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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I and certain species in the reply filed on 11/17/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 18, 27, 28, 31, 35, 45, 52, 56, 60, 70 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/17/2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1,5,6, 8, 19, 20, 22, 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Magari et al (US 20190348182 A1, of record).
Magari et al teach methods of analyzing cell parameters from blood samples to identify viral infection by passing blood samples through, e.g., a flow cell by measuring parameters of individual cells (e.g. monocytes, neutrophils) then determining if the parameter data exceeds a threshold. See the abstract, Figs. 1 and 2, claims 1-4, ¶’s [0054], [0060], Table 1. One such parameter may be lymphocyte volume (Table 1), considered a lymph index absent any limiting definition of such, or monocyte distribution width (¶ [0024]), or lymphocyte conductivity (Table 1). The sample may be whole blood (¶ [0060]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4, and 9 are 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Burkhart whose telephone number is (571)272-2915. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tracy Vivlemore can be reached at 571 272-2914. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL D BURKHART/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1638