DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the applicant’s response filed on May 27, 2026. As set forth therein, claims 1-24 are pending and claims 1 and 11 are amended.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.
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 .
Reissue Applications
For reissue applications filed before September 16, 2012, all references to 35 U.S.C. 251 and 37 CFR 1.172, 1.175, and 3.73 are to the law and rules in effect on September 15, 2012. Where specifically designated, these are “pre-AIA ” provisions.
For reissue applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, all references to 35 U.S.C. 251 and 37 CFR 1.172, 1.175, and 3.73 are to the current provisions.
Applicant is reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.178(b), to timely apprise the Office of any prior or concurrent proceed-ing in which Patent No. 11,305,057 is or was involved. These proceedings would include interferences, reissues, reexaminations, and litigation.
Applicant is further reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.56, to timely apprise the Office of any information which is mate-rial to patentability of the claims under consideration in this reissue appli-cation.
These obligations rest with each individual associated with the filing and prosecution of this application for reissue. See also MPEP §§ 1404, 1442.01 and 1442.04.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed May 27, 2026 proposes amendments to claim 20 that does not comply with 37 CFR 1.173(b), which sets forth the manner of making amendments in reissue applications.
Specifically, the Examiner notes that the amendment includes a strikethrough. As set forth in 37 CFR 1.173(d), the matter to be omitted by reissue must be enclosed in brackets.
Response to Arguments
Reissue Declaration
The Examiner notes that in view of the reinstatement of claims 20-22, the Applicant has overcome the previous issue with respect to the defective declaration. Therefore, the previous rejection to the claims under this issue is withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. §103
The Applicant states that the “medication indicator light 232” of Mazlish communicates status through their condition at a given moment in time, such as what color they display, whether they are blinking or steady, or the frequency at which they blinking, for as long as the triggering conditions persists. The Applicant states that Mazlish discloses no light pattern defined by a sequence of illuminated and non-illuminated states having a set period of time to be executed and that Mazlish discloses no specified number of times a sequence is to be repeated that differs from status to status. The Applicant states that in Mazlish, the “medication indicator light 232” simply blinks at some frequency for as long as the corresponding conditions exists, meaning there is no defined sequential pattern that plays out completely and terminates after a specified number of repetitions corresponding to a particular pump status. In addition, the Applicant maintains that Lanigan and Sokolovskyy also disclose no sequence indicator light pattern library of the type recited in claim 1.
The Examiner finds that Mazlish discloses the medication delivery indicator light 232 can remain continuously illuminated or blink to indicate a mode of insulin delivery. In some cases, medication delivery indicator light 232 can display different colors or blink using a different frequency to indicate whether real-time analyte sensor data is being received by medication delivery device 15 or 15′. See paragraph [0114]. Thus, Mazlish discloses of blinking at a different frequency to indicate a specific status. However, it is acknowledged that in view of the Applicant’s comments, that Mazlish does not specifically disclose “a set period of time to be executed and a specified number of times the sequence is to be repeated, wherein the specified number of times differs among the plurality of different light patterns.”
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 21 and 22 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.
The Examiner notes that claims 21 (dependent on claim 10) and 22 (dependent on claim 20) both recite “wherein the infusion pump includes only a single button”. The Examiner also notes that claim 10 and claim 20 both recite “an input button”.
The Examiner finds that claims 21 and 22 are ambiguous since they do not refer back to the “an input button” of claims 10 and 22 respectively and thus is considered to be a different input button. It is not clear how both “an input button” and a “only a single button” can be included on a device without it referring to the same button. That is, the claim sets recites both “an input button” and “a single button” and does not make it clear whether the ‘single button’ further narrows the ‘input button’ of the preceding claim or that the input button is the only button on the infusion pump.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20, 23, and 24 are allowed.
Claims 21-22 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record do not specifically disclose “wherein each of the plurality of different light patterns is defined by a sequence of illuminated and non-illuminated states of the one or more indicator lights, a set period of time to be executed and a specified number of times the sequence is to be repeated, wherein the specified number of times differs among the plurality of different light patterns” in combination with the rest of the limitations of the claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ovidio Escalante whose telephone number is (571)272-7537. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday - 6:00 AM to 2:30 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Michael Fuelling can be reached on (571) 270-1367. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-9000. 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.
/Ovidio Escalante/
Primary Examiner
Central Reexamination Unit - Art Unit 3992
(571) 272-7537
Conferees:
/MATTHEW E HENEGHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992 /M.F/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3992
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