DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/12/2024, 7/18/2025 and 4/10/2025 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 (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 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) 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wook WO 2017155136 (as seen in the IDS filed on 7/18/2025) in view of Dickey US 20080274514.
As to claim 1, Wook teaches “A liquid feeder (Figure 3) comprising: a liquid container (Figure 3, 200) having (i) a container body provided with a port and operative to receive a liquid (Figure 3, 200), (ii) a sealing member for sealing the port of the container body (Figure 3, 210), and (iii) a cap for securing the sealing member to the port (Figure 5, 430); and a container holding portion (Figure 3, 300) operative to hold the liquid container while the cap is placed downward (Figure 3, 200 is in a downward position with 300 holding it in place above 100) and having both a cap receiving portion forming a space configured to accept the cap (Figure 3) and a needle disposed in the space formed by the cap receiving portion (Figure 6, 510); wherein the sealing member is made of a resilient material (Figure 3, 210 is a rubber sheet) wherein the cap is made of a hard material (Figure 3, 421, 422 can be screwed into 300, implying that this is a hard material for that type of connection).” Wook does not teach a slitted portion as well as a cover portion with groove portions.
Dickey teaches “and has at least one slitted portion; and has a cover portion disposed opposite to the sealing member, the cover portion having groove portions formed by partially reducing the cover portion in thickness; wherein the cover portion of the cap is so configured as to be split along the groove portions when the needle pushes against the cover portion; and wherein the sealing member is so configured that the slitted portion is spread apart when the needle pushes against the sealing member (Figures 2, 3 and 4 teach a cap with splits along grove portions so that a needle can be pushed through).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to combine the teachings of Dickey with Wook. The covers aids in keeping the liquid in the container while the grooves allow for easy insertion and removal of the needle without damaging the cover. This is known in the art and widely used for any injection or extraction of a liquid from a container.
As to claim 2, Dickey teaches “wherein said at least one slitted portion of said sealing member is plural in number, extends radially outwardly from a central portion of the sealing member, and is arranged rotationally symmetrically, and wherein said cover portion has a plurality of groove portions which extend radially outwardly from a central portion of the cover portion and which are arranged rotationally symmetrically (Figures 2, 3 and 4 teach a cap with splits along grove portions so that a needle can be pushed through).”
As to claim 3, Dickey teaches “wherein thin-walled portions are formed in the central portion of said cover portion to suppress positional deviations of said needle (Figures 2-4 teach a conical inner wall. This claim pertains to functional language, therefore the conical inner wall and the wedge-shaped sections would also function to suppress needle deviation).”
As to claim 4, Dickey teaches “wherein said cap has a cylindrical sidewall and a toroidal portion radially inwardly protruding from an inner surface of the sidewall, and wherein said sealing member is pressed against an end surface of said port by the toroidal portion (Figures 2, 3 and 4 teach a cap with splits along grove portions so that a needle can be pushed through. The size and dimensions of said cap can be altered as needed since altering the size, shape and dimensions of known elements only involves routine skill in the art).”
As to claim 7, Dickey teaches “wherein said groove portions extend from a central portion of said cover portion and have a length, and wherein a distance equal to or greater than the length of the groove portions is secured between said sealing member and the cover portion (Figures 2, 3 and 4 teach a cap with splits along grove portions so that a needle can be pushed through. The size and dimensions of said cap can be altered as needed since altering the size, shape and dimensions of known elements only involves routine skill in the art).”
As to claim 10, Wook teaches “wherein said needle has a conical front end (Figure 6, 510 is a needle. Altering the shape and size of a known element involves routine skill in the art).”
As to claim 11, Wook teaches “wherein said needle has a hollow portion and a peripheral wall, and wherein holes in communication with the hollow portion are formed in the front end or peripheral wall of the needle (Figure 6, 511).”
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wook WO 2017155136 (as seen in the IDS filed on 7/18/2025) in view of Dickey US 20080274514 and in further view of Lentz US 20200094256.
As to claim 8, Wook and Dickey do not teach “wherein said cover portion has a first surface disposed opposite to said sealing member and a second surface disposed on an opposite side of the first surface, and wherein said plurality of groove portions are formed at their respective corresponding positions in the first and second surfaces, second groove portions being formed in the second surface and interconnecting radially outward ends of groove portions formed in the first surface.”
Lentz teaches “wherein said cover portion has a first surface disposed opposite to said sealing member and a second surface disposed on an opposite side of the first surface (Figure 6E, 216 and 217), and wherein said plurality of groove portions are formed at their respective corresponding positions in the first and second surfaces, second groove portions being formed in the second surface and interconnecting radially outward ends of groove portions formed in the first surface (Figure 4a shows the frangible layers with grooves for needle insertion).”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing of the invention to combine the teachings of Lentz with Dickey and Wook. Having multiple surfaces aids in the securement of the liquid within the container.
As to claim 9, Lentz teaches “wherein said cover portion has a first surface disposed opposite to said sealing member, a second surface disposed on an opposite side of the first surface (Figure 6E, 216 and 217), and a tapering portion, wherein a side of the tapering portion facing the first surface is convex and a side of the tapering portion facing the second surface is concave, and wherein said groove portions are formed in the tapering portion (Figures 4a and 4b).”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. As to claim 5, the prior arts do not teach “and wherein said container holding portion has keys mounted at positions where mechanical interference with the flange portion is avoided according to the types of liquid received in the container body.” These keys prevent incorrection insertion of the liquid container. Claim 6 depends on claim 5.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TARUN SINHA whose telephone number is (571)270-3993. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 10AM-6PM EST.
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/TARUN SINHA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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