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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/30/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Lines 17-23 appear to be grammatically incorrect since this passage currently recites “a body having a first end, a second end […], a longitudinal axis […] and an inner surface […], and a fluid passage”. It is suggested to remove the term “and” from either line 18 or line 22 in order to be grammatically correct. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-13, 15 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Carrez et al. (PG PUB 2014/0209197).
Re claim 1, Carrez discloses a fluid connector system (seen in Fig 9-12 with Fig 1,2 showing a detailed view of the first valve assembly 100 and Fig 3,4 showing a detailed view of the second valve assembly 1; it is noted that all reference characters cited below refer to Fig 2, 4 and/or 12 unless otherwise noted) comprising: a first valve assembly 100 comprising: a housing 123+140+151 having a first end (the proximal half of the housing; aka the left half in Fig 2), a second end (to distal half of the housing; aka the right half in Fig 2), wherein the second end is opposite to the first end (as seen in Fig 2), and an inner surface (the inner surface of hub 140) forming a cavity 141 that extends through the second end toward the first end of the housing (as seen in Fig 2); a post 125 having a proximal end portion (the proximal half of the post 125; aka the left half in Fig 2) and a distal end portion (the distal half of the post 125; aka the right half in Fig 2), wherein the distal end portion of the post extends within the cavity in a direction from the first end of the housing toward the second end of the housing (as seen in Fig 2); a fluid passage (labeled in Fig A below) that extends through the first end of the housing and the post (as seen in Fig 2, Para 151); and a compressible valve 131+132 positioned in the cavity (as seen in Fig 2), the compressible valve having a proximal end portion (the proximal half of the valve 131+132; aka the left half in Fig 2) and a distal end portion (the proximal half of the valve 131+132; aka the right half in Fig 2), wherein the proximal end portion comprises a resilient member 131 having an inner surface forming a recess (as seen in Fig 2, within which post 125 resides), and wherein the distal end portion comprises a head 132 having a slit (133 + the opening in which 125 resides in Fig 2) that extends through the head to the recess (as seen in Fig 2); and a second valve assembly 1 comprising: a body 10+20+30 having a first end (the proximal half of body 10+20+30; aka the right half in Fig 4), a second end (the distal half of body 10+20+30; aka the left half in Fig 4) opposite to the first end (as seen in Fig 4), a longitudinal axis extending between the first and second ends of the body (extending horizontally in Fig 4,12), and an inner surface (the inner surface of tubular body 30) forming a bore 31+36+36 (Fig 6) that extends through the second end toward the first end of the body (as seen in Fig 4), wherein a portion of the body proximate to the second end (the portion of 30 that extends distal to shoulder 32a, Fig 6) extends radially inward toward the longitudinal axis of the body (as seen in Fig 7A, each of legs 35b have a thickness and, therefore, they “extend radially inward toward the longitudinal axis of the body” from their outer surfaces to their inner surfaces), and a fluid passage (that extends along the dashed line shown in Fig 4) that extends through the first end of the body to the bore (as seen in in Fig 4, Para 151); a valve plug 40 having a first end (the portion of plug extending from the proximal-most surface of plug 40 up to and including thickening 45, as seen in Fig 7A), a second end (the portion of plug extending from the distal-most surface of plug 40 up, but not including, to thickening 45, as seen in Fig 7A), and a slit 42 (Fig 5B) that extends through the first and second ends of the valve plug (as seen in Fig 7A), the valve plug positioned in the bore (a portion of 40 is received in openings 36 when overmolded, Para 96) such that the portion of the body proximate to the second end of the body is configured to engage against the valve plug to resist movement of the valve plug out of the bore (since a portion of 40 is received in openings 36 when overmolded, Para 96); and wherein, when the first and second valve assemblies are separated from each other, the compressible valve is in a first position (seen in Fig 2) with a distal end surface (facing to the right in Fig 2) of the head aligned on a common plane (depicted by the dotted line in Fig A below) with the second end of the housing (as seen in Fig A below, both the distal end surface of the head and the part of the second end that lies along the dotted line are “aligned” in the plane represented by the dotted line) and the distal end portion of the post positioned within the recess (as seen in Fig 2), and when the first and second valve assemblies are coupled together (as seen in Fig 12), the second end of the body is positioned within the cavity of the housing (as seen in Fig 13, legs 35b of the second end of the body are positioned within the cavity) such that the compressible valve is in a second position with the head biased toward the first end of the housing and the distal end portion of the post extending through the slit of the head of the compressible valve and through the slit of the valve plug, such that the fluid passage of the first valve assembly is fluidly coupled with the fluid passage of the second valve assembly (as seen in Fig 12, Para 150,151).
