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 § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 has been amended to recited “control the flow regulator so as to set a gas flow rate to a predetermined non-zero flow rate during a period in which the three-way valve sends the predetermined gas into the second passage.” The applicant explained this new limitation is based on paras. [0052-0054, 0065-0067] of the disclosure. However, upon review of the disclosure, no explicit or inherent support was found for this limitation. The original disclosure teaches the flow rate is set at the same level before (with-gas mode) and after (no-gas mode) the valve is switched, which is different from a separate active control step performed during no-gas mode to set the flow rate to a predetermined value. Thus, the specification’s descriptions of setting the flow rate at the same level across the switching operation cannot be reasonably interpreted to include independently controlling or changing the flow regulator to set a predetermined non-zero flow rate at any time point during the no-gas analysis period. As such, the limitation is new matter, and is rejected for failing the written description requirement.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments have overcome the objections to the specification of record.
Applicant’s amendments have overcome the objections to the drawing of record.
Applicant’s amendments have overcome the indefiniteness rejection of record.
Applicant’s amendments have overcome the obviousness rejection of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JING WANG whose telephone number is (571)272-2504. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-17:00.
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/JING WANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2881
/WYATT A STOFFA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2881
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