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 § 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 1-4, 6-11, 13-18, and 21 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. In claim 1, line 21, “about” should be replaced by --along-- in order to clarify the scope of the claims relative to the arc shape. In claim 7, line 17 lacks proper grammatical syntax with regard to “a” and “of the”. In claim 10, line 12, “a” should be replaced by --an--.
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.
Claims 7, 10-11, 13-16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Choi, KR 10-2008-0048450 A. The embodiment of Figures 12-14 involves a fluidic actuator unit comprising a joint 41 configured to be aligned with a user’s knee (attached machine translation: page 4, last two lines; page 16, last two lines; page 17, lines 1-6) and coupled to first arm or thigh brace 30 and to second arm or calf brace 31 (page 4, bottom portion; page 18, lines 3-9) and an inflatable bellows actuator 11 circumferentially extending between first and second plates 90 which radially extend from joint 41 (page 17, lines 6-15), the inflatable bellows actuator 11 defining a bellows cavity having an arced tube shape of varying cross-sectional area (Figure 14; page 17, last two lines) and configured to extend along an azimuthal length and centroidal axis when inflated by introducing fluid into the bellows cavity (page 18, last three lines), the centroidal axis being curvilinear and central such that the axis passes through first and second plates 90 but not through the inner and outer zigzagged walls of bellows actuator 11.
Regarding claims 11 and 13, the fluidic actuator unit is configured to be worn about a knee joint in alignment with a rotational axis of the knee, the joint 41 being disposed on a lateral side of the knee (Figure 12; page 18, lines 4-5 and 14-15). Regarding claim 16, a distal end of second arm or calf brace 31 (Figure 12) is structurally capable of being directly or indirectly coupled to a ski boot (MPEP § 2114), even though such is not the stated intent. Regarding claim 7, “pneumatic” in the preamble (at line 1) is deemed to involve a statement of purpose rather than giving “life, meaning, and vitality” to the claim (MPEP § 2111.02), the body of which claim is not limited to pneumatic elements, and “comprises” (line 2 of claim 7) is inclusive or open-ended (MPEP § 2111.03); moreover, the Choi hydraulic system is capable of at least partially accommodating air or other gases, even though the walking assistance device would not perform as optimally engineered. The further limitations of other claims are addressed above (MPEP § 707).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 8-9 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi, KR 10-2008-0048450 A. Regarding claim 8, coupling prosthetics and orthotic assist devices to ski boots was well-known in the art (as demonstrated in the previous Office action of February 10, 2025, near the bottom of page 5) and would have been obvious to the ordinary practitioner at the effective filing date of the present application in order to enhance user locomotion in colder climates. Regarding claims 9 and 17-18, a fluid impermeable, flexible, inextensible layer for each bellows actuator 11 (Figures 13-14) would likewise have been obvious in order to transmit hydraulic pressures in an efficient manner without fluid leakage or ballooning [page 3, bottom; page 4, top; page 11, lines 8-9 (“a material that can withstand a pressure of approximately 10 kilograms (Kg) per square centimeter (cm2) without bursting”); page 18, lines 5-17 (hydraulic pressure transmitted from hydraulic generating pack 20 to bellows actuators 11 with applied forces determined in part by pertinent cross-sectional areas)].
Claims 1-4, 6, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto, WO 2015/104832 A1, in view of Choi, KR 10-2008-0048450 A. Yamamoto illustrates left and right actuator units (Figures 3-4), upper and lower arms coupled to rotatable joints (Figures 2, 8A-8B, 10-13), arc-shaped bellows actuators between plates extending from the rotatable joints (Figures 10-11), and a control system with sensors (Figure 9; machine translation pages 14-15 and 21), except that Yamamoto is focused on hip and waist joints (abstract; Figure 1) rather than knee joints. To additionally provide joint motion assistance to the knees would have been obvious from Choi (discussed above) in order to impart walking assistance to users having weakened legs and/or to enhance lifting of heavy objects (Yamamoto: page 21, lines 847-852), with further motivation (to combine) provided by references of Yamamoto to “a vane pump” and a “knee joint” (page 1, lines 24 and 32), independently assisting movement of more than one joint (page 4, lines 135-138), and utilizing various working fluids such as air, water, and oil (page 21, lines 845-846). A computing device having sensors, memory, control programs, and a processor to control the pneumatic system based in part on sensor data would have been immediately obvious from Yamamoto’s control unit 184 (Figure 9; page 14, line 553, et seq.) and the processing of biological or biometric information involving muscle forces, electromyograms, and brain waves (page 15, lines 592-593 and 603-606; page 21, lines 839-841) in order to appropriately respond to gait dynamics, lifting forces, and so on.
Regarding claims 3-4, an internal first layer that is substantially impermeable to the pneumatic fluid and bonded to an outer second layer comprising a flexible but inextensible material would have been obvious in order to provide a reinforced bellows structure that reliably and efficiently transmits force (Yamamoto: page 18, lines 746-747), with further motivation given by the pressure and force calculations taught by Choi (as explained above). The further limitations of other dependent claims would have been obvious for reasons presented above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s remarks have been considered but are deemed moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant’s amendment and the altered scope of the claims necessitated the grounds of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL (MPEP § 706.07(a)). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David H. Willse, whose telephone number is 571-272-4762. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Melanie Tyson can be reached at telephone number 571-272-9062. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID H WILLSE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3774