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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-14 are examined.
Claims 15-20 are withdrawn.
Response to Amendment
The amendments made to the claims overcome the previous 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections; therefore the rejections are withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-4 and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20140293411 (“Kaneki”), in view of US 20040257561 (“Nakagawa”), US 20160209319 (“Adalsteinsson”), and CN 212531371 U (“Zhao”, an English machine translation is provided with this Office Action).
Regarding claim 1, Kaneki teaches an apparatus for manipulating microscopic objects (¶ [0005] & ¶ [0114] system for micro insemination) with an inverted microscope (¶ [0005] & ¶ [0114] inverted microscope) having a stage (¶ [0029] stage 15) positioned above an objective lens (¶ [0029] objective lens 17) for supporting the microscopic objects (¶ [0028] petri dish 100; ¶ [0047] sperm in petri dish), comprising:
a housing (¶ [0029] condenser unit 14) providing an enclosure that extends about a housing interior volume (FIG. 1 and 2 depict 14 providing an enclosure and extends about a housing interior volume), the housing including a housing outer wall that at least partially defines a boundary of the housing interior volume (FIG. 1 and 2 depict 14 including a housing outer wall that at least partially defines a boundary of the housing interior volume) and having at least one support (¶ [0030] illumination support unit 102 and arm unit 104) adapted to attach to the inverted microscope (¶ [0030] arm unit 104 attaches the condenser unit 14 to the main body 10 of inverted microscope).
Kaneki does not teach:
a needle holder arranged inside the housing interior volume and attachable to the housing permitting a needle to move along at least one axis;
an orifice extending through the housing outer wall to accommodate movement of the needle tip from a retracted position in which the needle tip is inside the housing interior volume to an extended position in which the needle tip is outside the housing interior volume above the stage and objective lens of the inverted microscope; and
a pump assembly attachable to the housing and operating to communicate with the needle to permit fluid flow through the needle.
Analogous art Nakagawa teaches a microscope for manipulating microscopic objects (¶ [0001] a microscope for collecting microscopic sample).
Nakagawa further discloses a needle holder (¶ [0034] holding member 17) holder arranged inside the housing interior volume (¶ [0071] – shaft 11; FIG. 6A depicts 17 arranged in 11) and attachable to the housing (Fig. 1B, holding member 17 attaches to the frame 1) permitting a needle that includes a needle tip (¶ [0038] - tip of 23) to move along at least one axis (¶ [0016] the sampling needle moves in at least one direction); and an orifice (¶ [0082] inserting hole) extending through the housing outer wall (Fig. 1B, upper plate 4) to accommodate movement of the needle tip (¶ [0082], Fig. 1B, needle moves through inserting hole 11e) … to an extended position in which the needle tip is outside the housing interior volume needle above the stage and objective lens of the inverted microscope (Fig. 1B, the needle 23 is extended outside 11 and is above the stage and objective lens because it collects samples from the top surface of the stage).
Kaneki and Nakagawa are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of microscope apparatus. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the microscope in Kaneki to incorporate a needle holder and an orifice as taught by Nakagawa as described above, in order to enable conducting sampling (Nakagawa, ¶ [0007]).
Modified Kaneki does not teach a pump assembly attachable to the housing and operating to communicate with the needle to permit fluid flow through the needle.
Analogous art Adalsteinsson teaches a microscope (¶ [0030] microscope) comprising a pump assembly (¶ [0030] micropumping system) attachable to the housing (¶ [0030] pump is connected to the needle which is removably fastened to the microscope) and operating to communicate with the needle to permit fluid flow through the needle (¶ [0030] pumps control the fluid volumes through needle).
Kaneki and Adalsteinsson are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of microscope apparatus. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the microscope in Kaneki to incorporate a pump assembly as taught by Adalsteinsson as described above, in order to transfer fluid within the microscope (Adalsteinsson, ¶ [0030]).
Kaneki discloses positioning of a needle tip of a micropipette manipulated by a manipulator (¶ [0041]) to manipulate a specimen on a stage (¶ [0005]).
Modified Kaneki does not teach:
an orifice extending through the housing outer wall to accommodate movement of the needle tip from a retracted position in which the needle tip is inside the housing interior volume
Analogous art Zhao discloses a silicone soft material feeding system (¶ [0012]) that uses material picking needles to pick up soft material and perform material handling (¶ [0010-0011]).
