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 .
This action is in response to the preliminary amendment filed 2/06/2024. Claims 1-23 and 29 are pending while claims 24-28 and 30-33 are canceled.
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) 23 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0069650 to Hasson et al. (Hasson).
In reference to claim 23, Hasson teaches a method of collecting hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe (par 0006 and 0082), comprising providing a cryo-collection system comprising a dewar (141, FIG. 14) with an internal liquid chamber (140, FIG. 14) chamber comprising liquid and an accumulator (50A, FIG. 14); flowing liquid nitrogen into the chamber to cool the accumulator to a sufficient temperature to freeze and collect hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe from a hyperpolarized noble gas mixture (par 0038-0041); then draining the liquid nitrogen from the chamber (via valve 37, FIG. 2B); then flowing heated water into the chamber to heat the collected hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe to a sufficient temperature to thaw the collected hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe (par 0098 and 0099); and then flowing the thawed hyperpolarized 129 Xe out of the accumulator into an enclosed flow path (par 0084, last sentence).
In reference to claim 29, Hasson teaches a dewar for cryo-collection (FIG. 14), comprising a dewar body (141, FIG. 14) enclosing a chamber (50A, FIG. 14); and a drain port (par 0158; port allowing fluid communication between chamber 50A and a valve 28, FIG. 14) in the dewar body (141, FIG. 14) in fluid communication with the chamber (50A, FIG. 14).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-22 are allowed.
REASONS FOR ALLOWANCE
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art does not anticipate nor render obvious the combination set forth in the independent claim, and specifically does not show a cryo-collection system wherein the system is configured so that the coolant liquid and the heated liquid both serially drain from the chamber through the drain port.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
See attached PTO-892 for relevant prior art.
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/FILIP ZEC/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
1/23/2026