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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/23/2025 has been entered.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The amendments have removed the limitations toward the gas-filled chamber. The title needs to be updated to reflect this change.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: the cross-reference related application should be updated to recite the US Pat No 11,918,800 which is the issued patent number for the US application no. 17/107,341.
Paragraph [0001] should be amended to: “This application is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 17/107,341 filed November 30, 2020, and now issued U.S. Patent No. 11,918,800, which is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 15/654,451, filed July 19, 2017 and now issued U.S. Patent No. 11,491,322 , which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/365,258, filed July 21, 2016, the contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 21-26, 28, 31-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 21 recites the limitation "rotary blood pump " in line 6. It is unclear if this is the same or different rotary blood pump as provided in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Dependent claims 22-26, 28, 31-40 are rejected for depending on rejected claim 21 and failure to remedy the deficiency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANA SAHAND whose telephone number is (571)272-6842. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30 am -5:30 pm; F 9 am-3 pm.
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/SANA SAHAND/Examiner, Art Unit 3796
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