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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements filed 8 July 2024 and 8 September 2025 fails to comply with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609 because the foreign patent documents indicated with
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-14 in the reply filed on 11 July 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 15-20 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
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 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tacha (US 9,945,763) (“D1” as indicated in the “International Preliminary Report on Patentability” (“IPR”) issued 16 November 2021 in corresponding international application PCT/EP2020/063407).
With respect to claims 1 and 3, Examiner adopts the detailed reasoning set forth in the IPR referenced above1, a copy of which is being supplied with this Office Action.
Claims 1, 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Angros-1 (US 2018/0017471) (“D2” as indicated in the “International Preliminary Report on Patentability” (“IPR”) issued 16 November 2021 in corresponding international application PCT/EP2020/063407).
With respect to claims 1, 8, and 9, Examiner adopts the detailed reasoning set forth in the International Preliminary Report referenced above2, a copy of which is being supplied with this Office Action.
Claims 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cappi (EP 3427829 A1) (“D3” as indicated in the “International Preliminary Report on Patentability” (“IPR”) issued 16 November 2021 in corresponding international application PCT/EP2020/063407).
With respect to claims 1 and 4, Examiner adopts the detailed reasoning set forth in the International Preliminary Report referenced above3, a copy of which is being supplied with this Office Action.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claims 2, 6, 7, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tacha (US 9,945,763) (“D1” as indicated in the “International Preliminary Report on Patentability” (“IPR”) issued 16 November 2021 in corresponding international application PCT/EP2020/063407).
With respect to claims 2, 6, 7, and 10, Examiner adopts the detailed reasoning set forth in the International Preliminary Report referenced above4, a copy of which is being supplied with this Office Action.
Claims 5, 11, 13, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tacha (US 9,945,763) (“D1” as indicated in the “International Preliminary Report on Patentability” (“IPR”) issued 16 November 2021 in corresponding international application PCT/EP2020/063407) in view of Angros-2 (US 2010/0068757) (“D5” as indicated in the “International Preliminary Report on Patentability” (“IPR”) issued 16 November 2021 in corresponding international application PCT/EP2020/063407)).
With respect to claims 5, 11, 13, and 14, Examiner adopts the detailed reasoning set forth in the International Preliminary Report referenced above5, a copy of which is being supplied with this Office Action.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tacha (US 9,945,763) (“D1” as indicated in the “International Preliminary Report on Patentability” (“IPR”) issued 16 November 2021 in corresponding international application PCT/EP2020/063407) in view of Angros-2 (US 2010/0068757) (“D5” as indicated in the “International Preliminary Report on Patentability” (“IPR”) issued 16 November 2021 in corresponding international application PCT/EP2020/063407)) and Cappi (EP 3427829 A1) (“D3” as indicated in the “International Preliminary Report on Patentability” (“IPR”) issued 16 November 2021 in corresponding international application PCT/EP2020/063407).
With respect to claim 12, Examiner adopts the detailed reasoning set forth in the International Preliminary Report referenced above6, a copy of which is being supplied with this Office Action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Randy Boyer whose telephone number is (571) 272-7113. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. (EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Prem C. Singh, can be reached at (571) 272-6381. The fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Randy Boyer/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771
1 Claims 1 and 3 of the instant application corresponding to claims 1 and 5, respectively, of the IPR.
2 Claims 1, 8, and 9 of the instant application corresponding to claims 1, 20, and 23, respectively, of the IPR.
3 Claims 1 and 4 of the instant application corresponding to claims 1 and 8, respectively, of the IPR.
4 Claims 2, 6, 7, and 10 of the instant application corresponding to claims 2, 10, 16, and 25, respectively, of the IPR.
5 Claims 5, 11, 13, and 14 of the instant application corresponding to claims 9, 26, 29, and 31, respectively, of the IPR.
6 Claim 12 of the instant application corresponding to claim 28 of the IPR.
Prosecution Insights