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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 1/23/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The specification appears to have a typographical error on page 4, line 26. The examiner respectfully suggests replacing “lager” with -- larger --.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 7,144,485 issued to Hsu et al. (“Hsu”).
As for claim 1, Hsu discloses a raw milk measuring apparatus (Fig. 3), comprising:
a flow path (from 321 to 325 and 332) through which raw milk flows;
a surfactant (col. 4, lines 24-27) placed in the flow path; and
an electrode (313) at least partially disposed within the flow path, wherein
the surfactant is at least partially placed upstream the electrode (col. 4, lines 24-27).
Although Hsu discloses that the surfactant is placed on the walls of the capillary in the flow path (col. 4, lines 24-27), Hsu does not explicitly disclose that the surfactant placed on a side wall of the flow path.
However, Hsu disclosed the need to place a surfactant on walls of the capillary in the flow path (col. 4, lines 24-27).
One having ordinary skill in the art would recognize, based on Fig. 3, that the top wall of capillary 322 was formed by the top insulating layer 330, the side walls of capillary 322 were formed by the intermediate spacer layer 320, and the bottom wall of capillary 322 was formed by the insulating layer 310. Thus, one having ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the surfactant could be placed on one or more of the top layer 330, intermediate spacer 320, and bottom layer 310 so that the surfactant would be on a wall surface of the capillary 322.
Therefore, for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application, it would have been obvious to try to pursue the known solutions of placing a surfactant on walls of the capillary, including placing the surfactant on the capillary side wall, to achieve the predictable result of providing a surfactant that facilitates the uptake of the sample (Hsu: col. 4, lines 24-27).
The examiner notes that the recitation that the flow path is for raw milk discloses the intended use of the measuring apparatus and does not structurally distinguish the claimed invention over the prior art.
Claims 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 7,144,485 issued to Hsu et al. (“Hsu”) in view of U.S. Patent 5,120,420 issued to Nankai et al. (“Nankai”).
As for claim 2, Hsu as modified discloses the raw milk measuring apparatus according to claim 1 and:
a top portion (330) having an outlet (332) for the raw milk;
a bottom portion (310) on which the electrode (313) is disposed; and
an intermediate layer (320) disposed between the top portion (330) and the bottom portion (310) in which the side wall (sides of 322) is formed.
Hsu does not disclose that the top portion has an inlet. Instead, Hsu discloses that the intermediate layer (320) has an inlet (321).
However, Nankai discloses (see Fig. 13) a top layer (9) that has an inlet (10). Hsu discloses that providing an inlet in the top layer is an alternative to providing an inlet in an intermediate layer (see Fig. 12).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to substitute inlet in the top portion of Nankai for the inlet in the intermediate layer of Hsu to achieve the predictable result of providing an inlet to the measuring apparatus.
As for claim 3, Hsu as modified by Nankai discloses that the intermediate layer (Hsu: 320) is adhered (col. 3, lines 44-47) to the top portion and the bottom portion.
As for claims 4 and 5, Hsu as modified by Nankai discloses:
placing the surfactant on the side wall (see the rejection of claim 1 above); and
disposing the intermediate layer between the top portion and the bottom portion (Hsu: col. 3, lines 40-42 and Fig. 3).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent 8,877,023 issued to Whyte et al. (“Whyte”) is cited for all that it discloses including a measuring apparatus with a surfactant on walls of a flow path.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN N OLAMIT whose telephone number is (571)270-1969. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8 am - 5 pm (Pacific).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephen Meier can be reached at (571) 272-2149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN N OLAMIT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853