Zhao further discloses an orifice (¶ [0028] – needle holes 7) extending through the housing outer wall (¶ [0028] – lower plate 3) to accommodate movement of the needle tip (¶ [0028] – head of steel needle 8) from a retracted position (¶ [0029] – 8 to retract into 7) in which the needle tip is inside the housing interior volume to an extended position in which the needle tip is outside the housing interior volume (¶ [0028] - 8 passes through 7 and protrudes from 3 during material picking).
Kaneki and Zhao are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they teach apparatuses for manipulating/moving material. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the needle holding member and needle in modified Kaneki to incorporate the extending and retracting of the needle tip through a needle hole as taught by Zhao to achieve material pickup and discharge by changing the position of the needle plate (¶ [0006]).
Regarding claim 2, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 1. Modified Kaneki teaches wherein the at least one support (Kaneki ¶ [0030] illumination support unit 102 and arm unit 104) is adapted to attach to a condenser mount (Kaneki ¶ [0029], Fig. 1, arm unit 104 attaches to condenser unit 14) of the inverted microscope and configured to suspend the housing above the stage (Kaneki Fig. 1, the condenser unit 14 suspends above the stage 15).
Regarding claim 3, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 2. Modified Kaneki teaches the at least one support is an upwardly extending removable disk (Nakagawa, Fig. 1A, disk 2 supporting the condenser Ma is upwardly extending; ¶ [0060] disk 2 is detachable from microscope frame) receivable by the condenser mount (Nakagawa, Fig. 1A, plate 4) to permit the condenser mount to hold the removable disk (Nakagawa, Fig. 1A, plate 4 is holding the disk 2).
Regarding claim 4, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 1. Modified Kaneki teaches a light source (Kaneki ¶ [0030] light source 11) attachable to the housing (Kaneki ¶ [0030] light source is attached to microscope body 10) and configured to direct light below the housing and toward the stage (Kaneki ¶ [0030] light is directing to the petri dish below 11, so it necessarily directs light below the housing 11 and toward the stage 15).
Regarding claim 11, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 1. Modified Kaneki teaches wherein the needle holder comprises a motor unit attachable to the housing and including an electrical motor and driver (Nakagawa, ¶ [0128] moving member includes a motor or solenoid to drive the movement) to move a needle mounting bracket along the axis based on a command signal (Nakagawa, ¶ [0096] when dust is detected, the needle is moved downward to collect the sample).
Regarding claim 12, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 11. Modified Kaneki teaches a controller executing a stored program stored in memory (Adalsteinsson, ¶ [0017] processor connects to computer memory and executes instructions) and communicating with the electrical motor of the needle holder (Nakagawa, ¶ [0128] motor of moving member) to control movement of the needle mounting bracket (Nakagawa, Fig. 1B, shaft 11) based on a command signal (Nakagawa, ¶ [0096] when dust is detected, the needle is moved to collect the sample).
Regarding claim 13, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 11. Kaneki teaches wherein the needle holder comprises a tubular collar (Kaneki Fig. 1B, the through-hole on plate 4) coupled to the needle mounting bracket (Kaneki Fig. 1B, the shaft 11 is coupled with the plate 4) and configured to retain the needle therein (Kaneki Fig. 1B, the needle is retained within the shaft 11).
Regarding claim 14, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 13. Modified Kaneki teaches the tube collar is slidable along the axis with respect to the needle mounting bracket (Nakagawa, ¶ [0069] shaft 11 is movable up and down with slider 9) and independent of the movement of the needle mounting bracket (Nakagawa, ¶ [0116] the needle supporting portion 11b is rotatable).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20140293411 (“Kaneki”), in view of US 20040257561 (“Nakagawa”), US 20160209319 (“Adalsteinsson”), and CN 212531371 U (“Zhao”), as applied in claim 4, further in view of US 20170176735 (“Croquette”).
Regarding claim 5, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 4. Kaneki does not teach a light diffuser surrounding the orifice and positioned below the light source.
