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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 5/8/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-18 and 20-21 are pending in the application. Claim 19 is cancelled. Claim 21 is new. Claims 1-10, 16-18, and 20 are withdrawn. The amendments to the claims overcome each and every objection and 112(b) rejection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed on 2/9/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 11-15 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Richmond (US 5,405,333 A) in view of Maurice (US 2012/0088974 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Richmond discloses a fluid reservoir assembly (see Figs. 5-8, col. 8 line 60-col. 9 line 53) configured to couple to a tubing assembly in fluid communication with an endoscope (note: the limitation "configured to couple to a tubing assembly in fluid communication with an endoscope" is a functional limitation and neither a tubing assembly nor an endoscope are positively recited. The fluid reservoir assembly of Figs. 5-8 is configured to couple to fluid delivery tubing for medical procedures (see Fig. 1, col. 8 line 60-col. 9 line 4, col. 9 lines 39-44) and thus could connect to a tubing assembly for an endoscope), the fluid reservoir assembly (see Figs. 5-8) comprising:
a container (liquid medicament bag 300) having a first opening (belly button port 36, not shown in Figs. 5-8, see Fig. 1, col. 4 lines 39-41, col. 5 line 66-col. 6 line 7) and a second opening (opening of liquid medicament bag 300 covered by valve assembly 308, see Figs. 5-8, col. 9 lines 8-22);
a cap (valve 42, not shown in Figs. 5-8, see Fig. 1, col. 4 lines 39-41) configured to couple to the container (liquid medicament bag 300) and cover the first opening (belly button port 36) (see Figs. 1 and 5-8, col. 4 lines 39-41, col. 5 line 66-col. 6 line 7, col. 7 lines 20-29, col. 8 lines 3-10); and
a manifold (valve assembly 308) configured to couple to the container (liquid medicament bag 300) and cover the second opening (opening of liquid medicament bag 300 covered by valve assembly 308, see Figs. 5-8, col. 9 lines 8-22), the manifold (valve assembly 308) having a first port (exterior opening of valve 314 which is configured to couple to tubing, see first annotated Fig. 6 below) and a second port (exterior opening of valve 316 which is configured to couple to tubing, see first annotated Fig. 7 below) positioned exterior of the container (liquid medicament bag 300) when the manifold (valve assembly 308) is coupled to the container (liquid medicament bag 300) (see Figs. 5-8, the exterior openings of valves 314 and 316 are located external to sides 302+304 of container 300), a first manifold opening (opening of valve 314 which valve disc 317 directly opens/closes, see first annotated Fig. 6 below) in fluid communication with the first port (exterior opening of valve 314 which is configured to couple to tubing, see first annotated Fig. 6 below) (see Fig. 6, col. 9 lines 23-30), and a one-way valve (valve disc 317 and valve body 319) comprising a cover (valve disc 317) configured to open and close the first manifold opening (opening of valve 314 which valve disc 317 directly opens/closes, see first annotated Fig. 6 below) (see Fig. 6, col. 9 lines 23-30, col. 6 lines 8-32, col. 6 line 49-col. 7 line 5); and
wherein the first port (exterior opening of valve 314 which is configured to couple to tubing, see first annotated Fig. 6 below) and the second port (exterior opening of valve 316 which is configured to couple to tubing, see first annotated Fig. 7 below) are in fluid communication with an interior of the container (liquid medicament bag 300) (see Figs. 5-8, col. 9 lines 15-53).
However, Richmond fails to state the first manifold opening and the cover are positioned in an interior of the container when the manifold is coupled to the container.
Maurice teaches a fluid reservoir assembly (see Figs. 2-3) comprising a first manifold opening (opening of valve 12d which the check valve structure directly opens/closes, see Fig. 2, par. [0030]) and a cover (check valve structure of valve 12d, see Fig. 2, par. [0030]) are positioned in an interior of the container (fluid source 16) when the manifold (cap 16a) is coupled to the container (fluid source 16) (see Figs. 2-3, par. [0030]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fluid reservoir assembly of Richmond to move the first manifold opening and the cover inside of the container, as taught by Maurice, in order to allow the manifold to be additionally connectable to upright fluid containers (see Maurice par. [0030]).
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First annotated Figs. 6-7
Regarding claim 12, modified Richmond, in the embodiment of Figs. 5-8, teaches the fluid reservoir assembly of claim 11 substantially as claimed. However, modified Richmond, in the embodiment of Figs. 5- 8, fails to state wherein the manifold further comprises: a third port, wherein when the manifold is coupled to the container, the third port is positioned exterior of the container and is in fluid communication with the interior of the container.
