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
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the shuttle to move linearly the shuttle.” Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 7-9 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the clamping portion”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 7 recites, “after the column member is coupled to the applicator body, a temporarily fixed state by the clamping portion is released”, which is an action step in an apparatus claim. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, because it creates confusion as to when direct infringement occurs. (MPEP 2173.05(p) citing In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 97 USPQ2d 1737 (Fed. Cir. 2011)).
Claim 8 recites “the temporarily fixed state is released when the clamping hook is disengaged from the column member detent”, which is an action step in an apparatus claim. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, because it creates confusion as to when direct infringement occurs. (MPEP 2173.05(p) citing In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 97 USPQ2d 1737 (Fed. Cir. 2011)).
Claim 9 recites “the temporarily fixed state is released when the clamping portion arm is disengaged from the shuttle latch”, which is an action step in an apparatus claim. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, because it creates confusion as to when direct infringement occurs. (MPEP 2173.05(p) citing In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 97 USPQ2d 1737 (Fed. Cir. 2011)).
Claim 11 recites the limitation “the column member hole” and “the shuttle hole”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 11 recites “after the column member is coupled to the applicator body, a state temporarily fixed by the safety pin is released”, which is an action step in an apparatus claim. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, because it creates confusion as to when direct infringement occurs. (MPEP 2173.05(p) citing In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 97 USPQ2d 1737 (Fed. Cir. 2011)).
Claim 12 recites, “after the column member is coupled to the applicator body, the state temporarily fixed by the safety pin is released”, which is an action step in an apparatus claim. A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, because it creates confusion as to when direct infringement occurs. (MPEP 2173.05(p) citing In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litigation, 639 F.3d 1303, 97 USPQ2d 1737 (Fed. Cir. 2011)).
Claims 8-9 are rejected based upon their dependencies on the rejected claims.
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 –
Claims 1-10 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KR102222049B1 (Chae et. al), hereto referred as Chae.
As to claims 1 and 13, Chae teaches an applicator for inserting a sensor for measuring biometric information into skin of a user, the applicator comprising: an applicator body having an applicator body coupling portion (Fig. 3, outer case 101 with bottom opening as the coupling portion); an insertion unit to move a sensor unit (Fig. 3, plunger body 300), including the sensor (Fig. 2, sensor probe unit 521) and a sensor unit housing to which the sensor is mounted (Fig. 3, sensor housing 510), from a first position spaced apart from the skin of the user to a second position where the sensor is inserted into the skin of the user ([0075], “it transfers in a straight line from the first location to the second position with the plunger body (300).”); and a column member which the insertion unit is mounted to (Fig. 3, inner case 102), has a column member coupling portion corresponding to the applicator body coupling portion, and is fixed to the applicator body in a way that the column member coupling portion is engaged with the applicator body coupling portion (Fig. 3, of the inner case 102, the cylindrical part is interpreted as the column coupling member).
As to claim 2, Chae teaches the applicator body coupling portion includes an applicator body groove formed at one side of the applicator body (Fig. 5, the bottom grove of outer case 101), the column member includes a column member body having a space, in which the insertion unit is mounted, inside the column member body (Fig. 3, plunger body 300 goes inside the cylindrical part of inner case 102), and the column member coupling portion includes a coupling end portion provided at one end of the column member body to be inserted into the applicator body groove (Fig. 5, the top of cylinder fits inside the outer case 101).
As to claim 3, Chae teaches the applicator body coupling portion includes a fence portion configured to be elastically deformable in the applicator body groove to support the coupling end portion by being contacted with an outer surface of the coupling end portion (Fig. 5, see the annotation).
As to claim 4, the coupling end portion includes a plurality of column member legs configured to be elastically deformable at one end of the column member body to contactable with the applicator body (Fig. 3, guide rail 162).
As to claim 5, Chae teaches one of the applicator body coupling portion and the column member coupling portion has an elastically deformable snap hook (Fig. 3, engaging hook 310), and another of the applicator body coupling portion and the column member coupling portion has a snap groove into which a portion of the snap hook is inserted (Fig. 4, engaging hook 310 is inserted into a groove).
As to claim 6, Chae teaches the insertion unit comprises a shuttle (Fig. 3, needle withdrawal body 400) configured to be movable from the first position to the second position together with the sensor unit ([0089], “the needle withdrawal body (400) transfers in a straight line from the first location to the second position”), and an elastic member configured to apply an elastic force to the shuttle in a direction of moving toward the second position with respect to the shuttle (Fig. 3, plunger elastic spring S1), and wherein the column member is configured to guide the shuttle to move linearly the shuttle (Fig. 3, needle withdrawal body 400 moves linearly inside cylinder of inner case 102).
