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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim should end with a period. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-15 are 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.
In claims 1, 3, 5, 8, 11, 12 and 14, the term “preferably” is used and makes the claims indefinite because it is not clear whether the limitations that follow the term are require by the claim or are merely a preference. The relevant limitations should either by positively recited by the claim language, or they should be removed if they are merely a preference and not required by the claim.
In claim 15, the term “for example” renders the claim indefinite because it is not clear if the limitation following the term is meant to be required by the claim or merely an example. The relevant limitation should either by positively recited by the claim language, or it should be removed if it is merely an example and not required by the claim.
Claims not specifically addressed are indefinite because of their dependence on an indefinite claim.
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.
(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(s) 1-7, 9 and 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Carrieri (US 2022/0010996).
Regarding claim 1, Carrieri discloses a particle monitoring system comprising: a sampling section 20a for performing a sampling process on a sample gas, the sampling section comprising one or both of a particle collector and a particle counter (pars. 0174-0175, IAQ 20 includes particulate detector which may be a Particulate Laser Diode; par. 0177, filtration layers which collect particles); a control section (40b,30,32,25) for determining, collecting and collating data regarding the sampling section and/or the sampling process (par. 0029); and a display device (display on device 30a, 30c, 30d, 30e, e.g.) functionally linked to the control section for visualizing at least part of the data regarding the sampling section and/or the sampling process in the form of a visual, machine-readable form (par. 0112), including in the form of a bar code (Id., report details in the form of a QR code 32b).
Regarding claim 2, Carrieri discloses that the control section is adapted to be configured to select the data regarding the sampling section and/or the sampling process that is to be encoded in the visual, machine-readable form (par. 0112, results of analytic processes are reported, details of air quality condition or score reported by control section, which necessarily includes selecting the data that is reported).
Regarding claim 3, Carrieri discloses that the display device is implemented in the form of a software application running on an external device (par. 0112, display is implemented on software of laptop 30b, tablet 30c, etc.).
Regarding claim 4, Carrieri discloses that the control section or, if provided, the software application running on the external device includes a section for encoding the data regarding the sampling section and/or the sampling process into the visual, machine-readable form (par. 0112, reports provided by control section presented in form of QR code, which requires some section for encoding the data that way).
Regarding claim 5, Carrieri discloses that transfer of data between the control section and the integrated display device and/or the external device is implemented in a wireless communication protocol, preferably using radio or microwaves, for example according to the Bluetooth or WLAN standard, free- space optical communication, sonic communication or electromagnetic induction (see par. 0111, system communicates using WIFI; par. 0112, data reports are sent to mobile devices such as mobile tablet 30c, mobile phone 30d and smart device 30e; see also par. 0199, communcations hub includes any of various wireless protocols).
Regarding claims 6 and 7, Carrieri discloses that the data regarding the sampling section and/or the sampling process includes one or more selected from the group consisting of: sampling section related data, sampling process related data, instrument related data, environment related data, user related data (see par. 0215, system reports data related to air quality measurements, which is sampling process related data; see par. 0234 and Fig. 9, system reports environment related data), wherein the sampling process related data is number of particles (par. 0215, particulate levels data is reported), wherein the environment related data comprises ambient temperature and ambient humidity (par. 0234) and location (par. 0235, and Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 9, Carrieri discloses that the particle monitoring system is an airborne particle counter or active air sampler or liquid particle counter or airborne molecular contamination detection system (see par. 0176, particulate laser diode that detects dust and viral particles).
Regarding claim 11, Carrieri discloses a process of monitoring particles in a sample fluid, the process comprising the steps of: a) providing a particle monitoring system as defined in claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above); b) performing a sampling process by flowing the sample fluid, preferably a gas, through the sampling section, the sampling process comprising one or both of collecting particles onto/into a particle collector and counting particles in a particle counter (see par. 0074, measures air for particulates; par. 0176, uses particulate laser diode detector); c) during and/or following the performance of step (b), determining, collecting and collating data relating to the sampling process of step (b) in the control section (par. 0029); d) visualizing at least part of the data determined, collected, and collated in step (c) on a display device in the form of a visual, machine-readable form, preferably in the form of a bar code (par. 0112, data displayed on a tablet, laptop, mobile phone, smart phone etc., data reported as a QR code which is a type of bar code).
