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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 June 3, 2026 has been entered.
Drawings
Color photographs and color (gray shading) drawings are not accepted in utility applications unless a petition filed under 37 CFR 1.84(a)(2) is granted. Any such petition must be accompanied by the appropriate fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(h), one set of color drawings or color photographs, as appropriate, if submitted via the USPTO patent electronic filing system or three sets of color drawings or color photographs, as appropriate, if not submitted via the via USPTO patent electronic filing system, and, unless already present, an amendment to include the following language as the first paragraph of the brief description of the drawings section of the specification:
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
Color photographs will be accepted if the conditions for accepting color drawings and black and white photographs have been satisfied. See 37 CFR 1.84(b)(2).
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the ejector plate includes… different thicknesses that aid in localization of vibrations to the inner active area as amended in claims 1 and 20 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 objected to because of the following informalities: “on the a fluid delivery side” in line 4, should read -- on a fluid delivery side.-- Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-5, 11-16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ivri (US6926208).
With respect to claim 1, Ivri discloses a droplet delivery device (Figs. 1-18) comprising:
an ejector plate (of 12 and of 100) having a solid outer area (pointed by “16” in Fig. 1) with no holes surrounding an inner active area (15) that includes holes (22);
a powered transducer (18, 38, 102a and 102b) on (at) a fluid delivery side (under side of Fig. 1 and 102a and 102b are on the 110 side in Fig. 17) of the ejector plate configured to (capable of) vibrate the ejector plate; and
wherein the ejector plate includes one or both of (i) different polymers or materials and (ii) different thicknesses that aid in localization of vibrations to the inner active area (Figs. 1 and 17 (where 102a and 102b are part of the plate in Fig. 17)).
With respect to claim 3, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 1, wherein the powered transducer is a piezoelectric transducer (piezoceramic).
With respect to claim 4, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 3, wherein the ejector plate includes a raised feature (at solid outer area relative to planar surface 15).
With respect to claim 5, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 4, wherein the raised feature has a (flat) dome shape (Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 11, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 1, wherein the droplet delivery device includes a raised feature (at solid outer area relative to planar surface 15).
With respect to claim 12, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 11, wherein the raised feature has a (flat) dome shape (Fig. 2).
With respect to claim 13, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 1, wherein the inner active area and solid outer area are concentric (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 14, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 3, wherein the inner active area and solid outer area are concentric (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 15, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 4, wherein the inner active area and solid outer area are concentric (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 16, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 20, wherein the area circular inner active area and outer solid ring area are concentric (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 18, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 11, wherein the inner active area and solid outer area are concentric (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 19, Ivri discloses the droplet delivery device of claim 12, wherein the inner active area and solid outer area are concentric (Fig. 3).
With respect to claim 20, Ivri discloses a droplet delivery device (Figs. 1-18) comprising:
an ejector plate (of 12 and of 100) with a circular inner active area (15) having a plurality of holes (22) and an outer solid ring area (pointed by “16” in Fig. 1) without holes surrounding the inner active area;
a powered transducer (18, 38, 102a and 102b) on (at) a fluid delivery side (under side of Fig. 1 and 102a and 102b are on the 110 side in Fig. 17) of the ejector plate configured to (capable of) vibrate the ejector plate; and
wherein the ejector plate includes one or both of (i) different polymers or materials and (ii) different thicknesses that aid in localization of vibrations to the inner active area (Figs. 1 and 17 (where 102a and 102b are part of the plate in Fig. 17)).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHEE-CHONG LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-1916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am -5pm.
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, Arthur O. Hall can be reached at (571)270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHEE-CHONG LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752 June 16, 2026
Prosecution Insights