Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/020,331

A MEDICAMENT DELIVERY DEVICE PACKAGE ASSEMBLY

Non-Final OA §102§103§112
Filed
Feb 08, 2023
Examiner
GEHMAN, BRYON P
Art Unit
3736
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
Shl Medical AG
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 1m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allow Rate
1435 granted / 1949 resolved
+3.6% vs TC avg
Strong +31% interview lift
Without
With
+30.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
46 currently pending
Career history
1995
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.3%
-39.7% vs TC avg
§103
51.0%
+11.0% vs TC avg
§102
5.5%
-34.5% vs TC avg
§112
23.7%
-16.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1949 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103 §112
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 . 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. Claims 26 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. In claim 26, line 3, “the interior reservoir” lacks antecedent basis. In claim 30, lines 3 and 4, the “and/or” is indefinite due to the use of the slashes, and phrasing employed therewith should instead be in lines 3-4 --at least one of an ambient temperature, a storage temperature….and a temperature of the medicament…--. 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 16, 19, 22, 26-31 and 34-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kietzmann et al. (11,369,732(based on its PCT publication date or filing date). Each discloses a medicament delivery device package assembly or medicament delivery device package comprising a body (150) defining an interior reservoir (151) for containing a medicament delivery device, a motion sensor (160 including 166 and 167) attached to the body, wherein the medicament delivery device package assembly is configured to be placed in a storage unit (110) with a door (120), wherein the door is movable between a closed position where an inner space of the storage unit is covered by the door and an open position where the inner space of the storage unit is not covered by the door, and wherein the motion sensor is configured to detect an opening movement of the door from the closed position to the open position. As to claim 19, the motion sensor (160 including 166 and 167) is configured to detect a presence or an absence of movement of the door As to claim 22, electronics (200) are disclosed. As to claims 26 and 27, sensor (166) is an opening sensor. As to claim 28, a movable lid (120) is disclosed. As to claim 29, a solenoid (electromagnetic) lock (270) is disclosed. As to claims 30 and 35, a temperature sensor (253) is disclosed. As to claim 34, the package (110) includes an opening closed by a movable lid (120). 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 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of Kietzmann et al. (‘732) in view of Holmes (6,011,999). Kietzmann et al. do not disclose a triggered indicator to indicate an opening of the package assembly. However, Holmes discloses it was known to provide a triggered indicator to indicate an opening of the package assembly (see column 8, lines 39-44). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the package assembly of Kietzmann et al. with a triggered indicator to indicate an opening of the package assembly in the manner of Holmes as claimed, as such a modification would predictably provide a visual indication of an open state of the packaging assembly. Claims 24-25 and 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of Kietzmann et al. (‘732) in view of Kietzmann et al. (10,869,962). Kietzmann et al. (‘732) do not disclose a reservoir sensor. However, Kietzmann et al. (‘962) disclose a reservoir sensor (see column 31, lines 1-7). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the package assembly of Kietzmann et al. (‘732) with a reservoir sensor to indicate an a condition of a reservoir in the manner of Kietzmann et al. (‘962) as claimed, as such a modification would predictably provide another indication of the status to a user. Claims 17, 20, 23 and 32 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. Dependent claim 18 would also then be allowable. Prior Art not relied upon: Please refer to the additional references listed on the attached PTO-892, which, while not relied upon for the claim rejection, these references are deemed relevant to the claimed invention as a whole. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRYON P GEHMAN whose telephone number is (571) 272-4555. The examiner can normally be reached on Tuesday through Thursday from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Orlando Aviles, can be reached on (571) 270-5531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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. /BRYON P GEHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3736 Bryon P. Gehman Primary Examiner Art Unit 3736 BPG
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 08, 2023
Application Filed
Dec 05, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103, §112 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
74%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+30.8%)
2y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1949 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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