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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: APPARATUS COMPRISING A CHAMBER, A SORBENT DISPOSED INSIDE THE CHAMBER, AND AN X-RAY FLUORESCENCE SPECTROMETER DISPOSED TO MEASURE THE SORBENT, AND METHOD FOR CAPTURING IODINE VAPOR.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
1. (Proposed Amendments) An apparatus for capturing iodine vapor, comprising:
a. a chamber having an inlet and an outlet;
b. a sorbent disposed inside of [[said]] the chamber; and
c. an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer disposed to measure the sorbent, [[said]] the x-ray fluorescence spectrometer comprising an x-ray excitation source and an x-ray detector.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2-6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
2. (Proposed Amendments) The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
an x-ray fluorescence standard, positioned so that the sorbent is between the x-ray fluorescence standard and the x-ray fluorescence excitation source.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 3-6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
3. (Proposed Amendments) The apparatus of Claim 2, wherein the x-ray fluorescence standard comprises at least two chemical elements, each having an x-ray fluorescence signal between 3 keV and 10 keV.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 4-6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
4. (Proposed Amendments) The apparatus of Claim 3, wherein the x-ray fluorescence standard is an alloy comprising two metals, each having an x-ray fluorescence signal between 3 keV and 10 keV [[10keV]].
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities:
13. (Proposed Amendments) The apparatus of Claim 12, wherein [[at]] the at least one portion of the chamber allows [[the]] a transmission (a lack of an antecedent basis) of at least 5% of x-rays having an energy of 3.9 keV.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities:
14. (Proposed Amendments) The apparatus of Claim 1, further comprising:
a temperature control system to keep the sorbent maintained at a temperature above 5 degrees Celsius.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities:
15. (Proposed Amendments) The apparatus of Claim 1, further comprising:
a temperature control system to keep the sorbent maintained at a temperature below 160 degrees Celsius.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities:
16. (Proposed Amendments) The apparatus of Claim 1, further comprising:
a temperature control system to keep the sorbent maintained at a temperature of between 5 degrees Celsius and 160 degrees Celsius.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 17 and objected to because of the following informalities:
17. (Proposed Amendments) An apparatus for capturing iodine vapor, comprising:
a chamber having an inlet and an outlet;
a sorbent disposed inside of [[said]] the chamber, [[said]] the sorbent comprising a chemical element including a plurality of ether functional groups complexed to iodine; and
an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer disposed to measure the iodine.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 18 and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
18. (Proposed Amendments A method for capturing iodine vapor, comprising:
providing a source of iodine-129;
providing a chamber having an inlet, an outlet, and a sorbent disposed in the chamber, the inlet disposed to allow iodine-129 to travel from the source of iodine-129 disposed in the chamber;
providing an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer; and
obtaining a plurality of x-ray fluorescence measurements of iodine-129 over a period of time.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 19 is objected to because of the following informalities:
19. (Proposed Amendments) The method of Claim 18, further comprising:
obtaining x-ray fluorescence measurements of at least two other elements having x-ray fluorescence signals between 3 keV and 10 keV simultaneously with the plurality of x-ray fluorescence measurements of iodine-129 over the period of time (a previously recited limitation of claim 18).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover a corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover a corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation is: a temperature control system in claims 14-16.
Because this claim limitation is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it is being interpreted to cover a corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this limitation interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation to avoid it being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation recites sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 14 recites a limitation “a temperature control system to keep the sorbent maintained at a temperature above 5 degrees Celsius” in lines 1-2. However, the written description fails to disclose a corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. The disclosure is devoid of any structure that performs the function in the claim. Therefore, the claim contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 15 recites a limitation “a temperature control system to keep the sorbent maintained at a temperature below 160 degrees Celsius” in lines 1-2. However, the written description fails to disclose a corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. The disclosure is devoid of any structure that performs the function in the claim. Therefore, the claim contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 16 recites a limitation “a temperature control system to keep the sorbent maintained at a temperature of between 5 degrees Celsius and 160 degrees Celsius” in lines 1-3. However, the written description fails to disclose a corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. The disclosure is devoid of any structure that performs the function in the claim. Therefore, the claim contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
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 pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 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 9, 10, and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 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 9 recites “wherein the polymer is supported a solid support” in line 1, which renders the claim indefinite; a single claim, which claims both an apparatus and a method step of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph. MPEP 2173.05(p)(II). It is unclear whether an infringement of claim 9 occurs for the structure of the apparatus of claim 7 or the step of supporting the polymer by a solid support of claim 9.
