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 .
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 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.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO 1449.These IDS has been considered.
Examiner’s Note
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of this action for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages, paragraph and figures may apply. Applicant, in preparing the response, should consider fully the entire reference as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election, without traverse, of Group I: claims 1-10, 16-20 and 26 in the “Response to Election / Restriction Filed” filed on 01/16/2026 is acknowledged and entered by Examiner.
This office action considers claims 1-26 are thus pending for prosecution, of which, non-elected claims 11-15 and 21-25 are withdrawn, and elected claims 1-10, 16-20 and 26 are examined on their merits.
Claim Objections
Claims 3, 6, 16-18 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 3, " reference photodetector" in line 2, should be changed to – the reference photodetector --.
In claim 6, " a locking arrangement " in line 1, should be changed to – a lock
In claim 16, " a flowcell adapter " in line 1, should be changed to – the flowcell adapter --.
In claim 17, " attaching a flowcell adapter to tubing for directing the sample to or from a flowcell adapter " in lines 1-2, should be changed to – attaching the flowcell adapter to tubing for directing the sample to or from the flowcell adapter --.
In claim 18, " wherein detecting the swept wavelength signal prior to transmission through a sample detection region takes place in a fixed portion of the clamshell apparatus and detecting the swept wavelength signal after transmission through a sample in the sample detection region takes place in a lid section of the clamshell apparatus" in lines 1-5, should be changed to – wherein detecting the swept wavelength signal prior to transmission through the sample detection region takes place in the fixed portion of the clamshell apparatus and detecting the swept wavelength signal after transmission through the sample in the sample detection region takes place in the lid section of the clamshell apparatus--.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 of this title, 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) 1-3, 5, 7-10, 17-18, 20 and 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ASHMEAD et al. (US 20130016348 A1) (herein after ASHMEAD) [cited in the IDS] in view of Bailey et al. (US 20130261010 A1) (herein after Bailey).
As to claim(s) 1 and 26, ASHMEAD discloses and shows in figs. 1-3; a system for analyzing a sample, the system comprising:
a tunable laser spectrometer [102] for generating a swept wavelength signal (sensor 108 for entry into spectrometer 102 as known to those skilled in the art. In the illustrative embodiment, sensor 108 measures the intensity of light at one or more wavelengths…¶00250)(¶0060);
a clamshell apparatus (" rotational movement of sensor arm 204") defining a sample detection region (sample holder 206) (¶0031) and including a reference photodetector (304) for detecting the swept wavelength signal from the spectrometer and a sample photodetector (312) for detecting the swept wavelength signal after transmission through the sample detection region (¶0032); and
wherein the clamshell apparatus has a first fixed section and a second section configured for movement between an open (" a user may rotate sensor arm 204 away from sample holder 206 and place a drop of the sample on or in sample holder206") and a closed position of the clamshell apparatus (" The user may rotate sensor arm 204 toward sample holder206 after placement of the drop on sample holder 20…¶0041) .
[Note: while each unit configured to perform as claimed may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function, because apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does].
ASHMEAD discloses all the features of the claimed invention except the limitation such as: “a tunable laser spectrometer;
a flowcell adapter defining a channel for passing a flowing sample to and from the sample detection region”.
However, Bailey from the same field of endeavor discloses a tunable laser spectrometer [904][¶0100], a flowcell adapter [902] defining a channel for passing a flowing sample to and from the sample detection region [The chip 902 further includes flow channels 502 configured to direct flow of solution 108 across the optical sensors 104, e.g., the ring resonators 208 and proximal portions of the waveguides 202 optically coupled thereto. Ports 1104 for accessing the flow channels 502 are also included to flow the solution 108 into and out of the flow channels 502…¶0108].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the device/method/system of ASHMEAD such that the tunable laser spectrometer;
the flowcell adapter defining the channel for passing the flowing sample to and from the sample detection region; as taught by Bailey, for the advantages such as: reducing the amount of time needed to detect the analyte, reducing the amount of time needed for an assay to reach an equilibrium state, increasing the sensitivity of the assay.
