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 § 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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lam (US 7405056).
Regarding claim 1, Lam teaches a tissue punch comprising positioning a punch device (26) against a sample-carrier construct formed of a tissue section (29a) and carrier substrate (29b), the punch device (26) formed of an outer wall having a top edge, a bottom edge, and an internal lumen; pushing the bottom edge of the punch device through the sample-carrier construct to cut through the sample-carrier construct such that an excised tissue section is positioned within the internal lumen of the punch device to form a loaded punch device (refer to Figure 5); positioning the loaded punch device against a slide; positioning a piston relative to the loaded punch device so that the piston can be inserted into the loaded punch device; and using the piston to push the excised tissue section out of the loaded punch device toward the slide. (Refer to Col. 9, Lines 46-65)
Regarding claim 2, the piston (10) is part of a piston array formed of a plurality of pistons (10). (Refer to Col. 6, Lines 27-35)
Regarding claim 3, loading a plurality of loaded punch devices onto a corresponding plurality of pistons of the piston array. (Refer to Col. 6, Lines 27-35)
Regarding claim 4, using the piston to push the excised tissue out of the loaded punch device toward the slide comprises using the piston array to simultaneously push excised tissues of a plurality of loaded punch devices toward the slide. (Refer to Col. 6, Lines 27-35)
Regarding claim 5, incubating the slide. (Refer to Col. 17, Lines 45-56)
Regarding claim 6, the slide is incubated while the loaded punch device is positioned on the slide. (Refer to Col. 17, Lines 45-56)
Regarding claim 7, after incubating the slide, removing the loaded punch device from the slide such that the excised tissue section is retained on the slide. (Refer to Col. 14, Lines 21-34)
Regarding claim 8, the slide is incubated on a heat plate. (Refer to Col. 17, Lines 45-56)
Regarding claim 9, positioning the loaded punch device against a slide comprises positioning a top edge of the loaded punch device against the slide. (Refer to Col. 9, Lines 46-65)
Regarding claim 10, the loaded punch device is positioned in a perpendicular orientation relative to the slide. (Refer to Col. 9, Lines 46-65)
Regarding claim 11, removably attaching the punch device (26) to a punch tool (26’) formed an outer housing that removably receives the punch device, wherein the housing serves as a handle for manipulating the punch device.
Regarding claim 12, the punch tool is a spring-loaded tool (41) that can be actuated by a user to expel, eject, or otherwise transition the punch device toward the sample carrier-construct. (Refer to Figure 6)
Regarding claim 13, pushing the bottom edge of the punch device (26) through the sample-carrier construct comprises actuating the punch tool. (Refer to Figures 5 and 6)
Regarding claim 14, the bottom edge of the punch device is sharp. (Refer to Figure 6)
Regarding claim 15, the bottom edge of the punch device is a blade. (Refer to Col. 11, Lines 9-14)
Regarding claim 16, the punch device (26) is cylindrical. (Refer to Col. 13, Lines 15-17)
Regarding claim 17, the punch device is cuboid, cylindrical, pyramidal, conical, or frustoconical. (Refer to Col. 13, Lines 15-17)
Regarding claim 18, the slide forms part of a flow cell. (Refer to Col. 1, Lines 55-62)
Regarding claim 19, the carrier substrate comprises agarose, gelatin, polyacrylamide, or any suitable hydrogel. (Refer to Col. 10, Lines 47-49)
Regarding claim 20, while the tissue sample remains in contact with the glass solid support, heating the glass solid support to a temperature of 30 °C or greater. (Refer to claim 1 rejection and Col. 17, Lines 50-55)
Conclusion
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/JYOTI Mutreja/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1798