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 Objections
Claims 2, 10-11, and 14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 2: On Lines 1-3, the Examiner assumes that “wherein path lengths for each wavelength are selected so that the path lengths for each wavelength are selected such that” should instead be -- wherein
Claim 10: On Lines 1-2, the Examiner assumes that “wherein further the reflective surface” should instead be --wherein
Claim 11: On Lines 1-2, the Examiner assumes that “wherein reflective surfaces are shaped” to instead be --wherein the reflective surfaces [[are]] is shaped--.
Claim 14: On Line 2, the Examiner assumes that “the first volume to the analyzer components” to instead be --the [[first]] volume to [[the]] analyzer components--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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, 7, 9-11, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sabry et al. (US 2020/0284654), hereinafter Sabry.
Claim 1: Sabry discloses a method (using gas cell 600 of Fig. 6) for measuring optical properties of a sample fluid to obtain at least one property of the sample fluid, the method comprising:
adding a volume of a sample fluid to an enclosure (106, Fig. 1) [0032];
directing a plurality of electromagnetic radiation wavebands (from light sources 612a,612b- evident that the wavebands are different since the light from the light sources yields different path lengths [0047]) through the volume of sample fluid within the enclosure along a plurality of different paths (evident from Fig. 7) to generate an interaction radiation for each waveband [0047];
measuring the amplitude of each interaction radiation (with spectrometer 614) [0048]; and
statistically analyzing the interaction radiation amplitudes to obtain at least one property of the sample fluid (e.g. concentration, energy content, total volatile organic compound, etc. [0033]);
wherein at least two different paths of the plurality of paths have different path lengths [0046].
Claim 7: Sabry further discloses wherein at least one surface (602/604/606) bounding the enclosure (106, Fig. 1) is reflective and the path for at least one waveband includes at least one reflection from said reflective surface (602/604/606) [0047].
Claim 9: Sabry further discloses wherein said at least one reflective surface (602/604/606) includes a first reflective surface (602) of the enclosure opposes a second reflecting surface (604) of the enclosure (106, Fig. 1) and the path for at least one waveband includes at least one reflection from each of said first and second reflecting surfaces (602,604) (evident from Fig. 6) [0047].
Claim 10: Sabry further discloses wherein the reflective surface (602/604/606) is curved (evident from Figs. 6-7) to at least partially collimate electromagnetic radiation [0050].
Claim 11: Sabry further discloses wherein the reflective surface is shaped to focus paths for a plurality of different wavebands to a common detection means (614) (evident from Figs. 6-7) [0048].
Claim 13: Sabry further discloses wherein the enclosure (106, Fig. 1) is defined as a cartridge with a plurality of optical interfaces where the cartridge mates with a separate measurement module (104/108) containing components for effecting the measurement steps [0032].
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claims 2 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sabry.
Claim 2: Sabry discloses wherein the path lengths for each wavelength affect the absorption, such that a greater path length yields a higher absorption [0005], but does not explicitly disclose wherein the path lengths are selected such that the absorption is between 0.1 and 1.0 absorbance units.
However, Applicant has provided no criticality for this absorption range, disclosing only that this absorption range is preferable (Spec. Page 6, Lines 2-4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Sabry’s method to optimize the path lengths to have the desired absorbance for the purpose of maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio. Furthermore, “[d]etermining where in a disclosed set of percentage ranges the optimum combination of percentages lies is prima facie obvious.” In re Peterson, 315 F.3d 1325, 1330, 65 USPQ2d 1379, 1382-83 (Fed. Cir. 2003); see also In re Geisler, 116 F.3d 1465, 1470, 43 USPQ2d 1362, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (“[I]t is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation.” In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1995)).
Claim 20: Sabry does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one measurement of microbial presence in a sample fluid is made.
Howeve, Sabry does disclose using the detected signals to measure parameters of the sample fluid, wherein the parameters include concentration, energy content, and amount of particulate matter [0033].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Sabry’s method to measure other parameters, such as microbial presence, for the purpose of fully characterizing the sample fluid.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6, 8, 12, and 14-19 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:
Claim 3: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein further at least one radiation waveband is linearly or circularly polarized and the amplitude measurement includes a polarization analyzer.
Claim 4: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein subsequent to measuring the amplitudes of interaction radiation for the volume of sample fluid, a second volume of sample fluid is added to said volume of sample fluid.
Claim 5: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein a device to measure the volume of sample fluid in the enclosure is included and the path lengths are calculated based on the measured volume which is included in the statistical analysis.
Claim 6: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein the amplitudes of interaction radiations for a plurality of wavebands are measured at a plurality of predetermined temperatures and the statistical analysis includes at least one interaction radiation amplitude for each temperature.
Claim 8: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 7 wherein said at least one reflective surface includes a material that enhances Raman scattering for at least one mode of a molecule expected to be present in the sample fluid.
Claim 12: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein the interaction radiation is Raman scattered radiation and wherein a device is included to analyze each Raman interaction radiation by wavelength to produce a Raman spectrum and wherein the Raman spectrum is included in the statistical analysis to infer at least one property of the sample fluid.
Claim 14: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein there is provided an interface on a packaging material for the volume to analyzer components.
Claim 15: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein the volume is an element of a microfluidic network.
Claim 16: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein there is provided an optical adapter that matches the refractive index of transparent packaging material.
Claim 17: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein measurements for wavebands corresponding to a plurality of radiation ports are multiplexed and the amplitudes of the wavebands are calculated by solving a system of equations.
Claim 18: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein the sample fluid is derived from a fruit juice.
Claim 19: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1 wherein at least one measurement is made during a production process.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to HINA F AYUB whose telephone number is (571)270-3171. The Examiner can normally be reached on 9am-5pm ET Mon-Fri.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Tarifur Chowdhury can be reached on 571-272-2287. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Hina F Ayub/
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2877