As of claim 2, ASHMEAD discloses the system wherein the reference photodetector (304) is in the first fixed section of the clamshell apparatus and the sample photodetector is in the second section of the clamshell apparatus (¶0032, 0041).
As of claim 3, ASHMEAD discloses the system further comprising a beam splitter (302) for directing a reference beam to a reference photodetector and an interrogation beam to the sample photodetector (312) (¶0032).
As of claim 5, ASHMEAD discloses the system wherein the sample detection region is defined between a transmission port of an input rod and a detection port of an output rod (([¶0036]; Fig. 5: see the exit face 504 of the transmitting optical fiber308 and the entrance face 508 of receiving optical fiber 310).
As of claim 7, ASHMEAD discloses the system wherein the clamshell apparatus further includes a device for adjusting or maintaining a distance between the transmission port and the detection port (¶0044).
As of claim 8, ASHMEAD discloses the system wherein at least one light beam propagates through the clamshell apparatus without being guided by fiber optics (¶0032).
As of claim 9, ASHMEAD discloses the system further comprising a controller (120)(¶0040).
As of claims 10, 17 and 20, ASHMEAD discloses all the features of the claimed invention except the limitation such as: “The system of claim 1, wherein the flowcell adapter is part of a fluidic system.
The method of claim 10, further comprising attaching a flowcell adapter to tubing for directing the sample to or from a flowcell adapter.
The method of claim 10, further comprising controlling flow parameters of the sample”.
However, Bailey from the same field of endeavor discloses a flowcell adapter is part of a fluidic system (¶0123, 0291);
attaching a flowcell adapter to tubing for directing the sample to or from a flowcell adapter (¶0123); further comprising controlling flow parameters of the sample (¶0108).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the device/method/system of ASHMEAD such that the flowcell adapter is part of the fluidic system; the flowcell adapter to tubing for directing the sample; controlling flow parameters of the sample; as taught by Bailey, for the advantages such as: reducing the amount of time needed to detect the analyte, reducing the amount of time needed for an assay to reach an equilibrium state, increasing the sensitivity of the assay.
As of claim 18, ASHMEAD discloses the method, wherein detecting the swept wavelength signal prior to transmission through a sample detection region takes place in a fixed portion of the clamshell apparatus (¶0031) and detecting the swept wavelength signal after transmission through a sample in the sample detection region takes place in a lid section of the clamshell apparatus (¶0032, 0041).
Claim(s) 4 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ASHMEAD et al. in view of Bailey et al. and further in view of Sriram et al. (US 20070195320 A1) (herein after Sriram) [cited in the IDS].
As of claims 4 and 19, ASHMEAD when modified by Bailey discloses all the features of the claimed invention except the limitation such as: “The system of claim 1, further comprising a polarizer.
The method of claim 10, further comprising passing the swept wavelength signal through a polarizer before detecting it as a reference signal”.
However, Sriram from the same field of endeavor discloses a polarizer (118/120)(¶0029);
a swept wavelength signal through a polarizer (118/120) before detecting it as a reference signal (¶0031).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the device/method/system of ASHMEAD when modified by Bailey such that the polarizer; the swept wavelength signal through the polarizer before detecting it as the reference signal; as taught by Sriram, for the advantages such as: to produce an optical module with good production efficiency.
Claim(s) 6 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ASHMEAD et al. in view of Bailey et al. and further in view of Honig et al. (US 5638171 A) (herein after Honig) [cited in the IDS].
As of claims 6 and 16, ASHMEAD when modified by Bailey discloses all the features of the claimed invention except the limitation such as: “The system further comprising a locking arrangement for securing the flowcell adapter to the first fixed section of the clamshell apparatus”.
However, Honig from the same field of endeavor discloses further comprising a locking arrangement (latch 17, col.4, lines43-46) for securing the flowcell adapter to the first fixed section of the clamshell apparatus (col. 4, lines 7-15, 21-23).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the device/method/system of ASHMEAD when modified by Bailey such that the locking arrangement for securing the flowcell adapter to the first fixed section of the clamshell apparatus; as taught by Honig, for the advantages such as: to obtain an optimum measurement.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MD M RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-9175. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thur.
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MD M. RAHMAN
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2886
/MD M RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877