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 Objections
Claims 16-29 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 16 Line 3 currently states:
“position, an elastic return member for returning said pump to its rest position after each actuation,”.
Should be changed to state:
--position, an elastic return member for returning said pump to [[its]] the rest position after each actuation,--.
Claim 16 Line 6-8 currently states:
“deformable material, such as an elastomer, in particular an thermoplastic elastomer, said hollow tube being arranged radially inside said piston, and being one of said hollow tube and said piston comprising a radially projecting profile which, in the rest position of said piston, is in contact with”.
Should be changed to state:
--deformable material, such as an elastomer, in particular an thermoplastic elastomer, said hollow tube being arranged radially inside said piston, and [[being]] one of said hollow tube and said piston comprising a radially projecting profile which, in the rest position of said piston, is in contact with--.
Claim 16 Line 11 currently states:
“being folded radially inwards when a threshold actuation force is exerted by the user on said piston.”.
Should be changed to state:
--being folded radially inwards when a threshold actuation force is exerted by [[the]] a user on said piston.--.
Claim 20 Line 1-3 currently states:
“wherein said radially projecting profile comprises a plurality of lugs arranged around the periphery of said hollow tube or said piston, over the same axial height.”.
Should be changed to state:
--wherein said radially projecting profile comprises a plurality of lugs arranged around the periphery of said hollow tube or said piston, over an axial height of said hollow tube or said piston.--.
Claim 23 Line 1 currently states:
“wherein said tube is supported on the upper axial side”.
Should be changed to state:
--wherein said hollow tube is supported on the upper axial side--.
Claim 29 Line 2 currently states:
“dispensing hole, said dispensing head being assembled on a pump according to claim 16.”.
Should be changed to state:
--dispensing hole, said dispensing head being assembled on [[a]] the pump according to claim 16.--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 16-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 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.
Regarding Claim 16: the phrases "such as" (Line 6) and "in particular" (Line 6) render the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrases (an elastomer and an thermoplastic elastomer) are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding Claim 16: The term “slightly deformed” in claim 16 Line 9-10 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “slightly deformed” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention – since there is no way to judge the level of defamation being required by the slightly deformed claim language.
Regarding Claim 16: Line 7-10 states in part: “one of said hollow tube and said piston comprising a radially projecting profile which, in the rest position of said piston, is in contact with the other of said hollow tube and said piston so that in said rest position, said hollow tube is slightly deformed radially inwards by a radially projecting profile, said hollow tube, during actuation,”. It is unclear the exact limitations the applicant is introducing here, specifically if the radially projecting profile in Line 10 is the same as the radially projecting profile in Line 8 or if they are different structures? Accordingly, the scope of the claim is unclear. However, since (Page 8 Line 3-10 & Page 8 Line 11-19) the SPEC indicates that the radially projecting profile is what causes the deformations of the tube, for the purpose of examination the language in question will be read as: --one of said hollow tube and said piston comprising a radially projecting profile which, in the rest position of said piston, is in contact with the other of said hollow tube and said piston so that in said rest position, said hollow tube is slightly deformed radially inwards by [[a]] the radially projecting profile, said hollow tube, during actuation,--.
Regarding Claim 22: Claim 22 recites the limitation "said dispensing head" in Line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes the language in question will be read as –[[said]] a dispensing head--.
Regarding Claim 22: Claim 22 recites the limitations "the lower side" in Line 5 & "the outside" in Line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. For examination purposes the language in question will be read as –[[the]] a lower side-- & --[[the]] an outside--.
Regarding Claim 22: Claim 22 recites the limitation "the non-operating sate" in Line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes the language in question will be read as –[[the]] a non-operating sate--.
Regarding Claim 23: Claim 23 recites the limitation "the upper axial side" in Line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes the language in question will be read as –[[the]] an upper axial side--.
Regarding Claim 23: Claim 23 recites the limitation "the lower axial side" in Line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes the language in question will be read as –[[the]] a lower axial side--.
Regarding Claim 26: Claim 26 recites the limitation "said resilient return member" in Line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Because the resilient return member appears to be a typo (given what is stated in the SPEC – Page 5 Line 23-31, Page 10 Line 33-Page 11 Line 4), for examination purposes the language in question will be read as: --said [[resilient]] elastic return member is a bellows --.
Regarding Claim 26: Claim 26 recites the limitation "said dispensing head" in Line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes the language in question will be read as –[[said]] a dispensing head--.
Regarding Claim 26: the phrase "such as" (Line 2) renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Finally; depending claim(s) inherit deficiencies from the parent claim(s). Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 16 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 16:The prior art of record either alone or in combination does not teach or suggest the device recited in claim 16 including “and one of said hollow tube and said piston comprising a radially projecting profile which, in the rest position of said piston, is in contact with the other of said hollow tube and said piston so that in said rest position, said hollow tube is slightly deformed radially inwards by the radially projecting profile, said hollow tube, during actuation, being folded radially inwards when a threshold actuation force is exerted by a user on said piston” in combination with all the other features recited in independent claim 16.
It is the Examiner’s opinion that modification of the available prior art in the claimed manner is neither contemplated nor foreseeable without the benefit of the disclosure of the instant invention. Accordingly, claims 17-29 are allowable based on their dependency on allowable claim 16.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Choe US 2025/0083167 – discloses a pump having a deformable element 600.
Hobson USPN 6113366 – discloses a bellows made out of thermoplastic
EP 580897 – discloses a manually actuated nasal dispenser.
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/CHARLES G FREAY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
/JOSEPH S. HERRMANN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3746
