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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Claims 1-5, and 8,9 in the reply filed on 6/3/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 6-16 and 18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a microplate, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/3/2026.
Claims 1-5 and 8,9 are pending examination in this response.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 6/3/2026 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Claim Interpretation
Claims 1-5 and 8-9 recite different types of containers which differ only in their name and/or intended use, and are otherwise not structurally differentiated from each other as recited in the claim.
The following limitations have been interpreted under broadest reasonable interpretation to merely refer to a well (or tank):
Claims 1-3: “optical measurement well”,
Claim 4: “indicator solution well”, “protease solution well”,
Claim 5: “diluent well”, “preparation liquid well”, “first stirring well”, “second stirring well”, “sensor cleaning liquid well”, “sensor calibration liquid well”,
Claim 8: “diluent well”, “preparation liquid well”, “first stirring well”, “second stirring well”, “sensor cleaning liquid well”, “sensor cleaning liquid well”, “a sensor calibration liquid well”,
Claim 9: “waste liquid tank”.
The preceding expressions (i.e., “optical measurement”, “indicator solution”, “protease solution”, “diluent”, “preparation liquid”, “stirring”, “sensor cleaning liquid”, “sensor calibration liquid”, “waste tank”) merely refer to an intended use of the claimed well (or tank) and these claims do not recite any technical features that would structurally differentiate any well or tank for its intended application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 1-5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Sieben et. al. (DE 19646505 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Sieben teaches “A microplate” (Page 1, microtiter plate); for measuring the degree of glycation of a protein,
“the microplate comprising: a microplate body including a sensor attachment part;” (Pages 1 and 5, The underside of the microtiter plate or similar receptacle device has a measurement structure with at least one sensor associated with each receptacle. This microtiter plate upper part 11 a ( FIG. 5) is then placed on the substrate plate 2 ( FIG. 4) and preferably tightly connected to it by ultrasonic welding. The substrate plate 2 with the respective sensors then forms the bottom of the individual containers 10 .) ;
“an optical measurement well;” (Pages 1 and 2, a plurality of individual containers. It is also advantageous that a Measurement during an ongoing reaction process and thereby the Measurement is possible at the same time for all individual containers. The measurement structure is expediently on the underside of the receptacle arranged direction and each receptacle carries bottom and / or at least one sensor in the side wall.);
“and an electrochemical sensor” (Page 5, Claims 11, 13 and Fig. 6, Fig 6is an enlarged plan view of a series of adjacently arranged sensor array 7 a with containers 10th In addition to electronic sensors based on semiconductors, other sensors, for example based on optics or biological sensors, can also be provided and preferably used in combination with the sensors described above. Device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that at least one interdigi talc capacitor, which preferably has pairs of interdigitated electrodes, is provided as the sensor ( 7 ). The apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that in at least one insulated gap between the electrodes of the interdigital capacitor is an electrochemical sensitive Layer is provided.);
“that is separately manufactured from the microplate body and attached to the sensor attachment part” (Page 5, This microtiter plate upper part 11 a ( FIG. 5) is then placed on the substrate plate 2 ( FIG. 4) and preferably tightly connected to it by ultrasonic welding. The substrate plate 2 with the respective sensors then forms the bottom of the individual containers 10. For the sake of simplicity, the connecting lines to the connections of the sensor arrays 7 a, each of which is assigned to an individual container 10 , which are outside the measuring chambers, are not shown.);
“and includes a sensing flow path defined therein” ( Page 2, The holding device with the individual containers and the sensor Measurement structure form a complete functional unit and also a compact unit. This is also practical because of the integrated measuring device easier to handle. The sensors are each part of the measuring chambers).
Regarding claim 2, Sieben teaches all of claim 1. The recitation “wherein the optical measurement well contains an indicator solution for a protein.” is capability of the well. Sieben discloses the positively claimed structural elements of the optical measurement well as claimed, such optical measurement well is said to be fully capable of the recited adaption in as much as recited and required herein.
