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 .
Drawings
Figures 1-3 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheets should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the Examiner, the Applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informality: On Page 8, Line 34, the Examiner assumes that “light may interacts with” should actually be --light may interact with--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informality: On Lines 7-8, the Examiner assumes that “held by an integrating cavity” should actually be --held by the integrating cavity--. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-12, 15-16, and 18-19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Darby et al. (US 2019/0257745), hereinafter Darby, in view of Cunningham et al. (US 2020/0122148, disclosed in IDS 04 March 2025), hereinafter Cunningham.
Claim 1: Darby discloses an integrating cavity device (7, Fig. 1) for an optical cavity of an integrating cavity (3), the integrating cavity device comprising:
a container (7) defining or comprising an inner receptacle or cavity configured to receive a liquid or a cuvette (7) [0123];
wherein the integrating cavity device (7) is configured to be received or held by the integrating cavity (3) (evident from Fig. 1) [0123], and the integrating cavity device (7) extends in an elongated manner so as to be located inside the optical cavity (7) of the integrating cavity (3) when received or held therein (evident since Fig. 1 shows a top-down view of the spectrometer apparatus).
Darby is silent with respect to a masking enclosure.
Cunningham, however, in the same field of endeavor of cuvette holders, discloses a device (100, Figs. 1A-1C) for an optical cavity, the device (100) comprising:
a container (102) defining or comprising an inner receptacle or cavity (108) configured to receive a liquid or a cuvette (102) [0035];
a masking enclosure (106) configured to mask (via walls 112,116) at least one portion of the inner receptacle or cavity (108) (“The body 106 has four walls that define an interior cavity 108. A first aperture 110 extends through a first wall 112 and a second aperture 114 extends through a second wall 116” [0035]);
wherein the masking enclosure (106) extends along the container (102) to mask, from optical cavity reflections, a first portion of the inner receptacle or cavity and a first portion of a liquid sample when received therein, or a first portion of a cuvette (102) when received therein; and panoramically expose, to optical cavity reflections, a second portion of the inner receptacle or cavity or a second portion of the cuvette (102) when received in the inner receptacle or cavity (evident from Fig. 1B, where the lower part of the cuvette 102 is exposed via aperture 110,114 and the upper part of the cuvette 102 is masked via walls 112,116, “The first and second apertures 110, 114 connect to form a single, large aperture spanning the first and the second walls 112, 116” [0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Darby’s integrating cavity device with a masking enclosure for the purpose of controlling the angle “between an incident beam from a light source and a reflected beam measured by a sensor” for the desired imaging techniques (Cunningham [0035]).
Claim 2: Darby is silent with respect to a masking enclosure.
Cunningham, however, discloses wherein the masking enclosure (106) extends along the container (102) to define at least one concealed inner receptacle section (evident from Fig. 1B, [0035]) and to permit panoramic exposure of the second portion of the inner receptacle or cavity to optical cavity reflections (evident from Fig. 1B, where the lower part of the cuvette 102 is exposed via aperture 110,114 and the upper part of the cuvette 102 is masked via walls 112,116, “The first and second apertures 110, 114 connect to form a single, large aperture spanning the first and the second walls 112, 116” [0035]), or permit panoramic exposure of the second portion of the cuvette to optical cavity reflections when received in the integrating cavity device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Darby’s integrating cavity device with a masking enclosure that extends along the container and allows for panoramic exposure for the purpose of controlling the angle “between an incident beam from a light source and a reflected beam measured by a sensor” for the desired imaging techniques (Cunningham [0035]).
Claim 3: Darby is silent with respect to a masking enclosure.
Cunningham, however, discloses wherein the masking enclosure (106) extends along the container (102) to delimit at least one unconcealed inner receptacle section that panoramically exposes a standardized fluidic volume to optical cavity reflections, or to permit to delimit at least one unconcealed inner receptacle section of the cuvette (102) to panoramically expose a standardized fluidic volume to optical cavity reflections (evident from Fig. 1B, “The large aperture spanning the first and the second walls 112, 116 can be used in imaging techniques that require an acute angle or 90-degree angle between an incident beam from a light source and a reflected beam measured by a sensor” [0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Darby’s integrating cavity device with a masking enclosure that extends along the container and allows for panoramic exposure for the purpose of controlling the angle “between an incident beam from a light source and a reflected beam measured by a sensor” for the desired imaging techniques (Cunningham [0035]).
Claim 4: Darby further discloses wherein the container (7) includes at least one elongated hollow passage extending fully through the container (7) (inherent since it is a cuvette [0123]).
Claim 5: Darby further discloses positioning means (13) configured to locate a standardized fluidic volume of the cuvette (7) outside the container (7) for exposure to optical cavity reflections of the integrating cavity (3) [0125].
Claims 7-8: Darby is silent with respect to the particular configuration of the container.
