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
This office action is responsive to the preliminary amendment filed on 9/28/23. As directed by the amendment: no claims have been amended, claims 1-7 have been cancelled, and new claims 8-14 been added. Thus, claims 8-14 are presently pending in this application.
Claim Objections
Claims 8-14 are objected to because of the following informalities: the claims inconsistently refer back to the initially recited “at least one recess”, sometimes referencing “each recess”, sometimes referencing “the or each recess”, and sometimes simply stating “the recess”. Additionally, claim 13 has an unnecessary comma after “rectilinear”. 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.
Claim(s) 8-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Heath et al. (US 20170305580).
Regarding claims 8-14, Heath et al. discloses a tray 20 (fig. 7-10) designed to receive one cartridge comprising a plunger movable inside the cartridge (structure of fig. 7-10 fully capable of performing this claimed function), said tray comprising: one recess (recess defined within the body of 20, see fig. 7-10) extending along an engagement axis (axis defined centrally relative to the cylindrical shape of 20 in fig. 7-10), the recess being surrounded by a side wall outer wall of 20); the recess having an upwardly, along the engagement axis, extending post 22 located therein (see fig. 7-10), each recess further comprising a plurality of protruding retaining members (38 a and 38c) extending radially from said side wall into the recess (see fig. 7-10); wherein the tray is configured to retain the cartridge inside the recess by said plurality of protruding retaining members (structure illustrated in fig. 7-10 is fully capable of performing this claimed function) and wherein the post is configured to abut the plunger of the cartridge when the cartridge is inserted in the recess, such that each cartridge is spaced from a bottom wall of said recess (structure illustrated in fig. 8 is fully capable of performing this claimed function); each retaining member comprises a retaining tip configured to abut the cartridge (central-most portion of each of 38a and 38c; see fig. 7-10); the tray comprises external slots surrounding the recess for enabling each retaining member to be pushed away from the post (open space between 38a/c and the wall to which they are attached, see fig. 7-10); the or each recess comprises a plurality of ribs (38b and 38d) on the side wall to avoid contact between the cartridge and the side wall of the recess (38b and 38d are fully capable of performing this claimed function); the post has a cylindrical shape (see fig. 7-10); the tray has a circular shape (see fig. 7-10); and a kit comprising the tray and one cartridge comprising a plunger configured to be stored inside the or each recess of said tray (see fig. 11).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached notice of references cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN R PRICE whose telephone number is (571)270-5421. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00am-4:00pm Eastern time.
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/NATHAN R PRICE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783