DETAILED ACTION
This action is pursuant to the claims filed on 02/06/2026. Claims 13-18, 21-25 are pending. A first action on the merits of claims 13-18, 21-25 is as follows.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/06/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 13-18 and 21-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the radially outer region" in lines 20 and 22. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. These limitations should read “the outer region”.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claims 13-18 and 21-25, the Kumagai, Lin, Asjes, Flood, Oudenhoven, Lim references fail to teach the electrode of claim 13 including the support body defining a central axis arranged centrally through the contact side and the connector side; a plurality of outer contact pins located at an outer region of the support body, the plurality of outer contact pins being supported and arranged on the contact side of the support body; wherein the support body is a dome-shaped disc body having a concave side and a convex side, wherein the concave side forms the contact side of the support body, wherein the plurality of outer pins are attached at and extend from the concave contact side of the dome with each of the plurality of outer pins having an outer edge that that is parallel to the central axis of the support body, wherein the support body is designed with a flexibility such that after applying the electrode to the individual a force exerted centrally onto the connector side and parallel to the central axis leads to an upwards bending of the radially outer region of the dome-shaped disc in a direction of the connector side, wherein the upwards bending of the radially outer region of the dome-shaped disc leads to a tilting of the plurality of outer contact pins relative to the central axis such that a tip of the outer contact pins moves radially outwards along the area of interest of the individual as claimed. The Kumagai reference teaches a similar electrode device having a support body with a plurality of outer contact pins, but fails to teach wherein the plurality of outer pins are attached at and extend from the concave contact side of the dome with each of the plurality of outer pins having an outer edge that that is parallel to the central axis of the support body. The remaining Lin, Asjes, Flood, Oudenhoven, and Lim references teach similar electrodes with similar contact pins, but fails to cure the above noted deficiencies such that any combination of the references of record to arrive at the instant invention would necessarily rely on impermissible hindsight benefit using information gleaned from the applicant’s specification. No other pertinent prior art reference were found that would overcome the above deficiencies. Therefore, there is no motivation (either in these references or elsewhere in the art) for making such specific and significant modifications thereto to arrive at claim(s) 13-18, 21-25.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Adam Z Minchella whose telephone number is (571)272-8644. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fri 7-3 EST.
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/ADAM Z MINCHELLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3794