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 .
Prelim. Amdt./Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of the Preliminary Amendment filed on March 10, 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 22, 25, 28, 29, 32, 38, and 39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Volpi et al. (US 7019650).
Re claim 22: Volpi teaches a system comprising a plurality of RF tags respectively operatively associated with a plurality of surgical sponges (i.e., RFID tagged objects col. 19, lines 38-42); a handheld wand (625, 700) comprising an antenna (627); a mat (602) comprising a plurality of RFID markers (641-644) serving as antennas, the mat adapted to underlie a patient during a surgical procedure; and control circuitry for controlling the antenna of the handheld wand and the plurality of antennas of the mat to detect the plurality of RF tags (fig. 7; col. 20, line 56- col. 16) (see figs. 6A-8A; col. 19, line 13- col. 21, line 39).
Re claim 25: Wherein the plurality of antennas is further defined as six antennas (col. 19, lines 54-57).
Re claim 28: Wherein the plurality of antennas are embedded in the mat (i.e., RFID markers can be position according to a particular situation implicitly indicating that the RFID markers can be embedded in the mat, (col. 19, lines 54-57).
Re claim 29: Wherein the handheld wand includes a circular portion (fig. 8A).
Re claim 32: Volpi teaches a method comprising providing a handheld wand (625, 700) including an antenna (627); providing a mat (602) comprising a plurality of RFID markers (641-644) serving as antennas; placing the mat on a surgical table (602); detecting a response signal of a first RF tag with the mat (i.e., receiving calibration signals from RFID markers, col. 19, line 58-col. 20, line 5); and detecting a response signal of a second RF tag with the handheld wand (i.e., receiving signals from RFID tagged objects col. 19, lines 38-42) (see figs. 6A-8A; col. 19, line 13- col. 21, line 39).
Re claim 38: The method further comprising moving the handheld wand relative to the plurality of antennas of the mat (fig. 6A).
Re claim 39: The method further comprising controlling the mat to detect objects within a patient (col. 19, lines 58-63).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 23, 24, 26, 27, 30, 31, 33-37, 40, and 41 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
None of prior art teaches the system comprising the control circuitry cycling the operation of the plurality of antennas of the mat, the control circuitry is configured to simultaneously power all of the plurality of antennas of the mat, the plurality of antennas each comprise a circuit trace, the control circuity is configured to control the plurality of antennas such that when one of the plurality of antennas are tuned, the other ones of the plurality of antennas are detuned, the control circuity is configured to power one of the plurality of antennas while the other ones of the plurality of antennas are unpowered, and a method comprising the same as set forth in the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Volpi et al. (US 8174366) teaches an interrogator and interrogation system.
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/SEUNG H LEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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