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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Paragraph [0001] of the Specification refers to US Patent App. No. 16i/696,959. Since this application was issued as US Pat 11,839,736 on 12/12/2023, paragraph [0001] should be updated to indicate this. Appropriate correction is required.
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it only describes a cassette while the claimed invention is a pump apparatus; because only a cassette is described, the Abstract does not describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Objections
Claim 23 is objected to because of the following informalities: Line 3 contains a typographical error and should recite “the identification member” instead of just “the identification”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 31 is objected to because of the following informalities: The phrase “raised projection” on line 2 lacks an article preceding it; the term “a” should be inserted before this phrase in order to be grammatically correct. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 32 is objected to because of the following informalities: The term “the” in the phrase “the bottom” on line 2 should be replaced with the term “a” since this is the first time that the term “bottom” is being introduced. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 33 and 34 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 33 introduces “a recess” on lines 1-2 and claim 34 recites “the recess” on line 1. Since claim 21 introduces “a cassette recess”, claims 33 and 34 should be amended to refer to their “recess” in another way to avoid confusion with the “cassette recess” of claim 21. It is suggested to amend claim 33 to introduce “a tab recess” (since claim 33 specifies that the recess is configured to receive a tab on the cassette) and for claim 34 to recite “the tab recess”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 34 objected to because of the following informalities: The term “the” in the phrase “the top” on line 2 should be replaced with the term “a” since this is the first time that the term “top” is being introduced. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 37 is objected to because of the following informalities: The term “front” on line 2 lacks an article preceding it; the term “a” should be inserted before this term in in order to be grammatically correct. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 39 is objected to because of the following informalities: The term “front” on line 2 lacks an article preceding it; the term “a” should be inserted before this term in in order to be grammatically correct. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 21-34 and 37-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tieck et al. (PG PUB 2016/0015957).
The Examiner notes that all pending claims are directed only to a “pumping apparatus” and do not require “a cassette”, “an identification member” or any other elements that are claimed as being a part of the “cassette” since the “cassette” is only functionally recited. This note is deemed necessary since nearly every claim recites features of the functionally recited “cassette”.
Re claim 21, Tieck discloses a pumping apparatus 30 (Fig 1) comprising: a housing 33 (Fig 1); a cassette recess 32 (Fig 1) in the housing (as seen in Fig 1), the cassette recess configured to receive a cassette having at least one mounting formation comprising a plurality of pockets with each pocket configured to receive one identification member in any one of a plurality of predetermined orientations (it is noted that the italicized text constitutes functional language and, therefore, a cassette and any identification members therein are not a part of the claimed invention; in order to read on the functional language, Tieck only has to be structurally capable of receiving such a cassette; this limitation is met since recess 32 is structurally capable of receiving any cassette shaped like reservoir 1 + cap 4, as seen in Fig 4E), and a plurality of sensors 34 (Fig 1; although Fig 1 only shows one sensor, Fig 4A discloses three sensors 34 and Para 69 discloses four sensors 34) residing in the housing (as seen in Fig 1), each sensor configured to determine whether an identification member is present in a corresponding pocket and the orientation of the identification member in the corresponding pocket when the cassette is engage with the cassette recess, wherein the presence and orientation of the identification member in the corresponding pocket of the plurality of pockets determines a functional configuration of the pumping apparatus from a plurality of functional configurations (it is noted that the italicized text constitutes functional language and, therefore, identification members are not a part of the claimed invention; in order to read on the functional language, Tieck only has to be structurally and operationally capable of determining the presence and orientation of identification members; this limitation is met since Para 70,442 (for example) disclose that the sensors 34 can detect presence and orientation of magnetic members and Para 63,481,501 (for example) discloses that this information is used to control operation of the pump).
Re claim 22, Tieck discloses that each sensor is a Hall-effect sensor (Para 431).
Re claim 23, Tieck discloses that each sensor is positioned near a corresponding pocket of the plurality of pockets to determine the presence and the orientation of the identification member in the corresponding pocket of the cassette when the cassette is engaged with the pumping apparatus (as seen in Fig 4A).
Re claim 24, Tieck discloses that the pumping apparatus further comprises a processor 60 (Fig 5) in communication with each sensor (as seen in Fig 5, Para 419), the processor configured to identify the functional configuration of the pumping apparatus based on the presence and orientation of the identification member in each pocket of the plurality pockets of the cassette (Para 63, “these characteristics can be fed to the pump to determine operation”; Para 481, “such information can be employed by the electronics […] to control or set initial or ongoing operations”).
Re claim 25, Tieck discloses that the functional configuration of the pumping apparatus is one of feed, feed/flush, feed wifi, feed/flush wifi, neonatal feed, neonatal feed/flush, neonatal feed wifi, and neonatal feed/flush wifi (Para 501, wherein fluid being “pumped” is equivalent to fluid being “fed” and “priming” is equivalent to “flushing”)
Re claim 26, Tieck discloses that the plurality of sensors comprises four sensors (Para 69).
