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 .
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 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 16-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Urrutia (USPN 6,099,512), in view of Lau (USPAP 2024/0245,859).
Regarding claim 16 Urrutia teaches, a fluid container disposed above and in fluid communication with a fluid chamber (Please note, figure 1. As indicated FIG. 1 is a diagram of an intravenous fluid delivery system including a drip chamber of the present invention.); the fluid chamber including: a fluid inlet port and a first check valve adapted to control fluid flowing therethrough; an air outlet port including an air control valve adapted to control airflow therethrough (Please note, column 3, lines 7-15. As indicated the drip chamber of the present invention is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2. The drip chamber 16 includes a cylindrical housing 24 enclosed at its top end by an inlet port 26 and at its bottom end by an outlet port 28. The inlet port 26 is connected via conduit 14 in flow communication with the intravenous fluid bag 10. Outlet port 28 is connected via conduit 20 in flow communication with needle 18. An inner diameter d.sub.inlet of inlet port 26 is substantially equal to or greater than an inner diameter d.sub.outlet of outlet port 28, d.sub.inlet .gtoreq.d.sub.outlet. The housing 24 also defines an internal chamber or column 30 through which intravenous fluid flows, normally in droplet form.); and a fluid outlet port and a fluid control valve adapted to control fluid outlet therethrough. (Please note, column 3, lines 17-20. As indicated under normal operating conditions, intravenous fluid from bag 10 enters the drip chamber 16 through inlet port 26 and droplets fall from the inlet port 26 through chamber 30, where they collect in a pool 32 at the bottom of housing and eventually exit via outlet port 28. ).
Urrutia does not expressly teach, a camera adapted to image the fluid chamber and fluid drops therein.
Lau teaches, a camera adapted to image the fluid chamber and fluid drops therein. (Please note, paragraph 0019. As indicated the infusion system may further comprise a camera provided on the drop counter, said camera being configured to capture one or both of drip data and fluid level within a drip chamber of the drop counter.).
Urrutia & Lau are combinable because they are from the same field of endeavor.
At the time before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize this camera of Lau in Urrutia’s invention.
The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been as indicated on paragraph 0021, “to access patient data and provide the same to the processor”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Lau with Urrutia to obtain the invention as specified in claim 16.
Regarding claim 17 Urrutia teaches, including as a part of the fluid chamber a pump (Please note, column 3, lines 2-5. As indicated a valve 22 is located in the conduit 20 between the drip chamber outlet and the needle 18 to control the flow rate of the intravenous fluid.).
Regarding claim 18 Urrutia teaches, wherein the pump is adapted to be manually operated. (Please note, column 3, lines 34-38. As indicated to prime the system, the drip chamber 16 is squeezed manually with valve 22 in the closed position. Release of the drip chamber 16 creates negative pressure in the system and draws intravenous fluid from the bag 10 and through the system. The valve 22 is then opened, whereby a jet of intravenous fluid enters the chamber 16.).
Regarding claim 19 Urrutia teaches, wherein a second check valve is arranged between the pump and the fluid container. (Please note, column 1, lines 31-33. As indicated one or more valves are disposed within the system to control the intravenous fluid flow rate. Typically, there is at least one valve between the drip chamber and the needle. The drip chamber also provides a pocket for the collection of air in the system.).
Regarding claim 20 Lau recites, wherein the camera is adapted to image drops falling within the fluid chamber. (Please note, paragraph 0024. As indicated wherein receiving drip rate data from the drop counter may include capturing images of drops of fluid entering the drip chamber of the drop counter with a camera and determining the drip rate data from the captured images.).
Regarding claim 21 Lau recites, wherein the at least one processor and software disposed thereon is adapted to calculate the volume of one or more imaged fluid drops. (Please note, paragraph 0046. As indicated drop counter 20 continuously monitors the drip chamber's drip rate and then feeds the drip rate data to processor 26a. The processor 26a analyzes and then controls a drive mechanism of roller clamp 46 of roller clamp assembly 24 to automatically adjust a position of a roller of the roller clamp 46 in order to provide an appropriate and desired dosage of fluid to the patient “P”.).
Regarding claim 22 Urrutia recites, having a rigid fluid chamber (Please note, column 3, lines 64-67. As indicated the member 38 is placed in the housing 24 perpendicular to the intravenous fluid flow. As shown in FIG. 2, the member 38 is positioned in the rigid upper chamber 36 or at the boundary between the upper and lower portions. As a result, the member 38 may be made of any suitable rigid material.).
Regarding claim 23 Urrutia recites, at least one valve adapted to release air (Please note, column 3, lines 52-54. As indicated to reduce entrapment of air bubbles in the high velocity jet of intravenous fluid entering the inlet port 26, passing through the drip chamber 16, and exiting the outlet port 28, the inner diameter d.sub.inlet of the inlet port 26 is substantially equal to or greater than the inner diameter d.sub.outlet of the outlet port 28, d.sub.inlet .gtoreq.d.sub.outlet.).
Regarding claim 24 Urrutia recites, wherein the fluid chamber further includes a drop former therein beneath the fluid inlet port. (Please note, figure 1).
Regarding claim 25, similar analysis as those presented for claim 16, are applicable.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-15 are allowed.
Claims 26-30 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest applied Prior Art of record fails to disclose or reasonably suggest wherein an air outlet port arranged on a proximal end of said fluid chamber and in fluid communication with said distal end of said fluid container, said air outlet port having an air control valve arranged downstream in relation to said fluid container and further arranged upstream in relation to said fluid chamber; and, a fluid outlet port arranged on a distal end of said fluid chamber and further including a fluid control valve, said fluid outlet port in fluid communication with a fluid outlet line arranged downstream of said fluid control valve.
Examiner’s Note
The examiner cites particular figures, paragraphs, columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claims, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
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/AMIR ALAVI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2668 Thursday, August 20, 2026
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