Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Preliminary Amendment
2. The preliminary amendment filed on 6/26/2024 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Claims 1, 15-16, 19, 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Boersma et al. 2023/0144123.
Boersma et al. disclose a device (100) with a waveguide (22) configured to guide an electromagnetic radiation (col. 3, para. [0039-0043]), the waveguide comprises having a hollow member (22s) that is electrically conductive, which the hollow member is configured to allow traversal of the particulate material disposed in the container (10) into the waveguide through a wall of the hollow member as seen in Figure 1A, the hollow member comprises one or more holes (21, 23) that facilitate ingress and/or or egress of the particulate material therethrough; wherein the hollow member is configured to enclose an inner member (28, 29) without electrical shortening causing an electrical short between the hollow member and the inner member; wherein the device is operatively coupled to, or includes, one or more components comprising a receiver (50); wherein the one or more holes comprise are arranged as a lattice of holes (21, 23 and as seen in Figures 1A-1B). With respect to claim 1, the recitation "A device for determining a level of a particulate material in a container of a three-dimensional printing system” has not been given patentable weight because the recitation occurs in the preamble. A preamble is generally not accorded any patentable weight where it merely recites the purpose of a process or the intended use of a structure, and where the body of the claim does not depend on the preamble for completeness but, instead, the process steps or structural limitations are able to stand alone. See In re Hirao, 535 F.2d 67, 190 USPQ 15 (CCPA 1976) and Kropa v. Robie, 187 F.2d 150, 152, 88 USPQ 478, 481 (CCPA 1951).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boersma et al. 2023/0144123 in view of Edvardsson et al. 10,378,947.
Boersma et al. have taught all the features of the claimed invention except that the waveguide is a guided wave radar. Edvardsson et al. teach the use of a waveguide (2) being a guided wave radar (col. 1, ll. 13-26).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the application to utilize the teaching of Edvardsson et al. onto the waveguide of Boersma et al. to be a guided wave radar as taught by Edvardsson et al. in (col. 1, ll. 13-26), in order to provide the hollow member with a non-contact way of measuring the product within.
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 5-9, 11, 13, 22-26, 38 and 49 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.
Conclusion
9. The prior art made of record in FORM PTO-892 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicants' disclosure. Among other references, US 8,464,908, US 7,350,673, US 2007/0119875, US 5,305,921, US 5,048,721 and US 4,634,028 disclose other pertinent structures, such as, a hollow member with holes for ingress or egress of materials.
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FREDERICK C NICOLAS whose telephone number is (571)272-4931. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:00 AM -: 4:00 PM.
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/FREDERICK C NICOLAS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3754