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 .
Claim Interpretation
Applicant’s arguments and amendments to the claims are persuasive regarding interpretation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). No limitations are interpreted under that section herein.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 6,440,145 to Assawah (Assawah hereinafter) in view of KR 10-2019-131989 to Park et al. (Park hereinafter, copy provided by applicant on 12 December 2022), and US Pre-Grant Publication 2011/0015483 to Barbagli et al. (Barbagli) and US Pre-Grant Publication 2023/0024178 to Kang et al. (Kang).
Regarding claim 1, Assawah teaches a press unit configured to press the body comprising a press band (16) that contacts the body, a pair of moving units (18, 20, 22) that support the body, a driving device (32, 34), a guide bar (30), a first nut and a second nut (where 30 interfaces with tail sections 18) which are integrally connected to their respective moving units (18), the nuts having screw threads forms such that they move in opposite directions along the guide bar (col. 3, ln. 10-15). Assawah does not teach a syringe needle unit support part. Park teaches an automatic blood withdrawal machine and particularly teaches a syringe (310) and support unit (320) provided to allow blood to be drawn from a user. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious before the effective filing date of the application to provide a syringe support part as taught by Park to the press unit of Assawah in order to provide automatic blood withdrawal in that apparatus. Assawah also does not teach the limitations of an encoder. Barbagli teaches another medical device generally and particularly that an encoder is provided in order to adjust and measure tension and rotational positioning in the medical system (paragraph 43). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious before the effective filing date of the application to provide an encoder as taught by Barbagli to the machine of Assawah in order to measure rotational position of the clamp generally. The examiner notes that the detection of rotational speed and direction, as well as the body invasion limitations are treated as functional limitations which the current combination is capable of performing.
The previously combined references do not teach the limitation of an incline adjustment unit having a pair of support arms configured to expand away from each other. Kang teaches another such automatic injection unit generally, and particularly teaches a support unit (17, 18, 19) having support arms (14) configured to expand away from each other in order to grip a syringe (200). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious before the effective filing date of the application to use support arms as taught by Kang in the apparatus of Assawah in order to grip a syringe.
Regarding claim 3, the press band may be separated from the body so as not to come into contact therewith in an initial position.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 7, filed 4 May 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 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 in view of Kang as set forth above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILIP E STIMPERT whose telephone number is (571)270-1890. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8a-4p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chelsea Stinson can be reached at 571-270-1744. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PHILIP E STIMPERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783 3 August 2026
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