DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2005037163 A2 to Graham et al. (Graham) in view of CN 108704184 A to Guan (see English language machine translation attached to this or a previous office action) and CN 107550511 A to Zhang et al. (Zhang)(see English language machine translation attached to this or a previous office action).
Regarding claim 1:
Graham discloses:
A CT device (figure 5), comprising:
a CT gantry (see housing of 152 as shown in figure 5) provided with a gantry aperture (see the aperture A in figure 1 below).
Graham fails to disclose:
A scanning bed movably connected to the CT gantry and capable of moving from outside the gantry aperture into the gantry aperture; and
at least one infusion clip located above the scanning bed, each of the at least one infusion clip being connected to the CT gantry and configured to position an infusion assembly.
Guan teaches:
A shoulder transfusion device (figure 2) that includes a hook (9) for supporting a infusion bag (101) and a infusion clip (5) for supporting a catheter (as shown in figure 2). The system further teaches the hook and infusion clip can be added to the should support from other methods for convenience when the patient cannot lift the medication or for convenience (see page 1 and 2 of the English language machine translation).
Guan teaches:
A CT device a scanning bed (10) movably connected to the CT gantry and capable of moving from outside a gantry aperture (4) into the gantry aperture (page 15 of the translation).
Regarding the limitation “A scanning bed movably connected to the CT gantry and capable of moving from outside the gantry aperture into the gantry aperture”:
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Graham to further include a scanning bed that is movably connected to the CT gantry and can move inside and outside the aperture as taught by Guan for supporting the patient while inside the aperture (Guan, page 15 of the translation).
Regarding the limitation “at least one infusion clip located above the scanning bed, each of the at least one infusion clip being connected to the CT gantry and configured to position an infusion assembly”:
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Graham to further include the hook and infusion clip and associated transfusion (infusion bad and infusion catheter) located on the gantry of the CT device based on the teaching of Guan in order to conveniently located the medication or other equipment for a transfusion of the patient (Guan, see pages 1 and 2 of the translation).
Further, the applicant should note that the system in Graham is a CT device that is used with infusion systems (20-23) that can be attached to different structures for convenience (page 1, lines 15-20; page 13, lines 10-15; page 4, lines 25-30; page 13, lines 10-15). Also, the infusion clip and infusion assembly would be connected above the scanning bed incorporated from Guan since the infusion clip and infusion assembly are located above the patient as shown in figure 5 of Graham.
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Figure 1 – figure 5 of Graham, annotated by the examiner
Regarding claim 2:
All limitations of the claim are taught by the 35 USC 103 rejection of claim 1 by Graham and Guan:
The CT device according to claim 1, further comprising: a hook (see the hook of Guan incorporated into Graham), connected to an upper portion of the CT gantry (see the hook in Guan at a higher location), wherein the infusion assembly comprises an infusion bag and an infusion catheter (see the catheter and infusion bag of Guan incorporated into Graham as part of the hook and infusion clip), the hook is configured to hang the infusion bag, and the at least one infusion clip is configured to carry the infusion catheter (as shown in figure 2 of Guan).
Regarding claim 3:
All limitations of the claim are taught by the 35 USC 103 rejection of claim 1 by Graham and Guan:
The CT device according to claim 2, wherein the infusion catheter is fixed to the at least one infusion clip (as shown in Guan the infusion catheter is fixed to the infusion clip as shown in figure 2 and would be incorporated to the gantry of Graham in the same manner) or movably provided on the at least one infusion clip.
Regarding claim 4:
Graham discloses:
The CT device according to claim 2, wherein the hook is fixed to the CT gantry (as shown in Guan the hook is fixed to a flat surface 1 as shown in figure 2 and would be incorporated to the gantry of Graham in the same manner) or slidably connected to the CT gantry.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2005037163 A2 to Graham et al. (Graham), CN 108704184 A to Guan and CN 107550511 A to Zhang et al. (Zhang)(see English language machine translation attached to this or a previous office action) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of CN 108578813 A to Zhang et al. (Zhang ‘813)(see English language machine translation attached to this or a previous office action.
Regarding claim 12:
Graham and Guan fail to disclose:
The CT device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one infusion clip comprises a plurality of infusion clips are provided on the CT gantry.
Zhang ‘813 teaches:
An infusion device (figure 2) that includes a plurality of hooks (10) and a plurality of clips (11).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Graham, Guan and Zhang to multiply the number of infusion clips and hangers as taught by Zhang ‘813 in order to increase the amount of medication that can be supplied or supported.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-11 and 13-20 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 7/13/26, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-4 and 12 under 35 USC 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 Graham, Guan and Zhang.
Regarding the drawing objections:
The applicant’s amendments to the drawings have addressed the previous drawing objections and for this reason they have been withdrawn.
Regarding the claim objections:
The applicant’s amendments to the claims have addressed the previous claim objections and for this reason they have been withdrawn.
Regarding the 35 USC 112(b) claim rejections:
The applicant’s amendments to the claims have addressed the previous claim rejections and for this reason they have been withdrawn.
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 WESLEY HARRIS whose telephone number is (571)272-3665. The examiner can normally be reached M to F, 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Tsai can be reached on (571) 270-5246. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WESLEY G HARRIS/Examiner, Art Unit 3783
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