Cunningham, however, further discloses wherein the container (102) includes at least one elongated hollow passage (108) extending through the container (102) and a base (104) sealing the elongated hollow passage (108) to define the inner receptacle for receiving and holding the liquid (“The cuvette holder includes a base 104 and a body 106 extending from the base 104. The body 106 has four walls that define an interior cavity 108” [0035]),
wherein the container (102) includes at least one unconcealed inner receptacle section defining a standardized fluidic volume for panoramic exposure to optical cavity reflections (“The large aperture spanning the first and the second walls 112, 116 can be used in imaging techniques that require an acute angle or 90-degree angle between an incident beam from a light source and a reflected beam measured by a sensor” [0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Darby’s container to have an elongated hollow passage and a base for the purpose of receiving a liquid in the cuvette for optical measurement.
Claims 9-10: Darby is silent with respect to a masking enclosure.
Cunningham, however, discloses wherein the container (102) includes at least one outer surface and at least one inner surface (evident from Figs. 1A-1C), and the masking enclosure (106) extends on the at least one outer surface (evident from Fig. 1B; “The body 106 has four walls that define an interior cavity 108” [0035]) or on the at least one inner surface,
wherein the masking enclosure (106) comprises a deposit deposited and adhered to the at least one outer surface or to the at least one inner surface of the container (102) (“The body 106 has four walls that define an interior cavity 108” [0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Darby’s container with a masking enclosure on the outer surface of the container for the purpose of defining an interior cavity for placement of the cuvette (Cunningham, “The body 106 has four walls that define an interior cavity 108” [0035]).
Claim 11: Darby is silent with respect to the masking enclosure.
Cunningham, however, discloses wherein the masking enclosure (106) comprises a diffusely or specular reflecting material, or a broadband light absorbing material (evident that light is either reflecting off or absorbing into the body 106 since the apertures 110,114 are what allow for transmission of light, “The large aperture spanning the first and the second walls 112, 116 can be used in imaging techniques that require an acute angle or 90-degree angle between an incident beam from a light source and a reflected beam measured by a sensor”; [0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Darby’s integrating cavity device with a masking enclosure that is reflective or absorptive for the purpose of controlling the angle “between an incident beam from a light source and a reflected beam measured by a sensor” for the desired imaging techniques (Cunningham [0035]).
Claim 12: Darby is silent with respect to a masking enclosure.
Cunningham, however, discloses wherein the masking enclosure (106) comprises a diffusely or specular reflecting material extending on the at least one outer surface (evident that light is reflecting off the body 106 since the apertures 110,114 are what allow for transmission of light, “The large aperture spanning the first and the second walls 112, 116 can be used in imaging techniques that require an acute angle or 90-degree angle between an incident beam from a light source and a reflected beam measured by a sensor”; [0035]), and an absorbing material extending on the at least one inner wall to provide a double light shield of the at least one portion of the inner receptacle or cavity (108) (“The cuvette 102 contains a substance that absorbs and/or scatters light” [0038]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Darby’s integrating cavity device with a masking enclosure that has reflective and absorptive properties for the purpose of controlling the angle “between an incident beam from a light source and a reflected beam measured by a sensor” for the desired imaging techniques (Cunningham [0035]).
Claim 15: Darby discloses an integrating cavity (3) including the integrating cavity device (7) according to claim 1 [0123].
Claim 16: Darby further discloses wherein at least one port (P1) of the integrating cavity (3) includes the integrating cavity device (7) that extends from an opening or channel defined by the port (P1) and extends inside the optical cavity of the integrating cavity (3) [0125]; or
wherein the integrating cavity device is of unitary construction with the integrating cavity and extends inside the optical cavity of the integrating cavity.
Claim 18: Darby discloses a spectroscopic measurement method including the steps of:
providing the integrating cavity device (7) of claim 1 [0123]; and
using the provided integrating cavity device (7) to obtain spectroscopic measurements [0124].
Claim 19: Darby discloses a spectroscopic measurement method, the method comprising:
providing the integrating cavity (3) of claim 15 [0123]; and
using the provided integrating cavity (3) to obtain spectroscopic measurements [0124].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 13-14, and 17 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:
Claim 6: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the integrating cavity according to claim 5, wherein the positioning means comprises a wedging or blocking mechanism configured to wedge or block the cuvette against the integrating cavity device, or at least one detent mechanism, or at least one set screw, or at least one mount extending from the container and defining a landing configured to position a base of the cuvette at a standardized distance from the container.
Claims 13-14: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the integrating cavity according to claim 1, further including an upper integrating cavity engagement connection or connector configured to connect or attach the integrating cavity device to a sample port of the integrating cavity to allow an upward and downward displacement of the liquid and the cuvette inside the integrating cavity when the liquid and the cuvette are inserted into the integrating cavity.
Claim 17: None of the prior art, alone or in combination, teaches or discloses the integrating cavity according to claim 16, wherein a first port of the integrating cavity includes a first integrating cavity device and a second port of the integrating cavity includes a second integrating cavity device, the first and second ports being located opposite each other to allow a cuvette to extend between the first and second ports.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to HINA F AYUB whose telephone number is (571)270-3171. The Examiner can normally be reached on 9am-5pm ET Mon-Fri.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Tarifur Chowdhury can be reached on 571-272-2287. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Hina F Ayub/
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2877
Prosecution Insights