DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the amendment filed 9/22/25.
Claims 1-17, 20-25 and 27 are rejected.
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 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-17, 20-25 and 27 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 1, the claim requires:
‘… a first phase lasting a first time period, wherein at least one of the one or more energy sources sequentially provide energy to multiple non-invasive energy applicators one or more times at a first frequency and a first range of power levels to elevate temperatures of fat tissue in each target body subarea to a fat treatment temperature for a fat treatment therapy; and a second phase lasting a second time period, wherein at least one of the one or more energy sources sequentially and repeatedly provide energy to each of the plurality of noninvasive energy applicators at a second frequency different from the first frequency and at a second range of power levels to maintain temperatures of fat tissue in each target body subarea at the fat treatment temperature for the fat treatment therapy’
It is the examiner’s position that there is no support in the original disclosure for sequentially applying energy to the one or more applicators from the one or more energy sources at a first frequency during a temperature elevation phase and sequentially and repeatedly applying energy to the one or more applicators from the one or more energy sources at a second frequency different than the first frequency during a temperature maintenance phase, as required by the claim.
Applicant’s ‘Remarks’ cite various passages which applicant alleges, when taken together, fully support the claim language as written, however, the examiner disagrees. For instance, applicant cites par. 46 to establish that the original disclosure supports the notion of two different energy sources 202(a) and 202(b) generating energy at different frequencies. The examiner does not dispute that the original disclosure supports the notion of two different energy sources generating energy at different frequencies.
Applicant further cites pars. 47 and 53, to establish that each applicator is configured to be connected to either energy source (Par. 47), and that in some embodiments each applicator receives energy from energy source 202(a) for a first period of time and energy source 202(b) for a second period of time (Par. 53). If we combine the teachings of par. 46-47 and 53, it is the examiner’s position that at best this supports supplying each applicator with energy from energy source 202(a) at a first frequency for a first period of time and then supplying each applicator from energy source 202(b) at a second frequency different from the first frequency for a second period of time. Nothing in pars. 46-47 and 53, however, supports the claim language that first period of time is associated with ‘a first power level to elevate temperatures of fat tissue’ or that the second period of time is associated with a ‘second range of power levels to maintain treatment temperature.’ Further, there is nothing in pars. 46-47 and 53 which would indicate that the disclosed first and second time periods encompass ‘sequentially provid(ing) energy to multiple non-invasive energy applicators one or more times.’ For instance, par. 53 discloses ‘applicator 208a receives energy from energy source 202a for a first period of time, and then receives energy from energy source 202b for a second period of time’. This indicates that the periods of time in par. 53 are not the total periods of time in which energy is sequentially and repeatedly applied from each of the energy sources to the different energy applicators but rather the period of time in which each individual energy applicator receives energy from either of the different energy sources. For instance, referring to fig. 5b, the first period of time could be construed to refer to the period of time during the ramp-up phase in which energy is applied from the first energy source (RF-A) to the first energy applicator and the second period of time could be construed as the period of time during the ramp-up phase in which energy is supplied from the second energy source (RF-B) to the first energy applicator.
Applicant attempts to remedy the deficiencies of par 53, by citing pars. 54-55 and fig. 5a which disclose the use of a temperature ramp-up phase and a temperature maintenance phase. However, as discussed earlier there is no indication in pars. 54-55 that these different phases are the same as the first and second time periods disclosed in par. 53. Further, there is no disclosure in pars. 54-55 that these different phases are provided by different energy sources let alone at different frequencies, as required by the claim. Further, unlike fig. 5B which explicitly shows the use of two different energy sources (RF-A, RF-B), fig. 5a does not show the use of multiple energy sources.
Therefore, the examiner does not believe that the claim is fully supported by the original disclosure. In particular, the examiner does not believe that the provided citations support the claim limitations of ‘sequentially provide energy to multiple non-invasive energy applicators one or more times at a first frequency […] to elevate temperatures of fat tissue […]; and […] sequentially and repeatedly provide energy to each of the plurality of noninvasive energy applicators at a second frequency different from the first frequency […] to maintain temperatures of fat tissue’
Claim 20 is rejected for identical reasons to those discussed with respect to claim 1, above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM JOSEPH AVIGAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3953. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Stoklosa can be reached at (571) 272-1213. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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ADAM JOSEPH. AVIGAN
Examiner
Art Unit 3739
/ADAM J AVIGAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3794
/JOSEPH A STOKLOSA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3794
Prosecution Insights