DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim(s) 1, 4, 6, 8, 10-11 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1).
Claim(s) 2-3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 6, 8, 10-11 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by “Early detection of aphid infestation and insect-plant interaction assessment in wheat using a low-cost electronic nose (e-nose), near-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning modeling” by Fuentes et al.
In regards to claims 1, Fuentes discloses and shows in Figures 2 and 8, a non-destructive method for quantitatively determining at least one performance indicator of a rearing of a population of live insects in a complex medium, said method comprising the following steps:
(i) a step of irradiating the complex medium including the population of live insects with a light including one or more wavelengths comprised in a range going from 420nm to 2500nm (Section 2.3; wherein a NIR spectroscopy device is utilized to measure insect populations on a wheat plant; the spectroscopy device utilizing the 1596 nm to 2396 nm wavelength range),
(ii) a step of collecting the light reflected by the complex medium in order to obtain a reflectance spectrum of the medium (Section 2.3; wherein a NIR spectroscopy device is utilized to measure insect populations on a wheat plant; the spectroscopy device utilizing the 1596 nm to 2396 nm wavelength range), and
(iii) a step of correlating said spectrum to a quantitative value of at least one performance indicator (Abstract; Section 2.5; wherein a variety of correlation and regression models are utilized to describe the characteristics of the obtained measurements) (Tables 1 and 2) (Figure 8);
[claim 4] wherein the complex medium comprises at least one insect at at least one different stage of development than at least one insect of the population of live insects (Section 2.5; wherein the measurements were made over a period of several days);
[claim 6] wherein the performance indicator is chosen from a quantification of a population of insects, of a substrate, of the droppings, of a contaminant, and/or an individual mean mass of the insects (Abstract; Section 2.5; wherein a variety of correlation and regression models are utilized to describe the characteristics of the obtained measurements; wherein the measurements are taken of various infestation levels) (Tables 1 and 2) (Figure 8);
[claim 8] wherein the performance indicator is a quantification of a population of insects (Abstract; Section 2.5; wherein a variety of correlation and regression models are utilized to describe the characteristics of the obtained measurements; wherein the measurements are taken of various infestation levels) (Tables 1 and 2) (Figure 8);
[claim 10] wherein the population of insects consists of live insects at a given stage of development (Section 2.5; wherein the measurements were made over a period of several days; wherein the measurements are taken of various infestation levels);
[claim 11] further including, after the step (ii) of collection and before the step (iii) of correlation, a step of mathematical processing of the reflectance spectrum comprising a first derivative, a second derivative, a processing of the Savinsky type, and/or a normalisation of the SNV type (Section 2.5; wherein various support vector machine SVM algorithms and linear regressions are performed) (Table 8);
[claim 13] a method for the quantitative determination of at least one performance indicator of a population of live insects in a complex medium comprising employing a spectrophotometer (Section 2.3; wherein a NIR spectroscopy device is utilized to measure insect populations on a wheat plant; the spectroscopy device utilizing the 1596 nm to 2396 nm wavelength range);
[claim 14] wherein the performance indicator is chosen from a quantification of a population of insects, of a substrate, of the droppings, of a contaminant, and/or an individual mean mass of the insects (Section 2.1 and 2.5; wherein the measurements were made over a period of several days; wherein the measurements are taken of various infestation levels).
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) 2-3, 5, 7, 9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fuentes, in view of US Publication 2014/0197335 to Jayasooriya et al.
In regards to clam 2, Fuentes differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the system and method further comprising:
[claim 2] wherein the complex medium comprises at least two different components other than the population of live insects.
However, Jayasooriya teaches and shows in Figure 21, a method for detecting insects, pests and/or components thereof (par. 75, 84), wherein a variety of foodstuff (applicant’s two different components) is examined on a conveyor belt (applicant’s complex medium) (par. 17-19, 115, 118) by a spectrometer (par. 30, 77, 80) (Figure 21).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Fuentes to include a complex medium of two or more components for the advantage of detecting food contamination and crop or grain infestations (par. 115), with a reasonable expectation of success.
In regards to claims 3, 5, 7 and 9, Fuentes differs from the limitations in that it is silent to the method further comprising:
[claim 3] wherein the at least two different components are chosen from a substrate and droppings;
[claim 5] wherein the complex medium comprises at least one dead insect;
[claim 7] wherein the performance indicator is a quantification of the droppings;
[claim 9] wherein the population of insects consists of the dead insects.
However, Jayasooriya teaches and shows in Figure 21, a method for detecting insects, pests and/or components thereof (par. 75, 84), wherein a variety of foodstuff (applicant’s two different components) is examined on a conveyor belt (applicant’s substrate) (par. 17-19, 115, 118) by a spectrometer (par. 30, 77, 80) (Figure 21). Further, the spectra of live and dead insects are obtained (Figure 11), as well as different components of the insects (Figures 2-7). Also, the insects are crushed to allow bodily fluids to be examined (par. 143-145). The reference fails to explicitly disclose insect droppings or feces. However, this is understood to be a common “insect component” and would be a desirable “contaminant” to characterize.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Fuentes to include detection of dead insects and insect droppings for the advantage of detecting common food contaminants to reduce food contamination and crop or grain infestations (par. 115), with a reasonable expectation of success.
In regards to claim 12, Fuentes differs from the limitations in that it is silent to a method of monitoring of growth of the population of live insects to determine the efficiency of a sorting machine and/or to determine the efficiency of the equipment for feeding the population of live insects.
However, Jayasooriya teaches and shows in Figure 21, a method for detecting insects, pests and/or components thereof (par. 75, 84), wherein a variety of foodstuff (applicant’s two different components) is examined on a conveyor belt (applicant’s complex medium) (par. 17-19, 115, 118) by a spectrometer (par. 30, 77, 80) (Figure 21); wherein the method is incorporated into a foodstuff quality control line which includes a system to automatically sort and remove contaminated foodstuff (par. 157).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, to modify Fuentes to include a sorting machine as discussed above for the advantage of removing contaminated food from a quality control line, with a reasonable expectation of success.
Conclusion
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JONATHAN M. HANSEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2877
/JONATHAN M HANSEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877