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 .
Remarks
This Office Action fully acknowledges applicant’s remarks filed 07/17/2026. Claims 1, 2 and 4-9 are pending. Claim 1 has been amended. Claims 3 and 10 have been canceled.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the image monitoring device recited in claims 6-9 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 2 and 6-9 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.
Claim 2 recites that “the first plate, the second plate, and the third plate of the laminate set is made of a material selected from…” rendering it unclear if each or one of the first plate, the second plate, and the third plate of the laminate set “is” made of the recited materials.
Claim 6 recites that the imaging chamber is connected to the image monitoring device; however, since claim 6 recites that the imaging monitoring device comprises the integrated microfluidic chip for cell imaging and biochemical detection as claimed in claim 1, it is unclear how the imaging chamber is connected to the imaging monitoring device. This structural arrangement is not shown in applicant’s drawings.
Claim 7 recites that the microscopic image receiver “may be” a photosensitive element or a camera, which suggests that the microscopic image receiver “may be” something other than a photosensitive element or a camera that is not disclosed.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 4 and 5 are allowed.
Claims 3 and 6-9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection of these claims under 35 USC 112(b) above.
The prior art of record does not teach or suggest an imaging chamber and a biochemical detection chamber connected by at least one channel in which at least one filtering element is disposed that is configured to allow micromolecules in a sample fluid to pass through the at least one filtering element and move into an electrode section so as to perform biochemical measurements.
The closest prior art is U.S. Patent No. 5,726,026 to Wilding et al. which does not teach an imaging chamber and a biochemical detection chamber connected by at least one channel in which at least one filtering element is disposed that is configured to allow micromolecules in a sample fluid to pass through the at least one filtering element and move into an electrode section so as to perform biochemical measurements.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL S. GZYBOWSKI whose telephone number is (571)270-3487. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Capozzi can be reached at 571-270-3638. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M.S.G./Examiner, Art Unit 1798
/CHARLES CAPOZZI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1798
