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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action is responsive to the preliminary amendment filed on 11/7/24. As directed by the amendment: no claims have been amended, claims 1-4 have been cancelled, and new claims 5-10 have been added. Thus, claims 5-10 are presently pending in this application.
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.
Claim 8 is 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.
Regarding claim 8, “the protective agents” lacks antecedent basis. Note that claim 8 depends from claim 5 and “protective agents” is originally recited in claim 7. For the purposes of examination the claim will be interpreted in light of claim 7.
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) 5-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Maget (US 6413238).
Regarding claim 5, Maget discloses an apparatus (apparatus illustrated in fig. 1) for conveying a conveyable medium 4 (see fig. 1), the apparatus comprising: a gas generating cell 24 configured for generating gas for displacing the conveyable medium (col. 4, ln. 63 – col. 5, ln. 4); a containment configured for the conveyable medium in gaseous, liquid, viscous, pasty, or pulverulent form (syringe barrel 30, see fig. 1); and the apparatus being configured for dispensing the conveyable medium into an organism, being a human, an animal or a plant, or onto a technical system in a targeted, controlled, regulated and monitored manner (system of fig. 1 fully capable of delivering to any claimed target; see also col. 4, ln. 49-52).
Regarding claim 6, Maget discloses the technical system is a machine or a technical installation (as noted regarding claim 5 above, the apparatus of Maget is fully capable of delivering to a technical system, including in the form of a machine or technical installation).
Regarding claim 7, Maget discloses the conveyable medium is any one of a plurality of media selected from the group consisting of medicaments or active ingredients in liquid, dissolved or viscous form, any type of supporting substance and liquid to be conveyed by the system, and lubricants or protective agents or reagents for use in the technical system (col. 7, ln. 46: medication).
Regarding claim 8, Maget discloses the protective agents are grease or oil (the apparatus of Maget is fully capable of use with these conveyable mediums).
Regarding claim 9, Maget discloses an operating, control, regulating, monitoring and communication unit (illustrated in fig. 2), a gas drive unit (movable partition 14, driven by the gas), an active ingredient reservoir 6, and a connection system 10.
Regarding claim 10, Maget discloses the operating, control, regulating, monitoring and communication unit is configured for carrying out one or more of the following: a) a start function for an optimum ramp-up of a conveying flow; b) an indirect regulation of the dispensing quantity by means of temperature, pressure, and current measurement over time, and c) a bolus function for reacting to higher dosages required for a short time (at least “b)” is disclosed in col. 3, ln. 33-49).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Li et al. (US 20140094770) – gas cell-driven piston with electronic controls
Maget (US 4886514) – gas drives a diaphragm instead of a plunger
Gfeller et al. (US 20220081791) – electrochemical gas production cell, describing intended use as a pressure source for driving lubricants (par. 0002)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN R PRICE whose telephone number is (571)270-5421. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00am-4:00pm Eastern time.
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/NATHAN R PRICE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783
