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 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 2-5 and 7-11 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. Claims 2-5 and 7-11, each recites “the buffer member”, and it is unclear which of the buffer member each claim is referring to since there are a plurality of buffers members being recited in the claim.
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) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jones (US Pub. No. 2013/0137969) in view of Kawai (JP 2014094035).
Regarding claims 1 and 3-14, Jones teaches a receive coil unit comprising:
a coil element (21) that receives a signal generated from a subject;
a heat generation element (22, 30 and 40) that is connected to the coil element;
a coil cover (1B) that covers an outside of the coil element and the heat generation element; and
a plurality of buffer members (116), the buffer members being disposed at positions overlapping a region of the heat generation element as viewed from the subject side, on a surface of the coil cover that comes into contact with the subject (Fig. 5A);
wherein the buffer member is fixed to the coil cover (1B) by a structure which the buffer member is attached to the surface of the coil cover (para. 56) [claim 3];
wherein the buffer member is integrally configured with the coil cover (Fig. 5A) [claim 4];
wherein a plurality of the coil elements (21) and a plurality of the heat generation elements (22, 30 and 40) are provided, and
the buffer member is disposed at a position overlapping a region of each of the plurality of heat generation elements as viewed from the subject side, on the surface of the coil cover (the non-groove regions 116 of the top layer 120 have a thickness that is sufficient to cover, pad and seal the circuit boards 22, 30, 40, para. 72) [claim 5]
wherein the coil cover (1B) is a flexible bag-shaped cover that is deformable to fit a physique of the subject (para. 56) [claim 6];
wherein the buffer member includes air bubbles (para. 72) [claim 7];
wherein the buffer member has a hollow structure (para. 72) [claim 8];
wherein the buffer member is formed of a heat insulating member (para. 73) [claim 9];
wherein the buffer member is not disposed at a center position of the region of the heat generating element (there are a plurality of non-groove regions 116, and one of non-groove region is not disposed at the center position of the heat generating element) [claim 10];
wherein the buffer member is not disposed in a region separated from the region of the heat generation element by a predetermined distance or more on the surface of the coil cover (para. 72) [claim 11];
wherein the signal received by the coil element is a nuclear magnetic resonance signal (para. 7) [claim 12];
wherein the heat generation element includes at least one of an inductor, capacitor, or a diode (para. 66) [claim 13];
wherein the heat generation element includes a resonance circuit for removing coupling between a transmission coil that irradiates the subject with a radio frequency magnetic field and the coil element (para. 66) [claim 14].
Jones does not specifically teach the plurality of buffer members each having a convex shape toward a subject side.
Kawai teaches a receive coil unit comprises a plurality of buffer members each having a convex shape toward the subject side (Fig. 6, the cushion material).
It would have been obvious to one having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute a plurality of buffer members as taught by Kawaii for Jones’s buffer member in order to increase the airflow under the coil cover.
Regarding claim 2, Jones, as modified by Kawai, teaches all the claimed limitations except for a thickness of the buffer member is 5 mm or less, however it would have been obvious to one having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the thickness of the buffer member is 5 mm or less as claimed, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only ordinary skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 15, Jones, as modified by Kawai, teaches a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising the receiving coil unit according to claim 1. Jones further teaches a magnetic resonance image is generated from a nuclear magnetic resonance signal receiving by using the received coil unit (para. 7).
Conclusion
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MINH Q. PHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2852
/MINH Q PHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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