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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s response of 3/6/2026 is received and reviewed. Claims 1-10 are cancelled, claims 11 and 21 are amended, claim 13 remains cancelled, and claims 22-29 are newly added. Claims 11, 12, and 14-29 are pending.
Claim Objections
Claim 22 is objected to because of the following informalities: insert “to” after “prior” to recite “prior to”. Appropriate correction is required.
Specification
The specification is objected to as failing to provide proper antecedent basis for the claimed subject matter. See 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1) and MPEP § 608.01(o). Correction of the following is required: Independent claim 11 is amended to recite “wherein the sensor is positioned and configured to detect when the attachment element of the surgical garment is at least partially disposed within the recess of the face frame to engage the coupling member and to transmit a signal related to operation of the peripheral device based on engagement of the attachment element with the coupling member;”. Independent claim 21 is amended to recite the sensor is positioned and configured to detect when the attachment element of the surgical garment is at least partially disposed within the recess of the face frame to engage the coupling member and to transmit a signal related to operation of the ventilation assembly based on engagement of the attachment member with the coupling member. Independent claim 25 recites wherein the sensor is positioned and configured to detect when the attachment element of the surgical garment is at least partially disposed within the recess of the face frame to engage the coupling member and to transmit a signal related to operation of the ventilation assembly based on engagement of the attachment device with the coupling member.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 11, 12, and 14-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Independent claim 11 is amended to recite “wherein the sensor is positioned and configured to detect when the attachment element of the surgical garment is at least partially disposed within the recess of the face frame to engage the coupling member and to transmit a signal related to operation of the peripheral device based on engagement of the attachment element with the coupling member;”. However, the originally filed specification doesn’t disclose the combination of features set forth in claim 11. Independent claim 21 recites the sensor is positioned and configured to detect when the attachment element of the surgical garment is at least partially disposed within the recess of the face frame to engage the coupling member and to transmit a signal related to operation of the ventilation assembly based on engagement of the attachment member with the coupling member. Independent claim 25 recites wherein the sensor is positioned and configured to detect when the attachment element of the surgical garment is at least partially disposed within the recess of the face frame to engage the coupling member and to transmit a signal related to operation of the ventilation assembly based on engagement of the attachment device with the coupling member. Dependent claims 12, 14-20, and 22-29 are also rejected.
Allowable Subject Matter
There is no prior art applied to the claims at this time. However, the case is not in condition for allowance based on the rejections under 35 USC 112a.
Response to Arguments
Applicant submits the prior art of record, Isham, Klotz, and/or Podboy do not disclose the newly added limitations of claim 11 and 21. The Examiner agrees.
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.
/KATHERINE M MORAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3732
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