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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Applicant has not complied with one or more conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) as follows:
The later-filed application must be an application for a patent for an invention which is also disclosed in the prior application (the parent or original nonprovisional application or provisional application). The disclosure of the invention in the parent application and in the later-filed application must be sufficient to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, except for the best mode requirement. See Transco Products, Inc. v. Performance Contracting, Inc., 38 F.3d 551, 32 USPQ2d 1077 (Fed. Cir. 1994).
The disclosure of the prior-filed application, Application No. 62/718,646 (App. ‘646), fails to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application. App. ‘646 does not provide support for the limitation of claim 1 “wherein a dose of the second light is less than 1/10 of a dose of the first light source”. Therefore, instant claim 1 does not receive benefit of the filing date of App. ‘646. However, instant claim 1 does contain adequate support in Provisional Application No. 62/825,993 (App. ‘993), and therefore receives benefit of App. ‘993. Therefore, the effective filing date for instant claim 1 is 03/29/2019.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS filed 07/01/2024 has been considered by the Examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ball (U.S. PGPub No. 2018/0093107) (cited in IDS).
Regarding claim 1, Ball teaches (Fig. 2) a light irradiation apparatus (abstract, Par. [0009]), comprising: (Figs. 1 and 2, # 12 – blue light sources, e.g. first light sources, 14, 18 – UVA light sources, e.g. second light sources, 20) first and second light sources that emit first light and second light, respectively at timings 5close to each other, regardless of whether the timings overlap or not (Pars. [0008], [0027], [0029]; Pars. [0010], lines 15-22, [0037] – the controller can enable one or more blue light sources to emit blue light and UVA light as continuous light, pulsed light, or a combination of pulsed light and continuous light, thus operable to emit first and second light at timings close to each other, regardless of whether timings overlap or not), the first light and the second light having mutually different wavelength bands (Pars. [0027] and [0029] – blue light and UVA light sources, thus having mutually different wavelength bands), wherein the first light has a wavelength band (Par. [0028] – blue light is in the range of about 405 nm to about 470 nm) for inducing destruction of bacteria by damaging a cell of the bacteria as the first light acts on a photosensitizer present in the bacteria (Par. [0028] – the blue light band of about 405 nm to about 470 nm inherently performs this function of destroying bacteria based on Applicant’s disclosure in Par. [0061] providing that this wavelength band performs this inherent functionality; Pars. [0004] and [0045] – porphyrin is a photosensitizer according to the Applicant’s disclosure paragraph [0061]), wherein the second light has a wavelength band (Par. [0029] – range of about 315 nm to about 400 nm) for inducing the destruction of the bacteria 10by changing the structure of a genetic material present in the cell of the bacteria (Par. [0029] – the UVA light band of about 315 nm to about 400 nm inherently performs this function of destroying bacteria based on Applicant’s disclosure Par. [0055] providing that that the second light source may have this wavelength band; Pars. [0005] and [0049] – Ball particularly promotes UVA light because it is generally well-tolerated by cells because it is weakly absorbed by DNA, but recognizes that UVB and UVC light directly damages DNA), and wherein a dose of the second light source is less than 1/10 of a dose of the first light source (Par. [0010], lines 15-44; Pars. [0040] and [0052] – The dosage ratio of the two light sources can be set to any particular value (whatever is deemed therapeutic). The two light sources may exemplify different duty cycles and frequency patterns, and the light sources can be pulsed in order to achieve the appropriate dosage ratio. Ball makes it clear that there is a limit to the amount of UV light that should be emitted before it becomes harmful to the human., Par. [0028] – the therapeutic energy level of blue light (e.g., first light sources) is preferably in the range of about 0.4 J/cm2 to about 4 J/cm2 although the therapeutic energy level may be higher or lower than this range, Par. [0029] – the therapeutic energy level of UVA light (e.g., second light sources) is preferably in the range of about 0.4 J/cm2 to about 4 J/cm2, although the therapeutic energy level may be higher or lower than this range. In the preferred therapeutic dosage range of about 0.4 J/cm2 to 4 J/cm2, a dose of UVA light that is less than 1/10 of a dose of the blue light source can be obtained).
Therefore, claim 1 is unpatentable over Ball.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL TAYLOR HOLTZCLAW whose telephone number is (571)272-6626. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EST).
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/MICHAEL T. HOLTZCLAW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3796