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 .
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.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Drewnowski (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0076661, hereinafter Drewnowski) in view of EP0145001, hereinafter EP and Kamen et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2007/0219597, hereinafter Kamen).
With respect to Claim 1, Drewnowski discloses a gas monitoring device [see fig 1 unless otherwise noted] comprising:
a gas tight base unit [130] containing:
a) a sensor [110] having a top and a bottom,
b) a gap [area around 110],
c) a parts unit [see fig 6] containing a communication module having a telemetry unit [32] with an antenna [para 50], a data processor [31] and a circuit board [para 47],
d) a battery [33; fig 6]
e) an internal on/off switch [35; fig 6] and
f) a wireless charger [see fig 6]
said base unit is detachably connected [fig 3b] to an elongated hollow rod [120] having a perforated tip end [122] and a base unit connection end [124], and wherein the gap is between the bottom of said sensor and said parts unit [see empty space around 110].
While Drewnowski discloses a wireless charger for the battery, the claimed induction coil is not recited.
Induction coils are the most common way to wirelessly charge a battery.
Kamen shows a specific teaching that inductive coils are used for wireless charging.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention for Drewnowski’s wirelessly charged battery to use an induction coil as they are common and reliable ways to wirelessly charge a battery.
Drewnowski does not disclose surrounding the sensor 110 with a sealant to fill the gap.
EP discloses a sensor that fills gaps around electronics with silicone RTV to prevent gas and moisture from damaging the electronics. See page 4, para 1-3.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention for Drewnowski to fill the gap with silicone RTV for the benefit of protecting the parts unit from damage caused by the gas being monitored.
With respect to Claim 2, Drewnowski discloses that said elongated hollow rod is between 12 to 36 inches long. See para 44.
With respect to Claim 3, Drewnowski discloses that the elongated hollow is between 0.5 to 1 inch in diameter. See para 45.
With respect to Claim 4, Drewnowski discloses that said base end is 4 to 10 inches wide and 2 to 6 inches tall. See para 44.
With respect to Claim 5, Drewnowski discloses that said housing unit is made of a shock absorbing plastic. See para 47.
With respect to Claim 6, EP discloses that the sealant in the sealant filled gap is a RTV silicone. See page 4, para 1-3.
With respect to Claim 7, Drewnowski discloses a method of monitoring the gas concentration within a fumigated commodity sample comprising:
inserting a tapered perforated end [122] of a gas monitoring device into a commodity sample, [see para 45]
said a gas monitoring device comprising a gas tight base unit [130] having a top side and a bottom side, said top end is detachably connected [see fig 3b] to a base unit connection end [124] of an elongated hollow rod [120] having said tapered perforated end, wherein said base unit comprises a sensor [110], a gap [space around 110], a communication module having a telemetry unit [32] with an antenna [para 50], a processor [31], a circuit board [para 47], a battery [33], a wireless charger [para 12] and an internal on/off switch [35].
While Drewnowski discloses a wireless charger for the battery, the claimed induction coil is not recited.
Induction coils are the most common way to wirelessly charge a battery.
Kamen shows a specific teaching that inductive coils are used for wireless charging.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention for Drewnowski’s wirelessly charged battery to use an induction coil as they are common and reliable ways to wirelessly charge a battery.
Drewnowski does not disclose surrounding the sensor 110 with a sealant to fill the gap.
EP discloses a sensor that fills gaps around electronics with silicone RTV to prevent gas and moisture from damaging the electronics. See page 4, para 1-3.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention for Drewnowski to fill the gap with silicone RTV for the benefit of protecting the parts unit from damage caused by the gas being monitored.
With respect to Claim 8, Drewnowski discloses that said gas is phosphine and parts per million [para 45] data is collected and transmitted via telemetry based communication unit at preset intervals [para 49].
With respect to Claim 9, Drewnowski discloses that said telemetry unit sends data to cloud storage. See para 15.
With respect to Claim 10, Drewnowski discloses that said elongated hollow rod further comprises a filter [12; fig 6].
With respect to Claim 11, Drewnowski discloses that said elongated hollow rod is between 12 to 36 inches long. See para 44.
With respect to Claim 12, Drewnowski discloses that said elongated hollow rod is stainless steel. See para 52.
With respect to Claim 13, the combination of Drewnowski, EP and Kamen disclose a method of monitoring the gas concentration within a fumigated space comprising placing a bottom side of the base unit of a gas monitoring device according to claim 1 on a solid support surface wherein the perforated end of said elongated hollow rod is located above the base unit and is exposed to the ambient air within the fumigated space. See para 10.
With respect to Claim 14, Drewnowski discloses that said gas is phosphine and parts per million [see para 45] data is collected and transmitted via telemetry based communication unit at preset intervals [see para 49].
With respect to Claim 15, Drewnowski discloses that said method does not require external gas sampling pumps. No external pumps mentioned, so they can’t be required.
With respect to Claim 16, EP discloses that said parts unit is coated with a conformal coating. EP coats the parts in Silicone RTV for protection. See page 4, para 1-3.
With respect to Claim 17, Drewnowski does not mention a location of an antenna. It is well known that materials attenuate antenna signals and that one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to place the antenna on a periphery for the benefit of maximizing signal strength.
With respect to Claim 18, EP discloses that said parts unit is coated with a conformal coating. EP coats the parts in Silicone RTV for protection. See page 4, para 1-3.
With respect to Claim 19, Drewnowski does not mention a location of an antenna. It is well known that materials attenuate antenna signals and that one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to place the antenna on a periphery for the benefit of maximizing signal strength.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10 March 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s only argument is that U.S. Pub No. 2021/0076661 isn’t a proper prior art under 102(a)(2). While this is true, U.S. Pub No. 2021/0076661 was published 18 March 2021 and the instant application’s effective filing date is 21 September 2022, the date of the filed provisional. Therefore U.S. Pub No. 2021/0076661 qualifies as prior art under 102(a)(1).
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/ALEX T DEVITO/Examiner, Art Unit 2855 /JOHN E BREENE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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