Croquette teaches a microscope (¶ [0258] microscope) comprising a light diffuser (¶ [0123] transmission mask 8) surrounding the orifice (¶ [0123] first aperture 81) and positioned below the light source (¶ [0048] light diffuser is installed between the light and the field stop which is positioned between the light and the sample).
Kaneki and Croquette are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of microscope apparatus. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the microscope in Kaneki to incorporate a light diffuser as taught by Croquette as described above, in order to increase precision of measurement by the light (Croquette, ¶ [0023]).
Claims 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20140293411 (“Kaneki”), in view of US 20040257561 (“Nakagawa”), US 20160209319 (“Adalsteinsson”), and CN 212531371 U (“Zhao”), as applied in claim 1, further in view of US 20090280559 (“McCarthy”).
Regarding claim 6, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 1. Modified Kaneki teaches the pump assembly connectable to fluidic tubing fluidly communicating with the needle (Adalsteinsson, ¶ [0030] pumps control the fluid volumes through needle).
Kaneki does not teach at least one syringe pump having a motor unit attachable to the housing and including an electrical motor and driver to move a plunger of the syringe pump.
McCarthy teaches a microscope (abstract, microscope), comprising a pump assembly (¶ [0038] system of pumps) comprises at least one syringe pump (¶ [0049] syringe pump) having a motor unit (¶ [0049] motor 608) attachable to the housing (¶ [0049] pump housing 600) and including an electrical motor (¶ [0049] conventional DC brush motor) and driver to move a plunger of the syringe pump (¶ [0049] vertical moving stage 601 actuates the pump).
Kaneki and McCarthy are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of microscope apparatus. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the pump assembly in modified Kaneki to incorporate a syringe pump as taught by McCarthy as described above, in order to facilitate quick and efficient transfer (McCarthy, ¶ [0006]).
Regarding claim 7, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 6. Modified Kaneki teaches a controller executing a stored program stored in memory (Adalsteinsson, ¶ [0017] processor connects to computer memory and executes instructions) and communicating with the electrical motor of the pump assembly to control movement of the plunger based on a command signal (Adalsteinsson, ¶ [0030] pump movement is electrically controlled by processor which sends control signals).
Regarding claim 8, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 7. Modified Kaneki teaches the pump assembly comprises multiple syringe pumps (Adalsteinsson, ¶ [0030] pump assembly comprises multiple pumps). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to duplicate the syringe pump so the assembly contains three syringe pumps, since it has been held that a mere duplication of working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144.04. In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). One would be motivated to use three syringe pumps because each pump is connected to a multiport valve (McCarthy, ¶ [0006]), and there are three multiport valves (McCarthy, ¶ [0040], Fig. 4A, multi-port valves 302, 304, and 306).
Regarding claim 9, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 7. Modified Kaneki teaches the pump assembly comprises a removable cradle (McCarthy, ¶ [0049] removably attached chamber 604) attachable to the housing (McCarthy, ¶ [0049] the chamber 604 is attached to the pump housing 600) receiving at least one syringe tube (McCarthy, ¶ [0049] conduit 702) of the at least one syringe pumps (McCarthy, ¶ [0038] pump is connected to the mixer that includes the conduit).
Regarding claim 10, modified Kaneki discloses the apparatus of claim 7. Modified Kaneki teaches a tube collector (McCarthy, ¶ [0049] chamber 604) attachable to the housing (McCarthy, ¶ [0049] the chamber 604 is attached to the pump housing 600) and providing parallel channels receiving the fluidic tubing (McCarthy, ¶ [0050] chamber 604 comprises multiple ports 612 parallel to each other to provide fluidic tubing).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed January 2, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Nakagawa does not disclose or suggest a housing enclosure, an outer wall orifice, or a needle movable in/out through the outer wall orifice.
The argument is addressed in the updated 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection, where primary reference Kaneki discloses a housing enclosure and an outer wall orifice.
Regarding “a needle movable in/out through the outer wall orifice”, see updated 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection which adds Zhao to teach the limitation and “a housing enclosure” and “outer wall orifice”.
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 JONATHAN B WOO whose telephone number is (571)272-5191. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 am - 5:00 pm ET.
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/JONATHAN B WOO/Examiner, Art Unit 1754
/SEYED MASOUD MALEKZADEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1754
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