As to claim 7, Chae teaches the shuttle is temporarily fixed to the column member such that the column member maintains a position in which the elastic member is elastically deformed by the clamping portion, which connects the shuttle and the column member ([0088], “Then, the inner case (102) may be provided with the needle withdrawal presser portion (130) which pressurizes the elastic hook (410) the inner side”), before the column member is coupled to the applicator body, and after the column member is coupled to the applicator body, a temporarily fixed state by the clamping portion is released ([0088], “the needle withdrawal body (400) moves to the second position”).
As to claim 8, Chae teaches the clamping portion includes a clamping hook elastically deformably connected to the shuttle to be engaged with a column member detent provided at one side of the column member ([0088], “Then, the inner case (102) may be provided with the needle withdrawal presser portion (130) which pressurizes the elastic hook (410) the inner side”; Fig. 3, elastic hook 410 engages with a detent in inner case 102), and wherein the shuttle is configured to maintain a position in which the elastic member is elastically deformed when the clamping hook is engaged with the column member detent, and the temporarily fixed state is released when the clamping hook is disengaged from the column member detent ([0088], “According to such structure, if the pressurizing button (110) is pressed , as shown in FIG. 20 the needle withdrawal body (400) transfers in a straight line from the first location to the second position with the plunger body (300) and the elastic hook (410) of the needle withdrawal body (400) is pressurized with the needle withdrawal presser portion (130) of the inner case (102) and
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the engaged position with the hook engaging portion (350) is simultaneously cancelled.”)
As to claim 9, Chae teaches the clamping portion includes a clamping portion arm (see annotated image of Fig. 3 above) provided to be elastically deformable at the column member to be engaged with a shuttle latch provided at one side of the shuttle, wherein the shuttle is configured to maintain a position in which the elastic member is elastically deformed when the clamping portion arm is engaged with the shuttle latch, and the temporarily fixed state is released when the clamping portion arm is disengaged from the shuttle latch ([0088], “According to such structure, if the pressurizing button (110) is pressed , as shown in FIG. 20 the needle withdrawal body (400) transfers in a straight line from the first location to the second position with the plunger body (300) and the elastic hook (410) of the needle withdrawal body (400) is pressurized with the needle withdrawal presser portion (130) of the inner case (102) and the engaged position with the hook engaging portion (350) is simultaneously cancelled.”)
As to claim 10, Chae teaches the column member is provided with a blocking portion configured to restrict movement of the shuttle to prevent the shuttle from returning to the first position by being contacted with one side of the shuttle after the shuttle moves to the second position (Fig. 3, return prevention hook 161).
As to claim 14, Chae teaches comprising a base unit including a base unit housing (Fig. 3, protective cap 200) to which the sensor unit housing (Fig. 7, housing 510) is coupled and an adhesive portion provided at the base unit housing to be attached to the skin of the user (Fig. 7, adhesive tape 560), the base unit configured to be spaced apart from the sensor unit to be separably coupled to the applicator body (Fig. 3, sensor unit 20 is separate from base unit 200), wherein the sensor unit housing is coupled to the base unit housing at the second position (Figs. 15-16).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-12 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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:
As to claim 11, the closest record of art is Chae. Chae teaches the insertion unit includes a shuttle configured to move from the first position to the second position together with the sensor unit (Figs. 15-16, the needle withdrawal body 400 and body attachment unit 20 moves from first position to the second position), and an elastic member configured to apply elastic force to the shuttle in a direction of moving to the second position with respect to the shuttle (Fig. 3, plunger elastic spring S1), wherein the column member is configured to guide the shuttle to move linearly the shuttle (Fig. 3, the cylindrical part of inner case 102 guides needle withdrawal body 400 linearly). However, Chae does not teach the shuttle is temporarily fixed to the column member to maintain a position of elastically deforming the elastic member by a safety pin that passes through the column member hole formed at one side of the column member and is inserted into the shuttle hole provided at one side of the shuttle before the column member is coupled to the applicator body, along with other claimed steps and elements. Claim 12 is dependent on allowable claim 11.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELINA S JANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7019. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 am - 6:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Robertson can be reached at (571) 272-5001. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ELINA SOHYUN JANG/Examiner, Art Unit 3791
/JENNIFER ROBERTSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3791
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