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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/12/2025 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/12/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the Final Rejection on 08/28/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed 12/12/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-2 and 5 remain pending. Applicant’s amendment to Claim 1 overcomes the objection to Claim 1. Applicant’s amendment to claim 5 overcomes the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection of claim 5.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 4-5, filed 12/12/2025, with respect to 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection of Claims 1-2 and 5 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 U.S.C. 101 rejection of Claims 1-2 and 5 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 5-6, filed 12/12/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1-2 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made under 35 U.S.C. 103 in view of previously disclosed prior art Shiohama (US20140020455) in view of previously disclosed prior art Ishikawa (JP2009281848A), previously disclosed prior art Noda (US20140129169), previously disclosed prior art Hiromi (JP2011220907A), and newly discovered prior art Kunimura (US20200340961). Applicant argues on page 5 and 6 that the cited reference combination does not disclose the amendment “displaying, on the display panel, the corresponding peak in a visually different manner from the other peaks in the plurality of peaks emerged on the second chromatogram”. Newly discovered prior art Kunimura teaches in [0017] and [0025] the use of color marks to make the visual representation stand out and thus allow a user to identify the peak positions easily when a comparison is performed.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5 details the limitation “wherein when a plurality of peaks having the closest value of the selected peak parameter to the first value the target peak are present…” which should read “wherein when a plurality of peaks having the closest value of the selected peak parameter to the first value of the target peak are present…”
Appropriate correction 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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiohama (US20140020455) in view of Ishikawa (JP2009281848A), Noda (US20140129169), Hiromi (JP2011220907A), and Kunimura (US20200340961).
In regards to Claim 1, Shiohama teaches “a data storage part that stores a first chromatogram acquired by a first chromatographic analysis and a second chromatogram (memory unit 22, i.e. data storage part, stores multiple chromatograms, i.e. first and second chromatogram – [0036]; reference chromatogram stored in the memory unit – [0030]);
a data processor that performs data processing on the chromatograms stored in the data storage part (cpu 20, i.e. data processor, with memory that stores chromatograms– [0030]; process executed for analyzing apparatus control – [0034]); and
a display device to display information given by the data processor (Figure 1 details an analyzing apparatus control system 1 implemented by a computer that includes a monitor/display unit 14 – [0030], Figure 1), wherein
the processor is configured to
present a plurality of peak parameters to a user and request the user to select peak parameter (chromatogram display area, the entire reference chromatogram is displayed and the program responds to user instruction – [0039]; user operates the input unit, i.e. manual, and provides a measurement time range setting instruction, [i.e. user select peak parameter] – [0040]),
identify a target peak among a plurality of peaks of the first chromatogram and a first value of the selected peak parameter of the target peak (user operates the input unit and provides a measurement time range setting instruction and the program selects, i.e. identify, the peak, i.e. target peak, within the measurement time range, and the peak detection is performed by reading out the available peak information, i.e. a first value of the selected peak parameter – [0040]), and
display, on the display device, the corresponding peak (chromatogram display area, the entire reference chromatogram is displayed and the program responds to user instruction, where only a portion of the reference chromatogram is displayed in the measurement time range display area – [0039]; when the user provides a measurement time range setting, the peak detection is performed by reading out the available peak information – [0040]).”
Shiohama is silent with regards to the language of “a first chromatogram acquired by a first chromatographic analysis of a sample comprising a plurality of components under a first analysis condition and a second chromatogram acquired by a second chromatographic analysis of the same sample as the first chromatographic analysis under a second condition different from the first condition (memory unit 22, i.e. data storage part, stores multiple chromatograms – [0036]; reference chromatogram stored in the memory unit – [0030])(analysis method with chromatography using a plurality of mutually different analyses carried out successively without replacing the eluent container – [0007]; sample contains plurality of components – [0015])”
Ishikawa teaches “a first chromatogram acquired by a first chromatographic analysis of a sample comprising a plurality of components under a first analysis condition and a second chromatogram acquired by a second chromatographic analysis of the same sample as the first chromatographic analysis under a second condition different from the first condition (analysis method with chromatography using a plurality of mutually different analyses carried out successively without replacing the eluent container – [0007]; sample contains plurality of components – [0015]).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shiohama to incorporate the teaching of Ishikawa to perform analysis on a plurality of chromatograms with mutually different analysis carried out. By performing chromatography analysis on a sample with mutually different analyses this is an improvement to the time and effort to perform chromatography by reducing the need to replace the sample under analysis by the chromatograph apparatus.
Shiohama in view of Ishikawa is silent with regards to the language of “a data processor that performs data processing on the plurality of first and second chromatograms.”
Noda teaches “a data processor that performs data processing on the plurality of first and second chromatograms (chromatogram data processing method compares multiple chromatograms with good precision, i.e. data processing on the plurality of chromatograms – [0036]).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shiohama in view of Ishikawa to incorporate the teaching of Noda to compare multiple chromatograms and the reference chromatogram. By performing analysis on the multiple chromatograms this is an improvement to the processing time and precision when analyzing chromatograms with a large number of peaks.
