target direction (Park Annotated Fig. 2 above); and at least a majority part of the first projection (100-1) and at least a majority part of the second projection (700-1) overlap (Park Figs. 1 and 7-8).
Re Claim 6, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 5. Park teaches wherein the first projection (100-1) and the second projection (700-1) have an overlapping region above the protruding part (110) (Park Annotated Fig. 4 above; Figs. 1 and 7-8).
Re Claim 7, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein the protruding part (110) extends into an internal volume of the storage housing (700) (Park Annotated Fig. 4 above; Figs. 1 and 7-8).
Re Claim 8, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein the first space-defining member (200) locates inside the internal volume of the storage housing (700) (Park Annotated Fig. 4 above; Figs. 1 and 7-8), and comprises a silicone valve (600) with one end comprising a cut line, so that the breast milk flows directly into the internal volume from the cut line (Park Fig. 5; ¶ 0044 - duckbill valve).
Re Claim 9, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein the first space-defining member (200) is coupled to the protruding part (110); and the first space-defining member (200) is connected with the second space-defining member (300) (Park Annotated Fig. 2 above).
Re Claim 10, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 9. Park teaches a silicone valve (600) comprising one end coupled to the first space-defining member (200) and a second end comprising a cut line, so that the breast milk flows directly into the internal volume through the cutline (Park Fig. 5; ¶ 0044 - duckbill valve).
Re Claim 11, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein an upper portion of the storage housing (700) has a milk outlet for discharging the stored breast milk to outside of the breast pump (wherein 410-1 of Park Annotated Fig. 2 above may serve as a milk outlet).
Re Claim 13, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein the contact housing (100) further comprises a contact surface (100-2) configured to contact the mother's skin, wherein the contact surface (100-2) is shaped to substantially conform natural curve of the mother breast that is in contact with the contact surface (Park Annotated Fig. 2 above).
Re Claim 14, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein the protruding part (110) comprises a milk discharge hole (lumen of discharge tube 210) (Park Fig. 1).
Re Claim 15, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein a central region of the storage housing (700) is outwardly bulged relative to a surrounding region of the storage housing (700) (Park Figs. 7-8).
Re Claim 16, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein the flow separation membrane (500) is in contact with the second space-defining member (500-3) (as seen in Park Annotated Fig. 2 above).
Re Claim 17, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein the second space-defining member (500-3) couples with the storage housing (700) (via air nozzle 410 and via close-contact housing 100).
Re Claim 18, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 17. Park teaches wherein the second space-defining member (500-3) comprises a first side (400) facing outside of an internal volume of the storage housing (700) and a second side (300) facing towards the internal volume, wherein the second space-defining member (500-3) couples with the coupling hole (410-1) (Park Annotated Fig. 2 above - via air nozzle 410 and air tube 420). In the modified device of Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen, the first side would be facing the pump module.
Re Claim 19, Park in view of Silver above, and further in view of Yuen teach all of the limitations of Claim 1. Park teaches wherein the second space-defining member (500-3) comprises a first side (400) facing outside of the storage housing (700) and a second side (300) facing towards the storage housing (700); the first side (400) defines the second inner space (500-3); and the second side (300) and the storage housing (700) together define the internal volume (Park Annotated Fig. 2 above).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/23/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. On Page 9 of the response, applicant argues primary reference Park fails to disclose “the second portion of the second space is linked with the couple hole and is in fluid communication with the coupling hole” and “the pump module touches the storage housing, has an outer surface that matches the coupling hole, and sucks air between the outer surface and the flow separation membrane.” With regard to the first limitation, examiner is interpreting the term “linked” broadly to include two structures merely touching one another. In prior art Park, the second portion (500-1) is linked with the coupling hole (410-1) where the interior of the second portion has an air nozzle 410 connected to an air tube 420 which exits through the coupling hole (410-1). The air tube 420 is provided for vacuum of air from second portion (500-1) and thus, is in fluid communication with the coupling hole (410-1) (Park ¶ 0039-0040). With regard to the second limitation, Park was not relied upon to teach “the pump module touches the storage housing [and] has an outer surface that matches the coupling hole.” For said limitation, examiner relies on prior art Yuen.
In the middle of Page 9 of the response, applicant’s arguments turn to secondary reference Silver. At the bottom of Page 9 and leading into Page 10 of the response, applicant argues that the limitations “(i) the coupling hole be arranged on a storage housing, which is configured to store breast milk from the mother's nipple; (ii) the coupling hole is linked with the second portion of the second space and is in fluid communication with the second portion; and (iii) the pump module touches the storage housing, has an outer surface that matches the coupling hole, and sucks air between the outer surface and the flow separation membrane” are interrelated such that “the alleged teaching of the coupling hole on the storage housing must be evaluated in the context of a structure that actually performs the milk storage function and defines the claimed internal space.” Applicant’s argument seems to be that only a 102 anticipation rejection will suffice. However, it is examiner’s position that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the teachings of Silver could be applied to a wearable breast pump as is disclosed in Park. In the present case, Silver is relied upon to teach only that “the flow separation membrane is directly coupled to an inner end of the coupling hole.” Configuring cover 400 of Park to be part of storage housing 700 and thus have membrane 500 be directly coupled to an inner end of the coupling hole is well within the skill of the art based on the teachings of Park in view of Silver. What appears to be unique in applicant’s application is not that the “the flow separation membrane is directly coupled to an inner end of the coupling hole,” but rather, that the lid 400 that defines the second portion of the second inner space, makes up an outer wall of the storage housing, as seen in applicant’s Fig. 7. It would seem as though this would permit easy access to the second inner space for removing and replacing the flow separation membrane without taking apart the entire breast pump.
Applicant’s arguments directed to Yuen begin at the top of Page 12 of the response. Yuen is relied upon to teach “the attachable pump module airtightly coupled to the coupling hole and configured to touch the storage housing when the attachable pump module is attached to the storage housing.” Applicant argues Yuen fails to teach (i) the coupling hole be arranged on a storage housing, which is configured to store breast milk from the mother's nipple; and (iii) the pump module touches the storage housing, has an outer surface that matches the coupling hole, and sucks air between the outer surface and the flow separation membrane.” Applicant fails to claim the pump module “has an outer surface that matches the coupling hole.” It would appear that prior art Yuen teaches such a limitation, as seen in Yuen Fig. 2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM R FREHE whose telephone number is (571)272-8225. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30AM-7:30PM.
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/WILLIAM R FREHE/Examiner, Art Unit 3783
/KEVIN C SIRMONS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3783
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