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 Amendment
The Amendment filed 9/16/25 has been entered. Claims 1 and 7 are amended. Claims 4 and 6 are canceled. Claims 1- 3, 5 and 7- 12 are pending. It is noted that claims 13- 20 directed to an invention non-elected without traverse were canceled in the Notice of Allowance, mailed 3/27/25.
Response to Arguments
It is noted that applicant’s amendment of claim 1 in order to incorporate the limitations of claim 4 is not verbatim. That is to say, Amended claim 1 does not include all of the limitations of the original base claim 1, thereby changing the scope of the claim and requiring a new rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 7 is 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.
Claim 7 recites the limitation “the distance” in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Reasons for Allowance
Claims 1- 3, 5 and 8- 12 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art does not teach or suggest, alone or in combination with the remainder of the claim limitations, wherein the pair of pivot discs are incrementally rotatable to alter a position of the distal wrist axle relative to the proximal wrist axle.
Regarding claim 8, the prior art does not teach or suggest, in combination with the remainder of the claim limitations, a pair of pivot discs removably coupled to the proximal clevis… wherein removing the pair of pivot discs from the proximal clevis frees the distal wrist axle and thereby allows a distance between the proximal and distal pluralities of pulleys to be adjusted.
The closest cited prior art reference, Hyodo (US Pub. No. 2013/0066333 A1) teaches a surgical tool end effector (6) (Figs. 2- 14) including a wrist (11) (Figs. 3- 5) having a proximal clevis (12) (Figs. 3- 4), a distal clevis (15) (Figs. 3- 4) and a pair of pivot discs (21) (Figs. 2, 10- 12) fixedly coupled to the proximal clevis (12) even when the wrist (11) is separated from the distal clevis (15) (See Fig. 14), and as such, Hyodo does not teach or suggest a pair of pivot discs removably coupled to the proximal clevis… wherein removing the pair of pivot discs from the proximal clevis frees the distal wrist axle and thereby allows a distance between the proximal and distal pluralities of pulleys to be adjusted.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See 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 KANKINDI RWEGO whose telephone number is (303)297-4759. The examiner can normally be reached Monday- Friday: 10:00- 5:00 MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, (Jackie) Tan-Uyen Ho can be reached at 571 272-4696. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KANKINDI RWEGO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3771