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 § 103
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, 3, & 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over paper of Aaron Bauer, “A portable elliptical dichroism spectrometer targeting secondary structural features of tumorous protein for pancreatic cancer detection”, 17 November 2022 hereafter Bauer in view of DENG CN 109724960.
With regards to claim 1, Bauer teaches a miniaturized elliptical dichroism (mED) system for analyzing a sample, the system comprising:
a sample port (fig 1B) for accepting a sample holder (fig 1B) containing the sample therein;
an ultraviolet (UV) light source (fig 1A, UV) for providing UV light;
optical components (fig 1A, collimator, polarizer, & waveplate) configured for:
modifying the UV light into incident light exhibiting rotating elliptical polarization (fig 1, elliptical), and
providing the UV light so modified at the sample as incident light;
a detector (fig 1A, detector) for detecting at least a portion of the incident light transmitted through the sample to generate detection data;
wherein a path traveled by the UV light from the UV light source to the detector defines an
optical path (fig 1), and
a control board (fig 1, forward & reverse) for controlling the optical components (fig 1, waveplate) (pg. 3, col 1,¶ 2);
an enclosure (fig 1B) for containing the UV light source, optical components (pg. 4, ¶ 2, lines 20-25),
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Bauer does not teach the enclosure is configured for positioning the sample holder in the sample port at a
predetermined orientation in the optical path with respect to the UV light source, optical components,
and the detector & the enclosure containing a control board.
Deng, in the same field as Bauer of spectroscopy, teaches an enclosure (fig 9, 101) containing a UV light source (fig 9, 2) (claim 6), optical components (fig 9, 2 & 3), detector (fig 9, 3), and a control board (fig 1,5), wherein a sample port (fig 9, 104) is mounted to the enclosure for positioning a sample holder (fig 9, 1) with respect to the light source and detector (claim 1). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Deng’s enclosure with Bauer’s sample holder, sample port, UV light source, optical components, control board, and detector to avoid damage from the outside environment. One of ordinary skill in the art may combine Deng’s sample holder with Bauer’s light source and detector to position the sample at a preferred location during measurements.
With regards to claim 3 according to claim 1, the combination teaches the system further comprising: an optical assembly (fig 9, 101 Deng) for supporting each one of the optical components therein in a predetermined orientation with respect to each other one of the optical components.
With regards to claim 5 according to claim 1, the combination teaches the system further comprising:
a processor “detector was connected to the same laptop” for receiving detection data from the detector and analyzing the detection data “intensity data” to produce analysis results (pg. 3, col 1,¶ 2 Bauer).
With regards to claim 6 according to claim 5, the combination teaches the system wherein the processor is further configured for performing two or more analysis routines “All the measurements were acquired five times” (pg. 3, col 1,¶ 2, lines 7-8 Bauer), on the detection data in producing the analysis results.
With regards to claim 7 according to claim 1, the combination teaches the system further comprising a communication block “digital oscilloscope” for communicating “analog-to-digital converter” the detection data to an external device “laptop computer” (pg. 3, col 1,¶ 2, lines 7-8 Bauer).
With regards to claim 8 according to claim 7, the combination teaches the system wherein the communication block includes at least one of an output port “USB cable” (pg. 3, col 1,¶ 2, lines 7-8 Bauer).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aaron Bauer, “A portable elliptical dichroism spectrometer targeting secondary structural features of tumorous protein for pancreatic cancer detection”, 17 November 2022 in view of DENG CN 109724960 in further view of Han CN 210465246.
With regards to claim 2 according to claim 1, the combination does not teach the enclosure is configured for placement on an external surface, and wherein the optical path is oriented perpendicularly with respect to the external surface.
Han, in the same field of endeavor as Bauer of spectroscopy (title, Han), teaches an enclosure is configured for placement on an external surface (fig 1, 9), wherein the optical path of optics within the enclosure are oriented perpendicularly with respect to the external surface (fig 1, not shown). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to position Bauer’s enclosure in an upright position as a design choice for enabling measurements between the light source and detector. Rearrangement of parts is held to be an obvious matter of design choice (In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70). See MPEP 2144.04.VI.B.
Claim(s) 4, 9, & 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aaron Bauer, “A portable elliptical dichroism spectrometer targeting secondary structural features of tumorous protein for pancreatic cancer detection”, 17 November 2022 hereafter Bauer in view of DENG CN 109724960 in further view of Freitag US 20190178856.
With regards to claim 4 according to claim 3, the combination does not teach a frame for supporting the UV light source, the optical assembly, and the control board in a fixed position with respect to each other within the enclosure.
Freitag, in the same field of endeavor as Bauer of spectroscopy, teaches a frame (fig 4, 201) configured to support a UV light source (fig 4, 220) (0046, lines1-3), optical assembly (fig 4, 271), and control board (fig 4, 265), wherein each element is fixed to the frame within an enclosure (fig 2). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to combine a frame with the combination’s UV light source, the optical assembly, and the control board as a design choice for aligning each element in a fixed manner enabling spectroscopic measurements.
With regards to claim 9 according to claim 1, the combination does not teach the enclosure further contains a ventilation system.
Freitag, in the same field of endeavor as Bauer of spectroscopy, teaches an enclosure comprising a ventilation system (fig 2, 206) and a fan (fig 4, 222) configured to cool a light source within the enclosure (0040, lines 8-10) (0046, lines 10-12). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Freitag’s ventilation system and fan with the combination’s enclosure to avoid the overheating of the combination’s light source held within the enclosure.
With regards to claim 10 according to claim 9, the combination teaches the system wherein the ventilation system includes at least one of a fan and a plurality of vents for removing generated heat “cool components of the light source module” from the enclosure (0046, lines 10-12 Frietag)
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. JP 2009500856.
Conclusion
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/MAURICE C SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 2877
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