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 .
Response to Arguments
In view of the amendments filed on 6/23/2026, the 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph rejections, cited in the office action of 2/23/2026, are moot.
In view of the amendments filed on 6/23/2026, 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph rejections, cited in the office action of 2/23/2026, are moot.
Applicant’s arguments, filed 6/23/2026, with respect to claim 11 have been fully considered and are persuasive. As per the Applicant’s arguments the functional language of the claims (e.g., “configured to” or “configured for”) is to be interpreted as required action steps of the claimed method. The 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections of claim 11 and its dependent claims have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 6/23/2026, with respect to claim 25, have been considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant contends that Ek does not teach the handle retaining the reamer head at a fixed position along a first rotational axis of the reamer head, with respect to the handle. The examiner respectfully disagrees. Element 18 of the reamer head, is held at a fixed position with respect to the handle (element 16) as the reamer head prepares the bone along the first rotational axis (Figs. 6, 9). This keeps element 18 of the reamer head at the same fixed angle position relative to the handle, as it is held along the first rotational axis during the reaming process.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 40 and its dependent claims have been considered, but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection. The Ek reference has been re-interpreted as described below to address the claim amendments of 6/23/2026.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-17, 34-35, and 43 are allowed. Claim 44 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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.
Claim(s) 25-30, 38-42, and 44-45 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ek (Patent No.: US 8,361,159 B2) in view of McCombs et al. (Pub. No.: US 2005/0021037 A1; hereinafter “McCombs”).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 25: a method of preparing a joint (col. 3, lines 48-58) comprising: exposing a joint space (col. 3, lines 48-58); inserting a reamer (10) into the joint space (Fig. 6), the reamer comprising: a reamer head (14, 18) comprising a socket (38); a handle (16) configured to manipulate a location and orientation of the reamer head with respect to the joint (Fig. 6; col. 4, lines 35-58), wherein the handle is configured to retain the reamer head at a fixed position along a first rotational axis (central axis of assembled elements 14, 18) of the reamer head, with respect to the handle, as the reamer head prepares a reamed surface on the joint (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46); and a shaft (302) comprising a drive tip (306) that is received in the socket to define a polyaxial joint (col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46) comprising: a plurality of socket surfaces (col. 6, lines 4-24) disposed within the socket of the reamer head (Figs. 1A-1B); a plurality of lobes (Fig. 8) disposed on the drive tip of the shaft (Fig. 8), wherein the plurality of lobes disposed on the drive tip are configured to rotationally engage the plurality of socket surfaces disposed within the socket to transmit torque from the drive tip to the socket along an oblique angle of the drive tip relative to the socket (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46); and applying torque to the shaft to rotate the reamer head via the polyaxial joint and prepare the reamed surface of the joint (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46).
Regarding claims 25 and 38-40, Ek states that its system has been described with reference to excising a portion of an articular surface of a tibial condyle, however its system is suitably be applied to various other articular surfaces. The specific embodiments provided in Ek should only be construed as illustrative but not as limiting (col. 3, lines 48-58; col. 13, lines 40-46). Ek does not explicitly recite that its system is used for preparing a glenoid fossa for shoulder arthroplasty. McCombs teaches that it is well known in the art that reamer and implant systems are applied to a variety of joint locations, including a tibia and a glenoid (paras. 0048-0057), in order to utilize the versatility of the reamer device and to properly treat a particular patient’s anatomy. As shown in their figures, the structures of the shafts of Ek and McCombs will extend alongside a humeral head as the reamer head prepares and is applied to the reamed surface on the glenoid fossa. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Ek to be applied to a glenoid fossa for shoulder arthroplasty, as taught by McCombs, in order to effectively treat a particular patient. As Ek teaches the same reamer structure recited by the claims, such a modification of the usage of Ek would be made with a reasonable expectation of success.
