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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
There are two (2) sets of claims submitted on 10 AUGUST 2023. The claim set considered is the claim set consisting of three (3) pages and the claim have status identifiers.
In the claim set, Claims 1-97 are ‘Canceled’; Claims 98-108 are ‘New’.
Current pending claims are Claims 98-108 and are considered on the merits below.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 13 NOVEMBER 2023 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
A “first thermal flow controller configured to interface…” in Claim 98 and 99.
A “controller” does not connote any particular structure. The specification describes the “flow controller” to be “first thermally conductive interface thermally coupled with a flow segment of the first fluid line, and at least one flow control Peltier thermoelectric device configured to controllably lower or raise a temperature of the first thermally conductive interface sufficiently to controllably freeze or thaw fluid contained in the flow segment of the first fluid line and thereby selectively prevent or allow fluid to flow through into or out of the inlet port of the electrokinetic device through the first fluid line. The first thermally-controlled flow controller may include a first housing having a first passageway through which the flow segment of the first fluid line extends, the housing further containing the first thermally conductive interface and the at least one flow control Peltier thermoelectric device; and/or insulating material at least partially surrounding the flow segment of the first fluid line proximate the first thermally conductive interface.” in [0009].
A “second thermal flow controller configured to interface…” in Claim 100.
A “controller” does not connote any particular structure. The specification describes the “flow controller” to be “a second thermally conductive interface thermally coupled with a flow segment of the second fluid line, and at least one flow control Peltier thermoelectric device configured to controllably lower or raise a temperature of the second thermally conductive interface sufficiently to controllably freeze or thaw fluid contained in the flow segment of the second fluid line and thereby selectively prevent or allow fluid to flow out of or into the outlet port of the electrokinetic device. The second thermally-controlled flow controller may include a second housing having a second passageway through which the flow segment of the second fluid line extends, the housing further containing the second thermally conductive interface thermally coupled with the flow segment of the second fluid line, and the at least one flow control Peltier thermoelectric device configured to controllably lower or raise a temperature of the second thermally conductive interface; and/or insulating material at least partially surrounding the flow segment of the second fluid line proximate the second thermally conductive interface.” in [0009].
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Objections
Claim 105 is objected to because of the following informalities: In the instant claim, in the last line there is the instance of “device device”. It is believed that one of these instances should be deleted. 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.
Claim 101 is 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.
The instant claim is missing a proper transitional phrase, but rather uses the term “includes”. It is interpreted by the Examiner that Claim 101 reads “the first segment comprises freezing or thawing the fluid…”
Claim 104 is 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.
In the instant claim, line 2, it is unclear what Applicant means by the language of ‘the first the first thermal flow’. Should one of ‘the first’ be deleted?
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 98-108 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by GARCIA, US Publication No. 2012/0118740 A1.
Applicant’s invention is directed towards a device, a microfluidic device system.
Regarding Claim 98, the reference microfluidic device system, Figure 2, [0061, 0062], chip 30, Figure 8, [0087], comprising:
a socket configured to hold a microfluidic device, Figure 2 and 8, stage, [0062];
a first fluid line having a distal end configured to be fluidically coupled with an inlet of the microfluidic device when the microfluidic device is held in the socket, Figure 2, lines 20, [0064];
a first thermal flow controller configured to interface with a first segment of the first fluid line and configured to adjust flow of a fluid into the microfluidic device by adjusting a temperature of the first segment of the first fluid line to selectively allow the fluid to flow to the microfluidic device, [0063], stage is temperature controlled with heating or cooling elements ; and
a controller configured to operate the first thermal flow controller to adjust the temperature of the first segment to reach a target temperature, thereby controlling movement of the fluid within the microfluidic device, [0063, 0064].
Additional Disclosures Included are: Claim 99: wherein the microfluidic device system of claim 98, further comprising: a second fluid line having a proximal end configured to be fluidically coupled with an outlet of the microfluidic device when the microfluidic device is held in the socket, and wherein the first thermal flow controller is also configured to interface with a second segment of the second fluid line and configured to adjust flow of the fluid out of the microfluidic device by adjusting a temperature of the second segment of the second fluid line, Figure 2, [0062-0064].; Claim 100: wherein the microfluidic device system of claim 98, further comprising: a second fluid line having a proximal end configured to be fluidically coupled with an outlet of the microfluidic device when the microfluidic device is held in the socket; and a second thermal flow controller configured to interface with a second segment of the second fluid line and configured to adjust flow of a fluid out of the microfluidic device by adjusting a temperature of a second segment of the second fluid line, wherein the controller is configured to operate the second thermal flow controller to adjust the temperature of the second segment to reach the target temperature, thereby controlling movement of the fluid within the microfluidic device, Figure 2, [0062-0064]. ; Claim 101: wherein the microfluidic device system of claim 98, wherein adjusting the temperature of the first segment includes freezing or thawing the fluid in the first segment of the first fluid line to selectively allow the fluid to flow to the microfluidic device, [0063].; Claim 102: wherein the microfluidic device system of claim 98, further comprising: a light source configured to emit light onto the microfluidic device when the microfluidic device is held in the socket, Figure 1, light source 12, [0026, 0055, 0056, 0058, 0166, 0173].; Claim 103: wherein the microfluidic device system of claim 102, wherein the light is structured light, Figure 1, [0055-0057].; Claim 104: wherein the microfluidic device system of claim 102, wherein the light source emits light onto the microfluidic device responsive to the controller operating the first the first thermal flow controller to adjust the temperature of the first segment to reach the target temperature, [0059].; Claim 105: wherein the microfluidic device system of claim 98, further comprising: an electrical signal generation circuit configured to apply a biasing voltage across a pair of electrodes in the microfluidic device Claim 106: wherein the microfluidic device system of claim 98, wherein the first fluid line is flexible, [0061, 0064, 0086]. ; Claim 107; wherein the microfluidic device system of claim 106, wherein adjusting a temperature of the first segment of the first fluid line adjusts a flexibility of the first fluid line to limit movement of fluid within the microfluidic device, [0063]. ; and Claim 108: wherein the microfluidic device system of claim 107, further comprising: a light source configured to emit light onto the microfluidic device responsive to the adjustment of the flexibility of the first fluid line to limit movement of fluid within the microfluidic device, Figure 1, light source 12, [0026, 0055, 0056, 0058, 0166, 0173].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTINE T MUI whose telephone number is (571)270-3243. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 5:30 -15:30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, LYLE ALEXANDER can be reached at (571) 272-1254. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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CTM
/CHRISTINE T MUI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1797