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Re claim 2, Carrez discloses that the housing of the first valve assembly comprises a protrusion (labeled in Fig A above) that extends from the inner surface of the housing in a direction into the cavity (as seen in Fig 2).
Re claim 3, Carrez discloses that the protrusion is positioned at the second end of the housing (as seen in Fig 2).
Re claim 4, Carrez discloses that, when the compressible valve is in the first position, the head of the compressible valve is engaged against the protrusion (as seen in Fig 2).
Re claim 5, Carrez discloses that an outer surface (the outer surface of hub 10) of the body of the second valve assembly comprises a wall 14 (as seen in Fig 3,4), that extends in a direction away from the outer surface in a direction that is transverse, relative to the longitudinal axis extending between the first and second ends of the body (as seen in Fig 3,4)
Re claim 6, Carrez discloses that, when the first and second valve assemblies are coupled together, the protrusion of the first valve assembly is positioned between the wall and the first end of the body (as seen in Fig 12).
Re claim 7, Carrez discloses that the fluid passage of the first valve assembly comprises an opening (at the distal-most end of post 125) through a distal end (the distal half of post 125) of the post (as seen in Fig 2).
Re claim 8, Carrez discloses that the fluid passage of the first valve assembly comprises an opening (at the proximal-most end of post 125) spaced apart from a distal end (the distal half of post 125) of the post (as seen in Fig 2).
Re claim 9, Carrez discloses that the first end of the housing comprises a bond pocket (the hollow space labeled in Fig A above) that extends into the first end of the housing in a direction toward the second end of the housing, and wherein the fluid passage of the first valve assembly extends through the bond pocket (Para 151).
Re claim 10, Carrez discloses that the second end of the body extends radially inward in a direction toward the cavity (because the walls of hub 10 have a thickness, they “extend radially inward in a direction toward the cavity” from their outer surface to their inner surface), and wherein, the second end of the valve plug is aligned with the second end of the body (as seen in Fig 4, the second end of the valve plug resides within the distal half (i.e. the second end) of the body; therefore, the second end of the plug is aligned with the second end of the body).
Re claim 11, Carrez discloses that the first end of the body comprises a male luer 23 (Para 137) that extends in a direction away from the second end of the body, and wherein the fluid passage of the second valve assembly extends through the male luer (as seen in Fig 4).
Re claim 12, Carrez discloses that any of the first end of the housing and the first end of the body comprise any of a bond pocket, a female luer, and/or a male luer (the first end of the housing comprises female luer or a male luer, Para 77, and the first end of the body comprises a female luer or a male luer, Para 137).
Re claim 13, Carrez discloses that the inner surface of the housing comprises a ledge (labeled in Fig A above) such that a cross-sectional width of the inner surface of the housing decreases in a direction from the first end of the housing toward the second end of the housing (as seen in Fig 2).
Re claim 15, Carrez discloses that, when the compressible valve is in the first position, the head of the compressible valve is engaged against the ledge (as seen in Fig 2).
Re claim 18, Carrez discloses that, when the first and second valve assemblies are coupled together (as seen in Fig 12), a fluid can flow from the first valve assembly to the second valve assembly, or from the second valve assembly to the first valve assembly (Para 151).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 1/30/2026 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
It is noted that the Carrez reference applied above was previously used in the 7/30/2025 Non-Final Rejection. The amendments filed 10/30/2025 required the body of the second valve assembly to include a second end that “extends radially into the bore” formed by an inner surface of the body. Due to this amendment, Carrez was replaced with Kakinoki in the 11/17/2025 Final Rejection. Due to that specific limitation being removed in the claims filed 1/12/2026 (and instead replaced with the broader “portion of the body proximate to the second end” that “extends radially inward toward the longitudinal axis of the body”), Carrez returns as the closest prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAMI A BOSWORTH whose telephone number is (571)270-5414. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8 am - 4 pm.
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/KAMI A BOSWORTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783
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