BIOSAFETY CABINET WITH DIVIDED PLENUM

Application No. 19/202,469

• Filed: May 08, 2025
• Priority: May 08, 2023 — divisional of 12/325,052
• Examiner: DILLON JR, JOSEPH A
• Assignee: Labconco Corporation
• OA Round: 1 (Non-Final)

Office Action

DETAILED ACTION
Claim Interpretation
The examiner is taking “divided plenum” as co-extensive and although separated are none-the-less substantially adjacent.

Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.

(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.

Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hunter et al. (RE 40,276).
Hunter et al. (RE 40,276) disclose(s):

Biosafety cabinet, figure(s) 1;

Plenum, at 66, best seen figure(s) 4;

Supply passageway, below 98;

Supply inlet(s), below 26;

Supply outlet(s) at 124;

exhaust passageway, 94 and leftward;

exhaust inlet(s), below 90;

exhaust outlet(s) below 32;

Divider 88;

Blower 28;

Exhaust filter 30;

Supply filter 32;

Housing 16;

Work area 20;

Front access opening 24;

Exhaust section 124;

Supply section 44;

Recirculation duct(s) 58.

With regard to claim(s) 2, Hunter et al. (RE 40,276) disclose(s) independent filter pressure drops by virtue of interposed divider 88.
Conclusion
Claims 3-6 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 prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ono (8,163,052) is typical of prior art plenum geometry as depicted in figure(s) 2B so as to be lacking a co-extensive orientation.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH A DILLON JR whose telephone number is [phone]. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday; 8AM-6:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mike McCullough can be reached on [phone]. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are [phone] for regular communications and [phone] for After Final communications.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is [phone].
/JOSEPH A DILLON JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653

Prosecution Timeline

• May 08, 2025: Application Filed
• Sep 02, 2026: Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)