Regarding claim 3, Sieben teaches all of claim 2 as above. The recitation “wherein the optical measurement well further comprises a protease.” is capability of the well. Sieben discloses the positively claimed structural elements of the optical measurement well as claimed, such optical measurement well is said to be fully capable of the recited adaption in as much as recited and required herein.
Regarding claim 4, Sieben teaches all of claim 1 above in addition to “further comprising an indicator solution well” (Page 1, plurality of individual containers. With the help of so-called microtiter plates, various medical-biochemical test procedures are carried out. Microtiter plates have a large number of side by side arranged recording tubes on, in the cell samples, for example a suspension of metastatic cells can be entered. Then an indicator solution, for example a Fluorescent dye added.).
The recitation “ containing an indicator solution;” is capability of the indicator solution well. Sieben discloses the positively claimed structural elements of the indicator solution well as claimed, such indicator solution well is said to be fully capable of the recited adaption in as much as recited and required herein.
Further taught “and a protease solution well” (Page 1, plurality of individual containers.). The recitation “containing a protease solution.” is capability. Sieben discloses the positively claimed structural elements of the protease solution well as claimed, such protease solution well is said to be fully capable of the recited adaption in as much as recited and required herein.
Regarding claim 5, Sieben teaches all of claim 4 above in addition to “further comprising one or a plurality of: a diluent well containing a diluent; a filter well fitted with a filter; a preparation liquid well containing a preparation liquid for optical measurement of a protein; a first stirring well for stirring a solution; a second stirring well for stirring a solution; a sensor cleaning liquid well comprising a sensor cleaning liquid; and a sensor calibration liquid well comprising a sensor calibration liquid.” (Page 1, plurality of individual containers.). See claim interpretation above.
Regarding claim 9, Sieben teaches all of claim 1 above in addition “further comprising: a waste liquid tank configured to receive a liquid discharged from the electrochemical sensor.” (Page 1, plurality of individual containers.). See claim interpretation above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sieben et. al. (DE 19646505 A1) as applied to claim 4 above, and in further view of Cote et. al. (US 6391241 B1).
Regarding claim 8, Sieben teaches all of claim 4 above in addition to “further comprising: a diluent well containing a diluent;” …”a preparation liquid well comprising a preparation liquid for optical measurement of a protein; a first stirring well for stirring a solution; a second stirring well for stirring a solution; a sensor cleaning liquid well comprising a sensor cleaning liquid; and a sensor calibration liquid well comprising a sensor calibration liquid.” (Page 1, plurality of individual containers.). See claim interpretation above.
Sieben does not teach “a filter well fitted with a filter”.
However, Cote teaches a multi-well plate and/or filter plate for use with use in biological and biochemical assays in addition to “a filter well fitted with a filter” (Column 2 lines 3-18 Our invention solves several problems of prior art filter plate designs by providing a multiwell filter plate in which 1) filters are securely fastened to the plate without the use of glue or other potentially contaminant chemical adhesives, 2) an expansive variety of filter materials may be used, 3) a large number of thermoplastic components may be employed in its construction, and 4) no cross contamination through liquid wicking occurs between neighboring wells. The preferred embodiment of the present invention also offers a conical nozzle designed to cause exiting fluid to create droplets rather than lateral flow along the bottom of the plate. Further, a ring or skirt will preferably circumscribe the underside of each filter well. The skirt fits into a corresponding well of a receiver plate and is designed to prevent cross contamination that may otherwise occur by splashing of filtrate.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sieben to incorporate the teachings of Cote by having a filter well with a filter. Doing so would allow the filter to be part of the plate wells within out the use of potentially contaminant chemical adhesives to secure the filter to the well as taught by Sieben (Column 2).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VELVET E HERON whose telephone number is (571)272-1557. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Capozzi can be reached on (571) 270-3638. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/V.E.H./Examiner, Art Unit 1798
/CHARLES CAPOZZI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1798
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