Claim 10 recites “wherein the polymer is covalently bonded to a solid support” in line 1, which renders the claim indefinite; a single claim, which claims both an apparatus and a method step of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph. MPEP 2173.05(p)(II). It is unclear whether an infringement of claim 10 occurs for the structure of the apparatus of claim 8 or the step of covalently bonding of the polymer to a solid support of claim 10.
Claim limitation “a temperature control system to keep the sorbent maintained at a temperature above 5 degrees Celsius” invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. However, the written description fails to disclose a corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. The disclosure is devoid of any structure that performs the function in the claim. Therefore, the claim is indefinite and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
Claim limitation “a temperature control system to keep the sorbent maintained at a temperature below 160 degrees Celsius” invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. However, the written description fails to disclose a corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. The disclosure is devoid of any structure that performs the function in the claim. Therefore, the claim is indefinite and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
Claim limitation “a temperature control system to keep the sorbent maintained at a temperature of between 5 degrees Celsius and 160 degrees Celsius” invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. However, the written description fails to disclose a corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. The disclosure is devoid of any structure that performs the function in the claim. Therefore, the claim is indefinite and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph;
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites what structure, material, or acts perform the entire claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(c) Amend the written description of the specification such that it clearly links the structure, material, or acts disclosed therein to the function recited in the claim, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)).
If applicant is of the opinion that the written description of the specification already implicitly or inherently discloses a corresponding structure, material, or acts and clearly links them to the function so that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function, applicant should clarify the record by either:
(a) Amending the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites a corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function and clearly links or associates the structure, material, or acts to the claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(b) Stating on the record what a corresponding structure, material, or acts, which are implicitly or inherently set forth in the written description of the specification, perform the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claims 1-8 and 11-13, Kuwabara (U. S. Patent No. 5,832,054 A) disclosed an apparatus for capturing iodine vapor, comprising:
a. a chamber (8) having an inlet (12) and an outlet (12).
However, the prior art failed to disclose or fairly suggested that the apparatus, further comprising:
b. a sorbent disposed inside of the chamber; and
c. an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer disposed to measure the sorbent, the x-ray fluorescence spectrometer comprising an x-ray excitation source and an x-ray detector.
With respect to claim 17, Kuwabara (U. S. Patent No. 5,832,054 A) disclosed an apparatus for capturing iodine vapor, comprising:
a chamber (8) having an inlet (12) and an outlet (12).
However, the prior art failed to disclose or fairly suggested that the apparatus, further comprising:
a sorbent disposed inside of the chamber, the sorbent comprising a chemical element including a plurality of ether functional groups complexed to iodine; and
an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer disposed to measure the iodine.
With respect to claims 18 and 19, the prior art failed to disclose or fairly suggested a method for capturing iodine vapor as claimed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Matoba et al. (U. S. Patent No. 7,436,926 B2) disclosed an X-ray fluorescent analysis apparatus.
Fuusaari et al. (U. S. Patent No. 7,409,037 B2) disclosed an X-ray fluorescence analyzer having means for producing a lowered pressure, and an X-ray fluorescence measurement method.
Shiota et al. (U. S. Patent No. 6,314,158 B1) disclosed a data processor for X-ray fluorescent spectroscopy.
Golenhofen (U. S. Patent No. 6,233,307 B1) disclosed an X-ray compact spectrometer.
Ma (U. S. Patent No. 6,012,325 A) disclosed an apparatus and a method for measuring metallic impurities contained in a fluid.
Kuwabara (U. S. Patent No. 5,832,054 A) disclosed an X-ray fluorescent analyzer comprising quickly evacuable cover cases.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Allen C. Ho, whose telephone number is (571) 272-2491. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10AM - 6PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David J. Makiya, can be reached at (571) 272-2273. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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Allen C. Ho, Ph.D.
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2884
/Allen C. Ho/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884 Allen.Ho@uspto.gov
Prosecution Insights