Regarding claim 12, Carrieri discloses that the data determined, collected, and collated in step (c) is transferred between the control section and the integrated display device and/or the external device by a wireless communication protocol, preferably using radio or microwaves, for example according to the Bluetooth or WLAN standard, by free-space optical communication, by sonic communication or by electromagnetic induction (see par. 0111, system communicates using WIFI; par. 0112, data reports are sent to mobile devices such as mobile tablet 30c, mobile phone 30d and smart device 30e; see also par. 0199, communcations hub includes any of various wireless protocols).
Regarding claim 13, Carrieri discloses that in step c), before visualizing in step d), the data to be visualized is selected from the group consisting of sampling section related data, sampling process related data, instrument related data, environment related data, and user related data (see par. 0215, system displays and reports data related to air quality measurements, which is sampling process related data; see par. 0234 and Fig. 9, system reports environment related data).
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) 8, 14, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carrieri (US 2022/0010996).
Regarding claim 8, Carrieri does not disclose explicitly that the particle monitoring system includes a printer configured to print the data in the visual, machine-readable form, preferably on a label. Carrieri does disclose that the data is reported in the form of a grade placard and a QR code (par. 0112). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have included a conventional printer as part of the system of Carrieri for printing the report placard and QR code or other analysis results, because this would have allowed for the data results to be easily posted in the relevant facilities to be easily viewed and accessed by users of the monitored areas.
Regarding claim 14, Carrieri does not explicitly disclose that the data determined, collected, and collated in step c) is printed. Carrieri do disclose the data being displayed and/or reported in the form of the visual, machine-readable form, in the form of a bar code (par. 0112, data reported in QR code 32b), and Carrieri also disclose the bar code in the form of a QR code 80 being posted on a door (Fig. 7 and par. 0216). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have used a conventional printer to print the QR code in the process of Carrieri because it would have allowed it to be easily reproduced in a form that can be conveniently posted on doors and windows for viewing by users of the area.
Regarding claim 15, Carrieri do not explicitly disclose the process comprising subsequent to step (d), the steps of e) reading the data in the visual, machine-readable form using a scanner; and f) transferring the so-read data to a target system, for example, a laboratory information management system (LIMS). However, one of ordinary skill in the art would have known that a QR code such as the code 80 on the door of a building (see par. 0216 and Fig. 7) is meant to be read by a scanner in order for the data that is encoded in it to be accessed, i.e. this is the inherent use and purpose of a QR code. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have scanned the QR code with a scanner such as on a conventional smart phone and thereby transfer the read data to some system on the smart phone in order for it to be easily reviewed by a user.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carrieri (US 2022/0010996) in view of Scialo et al. (US 2021/0136722).
Regarding claim 10, Carrieri does disclose particle monitoring being any and multiple of various types of particle monitoring devices including a microbial air sampler (par. 0175). Carrieri does not disclose explicitly that the particle monitoring system is a mobile microbial air sampler and that the detector section includes an impactor head configured to removably receive a sampling plate/dish. Scialo et al. disclose a particle monitoring system that is a mobile microbial air sampler and its detector section includes an impactor head configured to removably receive a sampling plate/dish (pars. 0071-0073). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have employed the mobile microbial air sampler with a removable petri dish, as taught by Scialo et al., in the system of Carrieri because it would have allowed for accurate identification of and analysis of the microbes sampled by the particle monitoring system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL M WEST whose telephone number is (571)272-2139. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 am - 5:30 pm (CT).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kristina DeHerrera can be reached at 303-297-4237. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL M. WEST/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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