Re claim 27, Tieck discloses that the processor is configured to determine the functional configuration of the pumping apparatus from eight functional configurations when the plurality of sensors determines the presence and orientation of a single identification member in the cassette (the claim only requires the processor to determine one functional configuration (“the functional configuration”) and this is met in view of Para 501; it is noted that the claim does not require the processor to include a list of eight functional configurations to choose from – rather, the claim only has to determine one configuration from a hypothetical eight configurations).
Re claim 28, Tieck discloses that the processor is configured to determine the functional configuration of the pumping apparatus from thirty-two functional configurations when the plurality of sensors determines the presence and orientation of two identification members in the cassette (the claim only requires the processor to determine one functional configuration (“the functional configuration”) and this is met in view of Para 501; it is noted that the claim does not require the processor to include a list of thirty-two functional configurations to choose from – rather, the claim only has to determine one configuration from a hypothetical thirty-two configurations).
Re claim 29, Tieck discloses that each sensor is configured to determine the orientation of the identification member in the pocket of the plurality of pockets with the orientation being one of a north pole or south pole when the identification member is facing in a first direction or the orientation being one of the north pole or south when the identification member is facing a second direction, opposite the first direction, when the identification member is an axially magnetized magnet (Para 441).
Re claim 30, Tieck discloses that each sensor is configured to determine the orientation of the identification member in the pocket of the plurality of pockets with the orientation being an angular position of the identification member when the identification member is a diametrically magnetized magnet (Para 441).
Re claim 31, Tieck discloses that the housing further comprises one or more slots (“corresponding threads (not shown) in a reservoir receptacle 32”, Para 388) with each slot configured to receive a pin or raised projection on the cassette (this limitation is met since Para 388 sets forth that the “corresponding threads” receive external threads 19 of the cap 4; therefore, the “corresponding threads” are structurally capable of receiving a pin or raised projection that is the same size as the threads 19).
Re claim 32, Tieck discloses that the one or more slots are positioned at about the bottom of housing (since the pumping apparatus is not disclosed as having to be held in a specific orientation, any side can be interpreted as the “bottom” of the housing; for this claim, the “bottom” is directed to the left in Fig 1).
Re claim 33, Tieck discloses that the housing further comprises a recess (“corresponding threads (not shown) in a reservoir receptacle 32”, Para 388) configured to receive a tab on the cassette (this limitation is met since Para 388 sets forth that the “corresponding threads” receive external threads 19 of the cap 4; therefore, the “corresponding threads” are structurally capable of receiving a tab that is the same size as the threads 19).
Re claim 34, Tieck discloses that the recess is positioned at about the top of the housing (since the pumping apparatus is not disclosed as having to be held in a specific orientation, any side can be interpreted as being the “top” of the housing; for this claim, the “top” is directed upward in Fig 1).
Re claim 37, Tieck discloses that the cassette recess is located on front of the housing (since the pumping apparatus is not disclosed as having to be held in any specific orientation, any side can be interpreted as being the “front” of the pumping apparatus; for this claim, the “front” is facing upward in Fig 1).
Re claim 38, Tieck discloses a display screen (seen in Fig 1 but not labeled; described in Para 505 as “LCD”; Para 518, “readable message on a display device of the infusion pump device 30”) configured to display information about status and operation of the pumping apparatus (Para 505,518).
Re claim 39, Tieck discloses that the display screen is positioned on front of the pumping apparatus (since the pumping apparatus is not disclosed as having to be held in one specific orientation, any side can be interpreted as being the “front” of the pumping apparatus; for this claim, the “front” is facing out of the page in Fig 1).
Re claim 40,Tieck discloses a pumping unit (Para 376, “drive motor or other drive device”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 35 and 36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tieck et al. (PG PUB 2016/0015957) in view of Brown (US Pat 2,646,798).
Re claims 35 and 36, Tieck discloses all the claimed features except that the housing further comprises a hook configured to receive a flange on the cassette (as required by claim 35), wherein the hook in positioned within the cassette recess of the pumping apparatus (as required by claim 36). Brown, however, providing a housing (Fig 14) with a hook (formed by slot 49) in a recess of the housing (as seen in Fig 14) configured to receive a flange 47 (Fig 13) of a cassette inserted in the recess (Col 6, Line 68 – Col 7, Line 10); Brown also teaches that a hook connection can be used in place of a threaded connection (like in Tieck) and vice versa (Col 7, Lines 64-67) since they each achieve the same result of connecting the housing to the cassette. Accordingly, a hook connection and a threaded connection were art-recognized equivalents at the time the invention was made; therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute the hook configuration of Brown in place of the threaded configuration of Tieck since it has been held that substituting parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. PG PUB 2006/0224128 to Lurvey et al. (Para 111), PG PUB 2015/0000669 to Miller (Para 47), PG PUB 2005/0267418 to Fournie et al. (Para 55) and US Pat 6,117,115 to Hill et al. (Col 2, Line 64 – Col 3, Line 18) each disclose a sensing arrangement configured to determine the presence and orientation of an identification member, wherein different presences and orientations indicate different functional configurations.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAMI A BOSWORTH whose telephone number is (571)270-5414. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8 am - 4 pm.
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/KAMI A BOSWORTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783
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