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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-8 in the reply filed on 05 July 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 9-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected methods, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 05 July 2026.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. However, the Figures do not appear to depict “a projection of a first side of the liquid pushing plate” (claim 2). Therefore, this feature must be shown or canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 2-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 2 requires “a projection of a first side of the liquid pushing plate”. However, it is unclear what kind of feature this “projection” reads on, as it is not depicted in the Figures or described with detail in the written specification. The pushing plates 2 illustrated in Figs. 1-5, for example, are all shown as having flat first and second sides that are not characterized by any additional projection configured as a straight line or arc extending from the side. It unclear if this recitation is drawn to a distinct projection element disposed on a surface of each pushing plate, or instead is intended to describe how the pushing plates themselves project inwardly in a radial direction within the centrifuge chamber.
Claims 3-8 are rejected as being dependent on claim 2.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the shell wall" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is believed that claim 6 should be dependent on claim 5 rather than claim 3.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishida (US 5227066).
With respect to claim 1, Ishida discloses a cell centrifugation apparatus comprising a centrifuge chamber (Figure 1:21) and one or more liquid pushing plates (Figure 1:20). The centrifuge chamber ha a rotation axis and is connected with a rotation drive mechanism (Figure 1:31, generally). The centrifuge chamber rotates around its rotation axis under drive of the rotation drive mechanism for centrifuging a live cell suspension, such as a blood sample. Column 3, line 65 to column 4, line 32 indicates that the pushing plates are used to push the blood sample to rotate synchronously along a same rotation direction as the centrifuge chamber (“the septa are rotated in the same rotating direction and at the same angular velocity as the rotor at the time of centrifugal separation while the entire portion of the septa or its part is immersed into the solution in the rotor”).
With respect to claims 2-4, Ishida discloses the apparatus as described above. Ishida further shows in Figs. 1, 3a, 3b and 7 that the liquid pushing plates are characterized by opposing first and second sides that project in a straight line through the interior of the centrifuge chamber in a radial direction. The pushing plates are separated from the inner side wall of the centrifuge chamber by a gap. See Figs. 1, 3a and 6a. Fig. 7 shows that there are four pushing plates 20 circumferentially and uniformly distributed relative to the rotation axis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Ishida is believed to be the closest prior art for the reasons expressed above. Ishida, however, does not teach the shell structure and liquid-through structures required by the claims. The Kabaha (US 9586213) and Miltenyi (US 8747290) references teach the state of the art regarding cell centrifugation structures having a shell wall and various liquid connection tubes. These references, however, do not teach the pushing plates configured to synchronously push a blood sample during rotation. Furthermore, it is unclear how the Ishida centrifugation device would be modified to include a first liquid-through structure, a second liquid-through structure, and a shell wall even after considering the teachings provided by Kabaha and Miltenyi.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The Dennehey (US 4936820) and Brown (US 6511411) references teach the state of the art regarding cell centrifugation apparatuses.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN ANDREW BOWERS whose telephone number is (571)272-8613. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Marcheschi can be reached at (571) 272-1374. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATHAN A BOWERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
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