Richmond teaches another embodiment of a fluid reservoir assembly (see Fig. 13) comprising a first port (valve 388), a second port (valve 406), and a third port (valve 408) each positioned exterior of the container (medicament bag 382) and in fluid communication with the interior of the container (medicament bag 382) (see Fig. 13, col. 10 line 63-col. 11 line 38).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fluid reservoir assembly of the embodiment of Figs. 5-8 of modified Richmond to separate one of the first or second ports into two ports such that three ports are present, as suggested by the embodiment of Fig. 13 of Richmond, in order to accommodate an additional port to allow the container to be fluidly coupled to even more components of a fluid delivery system (see col. 10 line 63-col. 11 line 38). Since one of the first or second ports (valve 314 and valve 316) of the manifold (valve assembly 308) of Figs. 5-8 would be separated into two ports as shown in Fig. 13, this modification further teaches wherein the manifold (valve assembly 308 of Figs. 5-8) further comprises a third port (one of the separated valves), wherein when the manifold (valve assembly 308 of Figs. 5-8) is coupled to the container (liquid medicament bag 300 of Figs. 5-8), the third port (one of the separated valves) is positioned exterior of the container (liquid medicament bag 300 of Figs. 5-8) and is in fluid communication with the interior of the container (liquid medicament bag 300 of Figs. 5-8) (see Figs. 5-8 and 13).
Regarding claim 13, modified Richmond teaches the fluid reservoir assembly of claim 11 substantially as claimed. Richmond further teaches wherein the container (liquid medicament bag 300) has a first end (first side 302), a second end (second side 304), and a side wall (seam 306) extending between the first end (first side 302) and the second end (second side 304) (see Figs. 5-8, col. 8 line 60- col. 9 line 7); and
the first opening (belly button port 36, not shown in Figs. 5-8, see Fig. 1, col. 4 lines 39-41, col. 5 line 66-col. 6 line 7) extends through the first end (first side 302) (not shown in Figs. 5-8, see Fig. 1, col. 4 lines 39-41, col. 5 line 66-col. 6 line 7) and the second opening (opening of liquid medicament bag 300 covered by valve assembly 308, see Figs. 5-8, col. 9 lines 8-22) extends through the side wall (seam 306) proximate the second end (second side 304) (see Figs. 5-8, col. 9 lines 8-22).
Regarding claim 14, modified Richmond teaches the fluid reservoir assembly of claim 13 substantially as claimed. Richmond further teaches wherein the manifold (valve assembly 308) comprises a perimeter (see Fig. 5), wherein a portion of the perimeter (see Fig. 5) is parallel to the second end (second side 304) of the container (liquid medicament bag 300) (see Fig. 5, col. 8 line 60-col. 9 line 22, a portion of the perimeter of valve assembly 308 shown to be parallel to the second side 304).
Regarding claim 15, modified Richmond teaches the fluid reservoir assembly of claim 11 substantially as claimed. Richmond further teaches wherein:
the manifold (valve assembly 308) comprises a first portion (see second annotated Figs. 6-7 below, portions of valve assembly 308 external to liquid medicament bag 300) configured to be positioned exterior of the container (liquid medicament bag 300) and a second portion (see second annotated Figs. 6-7 below, portions of valve assembly 308 internal to liquid medicament bag 300) configured to be positioned in the interior of the container (liquid medicament bag 300) (see Figs. 5-8); and
the first portion (see second annotated Figs. 6-7 below, portions of valve assembly 308 external to liquid medicament bag 300) and the second portion (see second annotated Figs. 6-7 below, portions of valve assembly 308 internal to liquid medicament bag 300) are configured to couple to one another and fluidly seal the second opening (opening of liquid medicament bag 300 covered by valve assembly 308, see Figs. 5-8, col. 9 lines 8-22) with a portion of the container (liquid medicament bag 300) positioned between the first portion (see second annotated Figs. 6-7 below, portions of valve assembly 308 external to liquid medicament bag 300) and the second portion (see second annotated Figs. 6-7 below, portions of valve assembly 308 internal to liquid medicament bag 300) (see Figs. 5-8, see second annotated Figs. 6-7 below, col. 9 lines 8-53, a portion of the container is present between the top of the first portion and the bottom of the second portion in the vertical direction).
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Second annotated Figs. 6-7
Regarding claim 21, modified Richmond teaches the fluid reservoir assembly of claim 11 substantially as claimed. Richmond further teaches wherein the cover (valve disc 317) is configured to directly close against a surface of the manifold (valve assembly 308) defining the first manifold opening (opening of valve 314 which valve disc 317 directly opens/closes, see first annotated Fig. 6 above) (see annotated Fig. 6 above, col. 9 lines 23-30, col. 6 lines 8-32, col. 6 line 49-col. 7 line 5, valve disc 317 directly opens/closes a surface defining the first manifold opening of valve 314).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 AVERY SMALE whose telephone number is (571)270-7172. The examiner can normally be reached Mon.-Fri. 8-4 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kevin Sirmons can be reached at (571) 272-4965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AVERY SMALE/Examiner, Art Unit 3783
/KAMI A BOSWORTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783
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