DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-16 in the reply filed on 4/10/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
Claim 10 and 13 is 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 10 recites “the dispensing heads can be coupled to one another in a form-fit manner”, the claim is unclear as to how the dispensing heads are intended to couple to each other. Further the specification and drawings provide no support or recitation of this feature.
Regarding claim 13, the phrase "in particular" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 13, the phrase "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
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.
Claim(s) 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abe et al. (JP H0150859 B2) in view of Mann (DE 102017113538).
Claims 1 and 16, Abe discloses a drive for relatively moving a reaction vessel unit along a dispensing unit with at least two dispensing heads (2, 17), each of which has at least one dispensing nozzle (11a-11d), so that a reaction vessel unit can be arranged under the dispensing nozzles of the dispensing unit in order to fill at least one reaction vessel of the reaction vessel unit (FIG 3).
But is silent on a linear drive, pumps which are each connected to one of the dispensing heads by a liquid line in order to convey a liquid reagent to the respective dispensing head, wherein a pump valve with a first and a second inlet and an outlet is arranged upstream of each of the two pumps, wherein the outlet can be connected to the respective pump, the first inlet to a common reagent stock and the second inlet in each case to an individual reagent stock.
Mann teaches a linear drive ([0033]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Abe with linear drive as taught by Mann in order to substitute a one known element, rotary drive with another, a linear drive to yield predictable results.
Abe teaches using the multiple pumps and nozzles disposed between multiple reagents (Paragraph 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Abe with multiple pumps and nozzles as taught by Mann in order to substitute a one known element, single pump with another, a multiple pumps to yield predictable results.
Claim 2, Abe discloses a distributor arrangement (30) with one inlet and several outlets is arranged between the common reagent stock and the pump valves, wherein each second inlet of the respective pump valve is connected to an outlet of the distributor arrangement.
Claim 3, Abe discloses wherein the common reagent stock (37) has a valve arrangement (29, 30) with a plurality of inlets and one outlet, wherein the outlet of this valve arrangement is connected to one or more of the first inlets of the pump valves and a reagent storage container can be coupled to each of the inlets of the valve arrangement.
Claim 4, the modified apparatus of Abe teaches wherein that the second inlets of the pump valves (20) can each be coupled directly to a reagent storage container.
Claim 5, the modified apparatus of Abe teaches wherein that a shut off valve (20) is arranged between the pumps and the respective dispensing head.
Claim 6, Abe discloses the claimed invention except for cross section size. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the cross section of lines between dispensing heads and pumps smaller than the cross section leading from pumps to liquid storage containers in order to provide the desired flow, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. MPEP 2144.04
Claim 7, Abe discloses wherein that the dispensing heads each have a plurality of nozzles (11, 17, 21, 22; FIG 2-3, 5).
Claim 8, Abe discloses wherein that the dispensing heads can be detachably coupled to one another and/or that the dispensing heads are interchangeably arranged (11, 17, 21, 22; FIG 2-3, 5).
Claim 9, Abe discloses wherein the dispensing heads each have a plurality of nozzles arranged in series, wherein each dispensing head has one or more rows of nozzles and the rows of nozzles each comprise the same number of nozzles or a different number of nozzles (11, 17, 21, 22; FIG 2-3, 5).
Claim 10 features are recited using “can be” which indicates the claim features are optional and therefore upon rejection of the base claim 1, claim 10 is inherently rejected.
Claim 13, Abe discloses the claimed invention except for liquid line length. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the liquid line no longer than 40 cm, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. MPEP 2144.04.
Claim 14, Abe discloses wherein that a collecting basin (waste fluid tub; 11) for collecting liquid reagents dispensed with the dispensing nozzles is arranged in the region below the dispensing heads.
Claim 15, the modified apparatus of Abe teaches a centrifuge with a rotor and a rotor chamber in which the rotor is arranged and rotatably mounted, wherein the rotor has a reception area for receiving the reaction vessel unit, and the rotor chamber is bounded by a housing, wherein the centrifuge has a dispensing device (Mann: FIG 4).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEREMY W CARROLL whose telephone number is (571)272-4988. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 AM - 5 PM.
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JEREMY W. CARROLL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3754
/Jeremy Carroll/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754
Prosecution Insights