Appeal No. 2001-2271 Page 2
Application No. 08/971,839
having a frequency within a cavitation range; amplifying the steady state electrical signal
energy to an operative voltage level and converting said amplified electrical signal
energy into acoustic energy for producing said acoustic field within the treatment zone.
3. The improvement as defined in claim 2 wherein said biological agent is
selected from a group of tagging compounds consisting of calcein and oxytetracycline
hydrochloride.
The references relied on by the examiner are:
Zohar et al. (Zohar) 5,076,208 Dec. 31, 1991
Heat Systems Ultrasonics, Inc., “Breaking the Heat Barrier,” Sonicator Series
Application Notes, AN-1, pp. 1-2 (1977)
Monaghan, “Comparison of Calcein and Tetracycline as Chemical Markers in Summer
Flounder,” Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, Vol. 122, pp. 298-301
(1993)
Mohler, “Immersion of Larval Atlantic Salmon in Calcein Solutions to Induce a Non-
Lethally Detectable Mark,” North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Vol. 17,
pp. 751-756 (1997)
Claims 1, 2, 7, 10 and 11 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable
over Zohar and Heat Systems Ultrasonics, while claims 3-5, 8, 12, 13 and 15 stand
rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Zohar, Heat Systems Ultrasonics,
Monaghan and Mohler.
BACKGROUND
The present invention is directed to a method of infusing aquatic animal tissues
(e.g., fish eggs or larvae) with biological agents (e.g. chemical markers or DNA).
Infusion of the biological agent is “performed within [a] treatment zone under an
acoustic energy field of limited duration produced by amplification of a steady state
electrical power signal converted into ultrasound waves within a cavitation frequency
range establishing the acoustic field within the treatment zone” (Brief, page 2). As
explained in the specification, with reference to Figure 2, the “treatment zone”
comprises water “enclosed by a cylindrical shaped transducer . . . [which] converts
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