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 26: the method of claim 25, wherein: the shaft comprises a second central longitudinal axis (central axis of element 302); and the first rotational axis is nonparallel to the second central longitudinal axis as the shaft rotates the reamer head via the polyaxial joint (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 27: the method of claim 25, wherein inserting the reamer into the joint space further comprises: inserting the reamer into the joint space along a direction that is nonparallel to the first rotational axis of the reamer head (Figs. 3-4).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 28: the method of claim 25, further comprising: forming a pilot hole (hole housing element 27) in the bone (col. 5, lines 16-37).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 29: the method of claim 28, further comprising: inserting a second shaft (27) protruding from a bone-facing side (lower side of element 14) of the reamer head into the pilot hole formed in the bone to guide rotation of the reamer head with respect to the bone (Figs. 1A-2).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 30: the method of claim 25, further comprising: installing an implant (500) on the reamed surface of the bone (col. 13, lines 47-col. 14, lines 40).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 38: the method of claim 25, further comprising: inserting the reamer head comprising the socket into the joint space (Fig. 6); inserting the shaft comprising the drive tip into the joint space (Fig. 6); and engaging the drive tip with the socket to couple the shaft to the reamer head within the joint space (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 39: the method of claim 25, wherein the reamer further comprises: a reamer coupler (200) configured to removably couple with the reamer head (col. 7, lines 4-26).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 40: a method of preparing a joint (col. 3, lines 48-58) comprising: exposing a joint space adjacent a bone of the joint (col. 3, lines 48-58); inserting a reamer head (14) into the joint space (Fig. 6), the reamer head comprising a reverse side (upper side) oriented in a proximal direction with respect to a first central longitudinal axis of the reamer head, a cutting side (lower side) oriented in a distal direction with respect to the first central longitudinal axis, a socket (38) defining a plurality of socket surfaces (col. 6, lines 4-24) therein (Figs. 1A-1B), and a plurality of cutting features (24, 27, 32) that are formed on the cutting side of the reamer head (Figs. 1A-2) and configured to remove bone from a surface of the joint as the reamer head rotates about the first central longitudinal axis (central axis of assembled elements 14, 18) of the reamer head (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46); and providing torque to the reamer head along a second central longitudinal axis (central axis of element 302) of a shaft (302) that is rotatable about the second central longitudinal axis (col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46) and is coupled to the reamer head via a drive tip (306) disposed on a distal end of the shaft (Figs. 6-8) that is receivable within the socket (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46), the drive tip comprising a plurality of lobes (Fig. 8) configured to transmit torque to the reamer head via rotational engagement of the plurality of lobes with the plurality of socket surfaces to rotate the reamer head about the first central longitudinal axis and prepare a reamed surface of the bone (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46), wherein: the drive tip is oriented at an oblique angle relative to the first central longitudinal axis of the reamer head as the plurality of lobes rotationally engage the plurality of socket surfaces (Fig. 6); and a handle assembly (16) comprising a plate portion (18) with an aperture (20) formed therethrough that is couplable with the reverse side of the reamer head and configured to manipulate a location and orientation of the reamer head with respect to the joint (Fig. 6; col. 4, lines 35-58), wherein the cutting features formed on the cutting side of the reamer head are positioned distal to the plate portion as the reamer head prepares the reamed surface on the bone (Figs. 6, 9).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 41: the method of claim 40, further comprising: inserting the reamer head comprising the socket into the joint space (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46); inserting the shaft comprising the drive tip into the joint space (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46); and engaging the drive tip with the socket to couple the shaft to the reamer head within the joint space (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 42: the method of claim 40, wherein the reamer head further comprises: a reamer coupler (12, inner shaft) configured to removably couple the plate portion of the handle assembly with the reverse side of the reamer head (col. 4, lines 35-49; col. 7, lines 4-26).
Ek teaches the following regarding claim 45: the method of claim 25, wherein: the reamer head is configured to rotate about the first rotational axis of the reamer head with respect to the handle (Fig. 6; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46).; and the reamer head is configured to remain at the fixed position along the first rotational axis with respect to the handle, as the reamed surface is prepared on the glenoid fossa (Figs. 6, 9; col. 5, lines 16-52; col. 8, lines 31-col. 9, lines 48; col. 12, lines 8-37; col. 13, lines 40-46).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ann Hu whose telephone number is (571) 272-6652. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (9:00 am-5:30 pm EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please contact the examiner’s supervisor, Jerrah Edwards, at (408) 918-7557. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANN HU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3774