Shiohama in view of Ishikawa and Noda are silent with regards to the language of “identify a corresponding peak having the closest value of the selected parameter to the first value among a plurality of peaks emerged on the second chromatogram.”
Hiromi teaches “identify a corresponding peak having the closest value of the selected parameter to the first value among a plurality of peaks emerged on the second chromatogram (measure of the degree of peak matching, i.e. identifying component peaks, sum of the absolute values of the time differences between a peak on the reference chromatogram and the nearest peak on the target chromatogram after linear correction and which peak falls within a certain intensity ratio range, i.e. predetermined range, with respect to the intensity of the peak on the reference chromatogram – [0022]; coarse stage takes the absolute value of the time difference between a peak, i.e. identified component peak, of the reference chromatogram and a peak, i.e. identified component peak, of the target chromatogram, with an equivalent to the average of the amount of time fluctuation, the absolute value of the difference between the value obtained by applying a low-pass filter to the amount of time fluctuation and the time fluctuation at the current corresponding peak is used, and a difference in intensity ratio – [0045]).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shiohama in view of Ishikawa and Noda to incorporate the teaching of Hiromi to use peak identification with the time differences of the peaks and intensity ratio. By using the time differences and difference in intensity ratio, this is an improvement to the process for analysis of the retention times of peaks appearing in chromatograms.
Shiohama in view of Ishikawa, Noda, and Hiromi are silent with regards to the language of “display, on the display device, the corresponding peak in a visually different manner from the other peaks in the plurality of peaks emerged on the second chromatogram.”
Kunimura teaches “display, on the display device, the corresponding peak in a visually different manner from the other peaks in the plurality of peaks emerged on the second chromatogram (“The chromatogram display part 18 is configured to display the standard chromatogram synthesized by the chromatogram synthesis part together with the analysis target chromatogram created by the chromatogram creation part 14 on the display device 6 according to an instruction from the user. As shown in FIG. 2, the standard chromatogram synthesized with the analysis target chromatogram is displayed on the display device 6 in a manner that the standard chromatogram and the analysis target chromatogram are arranged side by side in a state where time axes of the chromatograms are aligned, so that which of the composition substances and the non-composition substances described on the synthesized standard chromatogram corresponds to the peak expressed on the analysis target chromatogram can be identified by visual comparison. In the standard chromatogram shown in FIG. 2, mark indicating the peak expression positions of the composition substances are black, and marks indicating the peak expression positions of the non-composition substances are white” – [0017]; “In the second aspect of the embodiment of the analytical data analysis system according to the present invention, the chromatogram display part is configured to display the standard chromatogram and the analysis target chromatogram arranged side by side on the display device in a state where time axes of the chromatograms are aligned with each other. Such an aspect facilitates visual comparison between the standard chromatogram and the analysis target chromatogram, and the efficiency of the identification work of the substance contained in the sample to be analyzed is improved” – [0025])”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shiohama in view of Ishikawa, Noda, and Hiromi to incorporate the teaching of Kunimura to use marks indication the peak positions in different colors to illustrate and facilitate visual comparison between chromatograms. By using different colors this is an improvement to the visual evaluation and comparison of chromatograms.
In regards to Claim 2, Shiohama in view of Ishikawa, Noda, Hiromi, and Kunimura discloses the claimed invention as detailed above. Shiohama is silent with regards to the language of “wherein the plurality of peak parameters include least one parameter among a peak elution rank, a peak area, a peak height, a peak area ratio, a peak height ratio, a spectral similarity, a Mass spectral similarity, and a m/z of base peak of Mass spectrum”
Noda further teaches “wherein the plurality of peak parameters include least one parameter among a peak elution rank, a peak area, a peak height, a peak area ratio, a peak height ratio, a spectral similarity, a Mass spectral similarity, and a m/z of base peak of Mass spectrum (number of peaks is limited to prescribed number with the matching based on the DP algorithm is then executed using the times of the peaks of the reference chromatogram and the target chromatogram as input data, the peak correspond candidates extracted in the target chromatogram are given in order from the earliest peak, i.e. peak elution rank, for peaks extracted in the reference chromatogram – [0064])”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shiohama in view of Ishikawa, Noda, Hiromi, and Kunimura to incorporate the further teaching of Noda to use the number of peaks and function off the earliest peak and then onward. By evaluating the chromatogram peaks by a ranking from earlier peak, this is an improvement to the processing time and precision when analyzing chromatograms with a large number of peaks.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
In regards to Claim 5, Shiohama in view of Ishikawa, Noda, Hiromi, and Kunimura is silent with regards to the language of “wherein when a plurality of peaks having the closest value of the selected peak parameter to the first value the target peak are present, the data processor is configured to identify one peak having the highest peak elution rank in the plurality of peaks having the closest value to the first value as the corresponding peak to the target peak.”
Conclusion
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/YOSSEF KORANG-BEHESHTI/Examiner, Art Unit 2863