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 .
Status of Claims
This office action is responsive to the appeal brief filed 5 May 2026.
Claims 5, 10-18, and 21 are canceled.
Claims 1-4, 6-9, 19, and 20 are presently pending in this application.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 9, 19, and 20 are 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 9 recite the limitation “trapped against the distal tip by the distal tip cap”. The term “trapped” is unclear, as it is not apparent how the liquid outlet orifice member is restricted by the distal tip and distal tip cap. For the purposes of examination, examiner interprets “trapped against” to mean –constrained within--.
Claim 19 recites the limitation “the orifice member” in line 2 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for the limitation. For the purposes of examination, Examiner interprets “the orifice member” to mean –an orifice member--.
Claim 20 is rejected as it depends on independent claim 19.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 6, 9, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Staid et al. (US Patent No. 9597107 B2), hereinafter Staid.
Regarding claim 1, Staid teaches a water jet hand piece (Staid: Fig. 4A, instrument 100) for treating tissue (cutting and/or ablating tissue; col 18, ln 7-11), comprising: a handle (Fig. 4A, comprising handpiece body 110 and nozzle alignment component 104) including a housing (Fig. 4A, comprising mated sections 112 and 114 and nozzle alignment component 104); a jet tube (Fig. 4C, pressure lumen 106) mounted to the housing (Fig. 4C, lumen 106 is shown mounted to component 104), the jet tube (106) including a 180 degree curved distal end (Fig. 4C, lumen 106 is shown curving 180 degrees towards distal tip 128); a distal tip (Fig. 4C, distal end 103) arranged to receive liquid from the jet tube (Fig. 4C, part of lumen 106 within distal end 103 receives liquid from lumen 106) and defines a treatment window (Fig. 4C, length JL, defined by distal end 103) for treating tissue with a liquid jet (col 22, ln 24-35), the distal tip (103) being integral with the housing (Fig. 4C, distal end 103 is shown integral with component 104); and an evacuation tube (Fig. 4C, evacuation lumen 108) received within the housing (Fig. 4A, lumen 108 is shown received within section 112) and extending distally from the housing (Fig. 4A, lumen 108 extends distally from section 112) within a portion of the distal tip (Fig. 4C, lumen 108 extends within a portion of the distal end 103) to end at a proximal end of the treatment window (Fig. 4C, lumen 108 ends at a proximal end of the length JL).
Regarding claim 2, Staid teaches the hand piece above, wherein the housing (112, 114, and 104) includes an upper housing (Fig. 4A, comprising section 114 and component 104) and a lower housing (Fig. 4A, section 112), the distal tip (103) being integral with only the upper housing (114) of the housing (Fig. 4C, distal end 103 is shown to be integral with only component 104).
Regarding claim 3, Staid teaches the hand piece above, wherein the upper housing (114 and 104) comprising a distal housing (Fig. 4A, component 104) and a proximal housing (Fig. 4A, section 114), the distal tip (103) and the distal housing (104) being an integral, one-piece component (Fig. 4C, end 103 and component 104 are shown to be a single integral component).
Regarding claim 4, Staid teaches the hand piece above, wherein the evacuation tube (108) is received within the lower housing (Fig. 4A, lumen 108 is shown received within section 112).
Regarding claim 6, Staid teaches the hand piece above, further comprising a liquid outlet orifice member (Fig. 3A, nozzle ring 21) received in the distal end of the jet tube (Fig. 3A, nozzle ring 21 is shown received within a distal end of the lumen 106).
Regarding claim 9, Staid teaches a water jet hand piece (Staid: Fig. 4A, instrument 100) for treating tissue (cutting and/or ablating tissue; col 18, ln 7-11), comprising: a distal tip (Fig. 4C, distal tip 128) defining an internal flow path (Fig. 4C, distal tip 128 is shown defining a lumen) and a treatment window (Fig. 4C, length JL); a distal tip cap (3A, retaining element 72); and a liquid outlet orifice member (Fig. 3A, nozzle ring 21) received between the distal tip (128) and the cap (72) and constrained within the distal tip (128) by the distal tip cap (Fig. 3A, nozzle ring 21 is constrained within tip 128 by the element 72; col 17, ln 24-40), the liquid outlet orifice member (21) being a separate piece than the distal tip (128) and the cap (nozzle ring 21 can be detached; col 13, ln 54-58); wherein the hand piece (100) is configured for liquid flow through the flow path and out the orifice member (21)to the treatment window (col 22, ln 24-35).
Regarding claim 19, Staid teaches the hand piece above, further comprising a spacer (Fig. 3A, retaining element 72) received in the distal end of the jet tube (Fig. 3A, element 72 is shown received within the distal end of lumen 106) on top of an orifice member (Fig. 3A, element 72 is shown on top of ring 21) between the orifice member (Fig. 3A, nozzle ring 21) and a fluid outlet of the jet tube (Fig. 19, element 72 is shown between the fluid outlet of the lumen 106 and the ring 21).
Regarding claim 20, Staid teaches the hand piece above, wherein the spacer (72) is welded to the jet tube (retaining element 72 is affixed via welding; col 11, ln 64-67 – col 12, ln 1-17).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Drasler et al. (US Patent No. 5496267 A), hereinafter Drasler.
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Regarding claim 7, Drasler teaches a water jet hand piece (Fig. 1A, catheter system 10) for treating tissue (col 4, ln 35-44), comprising: a handle (Fig. 10, manifold 13) including an upper housing (Fig. 10, catheter body 200) and a lower housing (Fig. 10 above, lower housing A), the lower housing (A) defining a treatment window (Fig. 10, lower housing A defines a treatment window present between housing A and port 188); a jet tube (Fig. 10, nozzle assembly 191) mounted to the lower housing (A), the jet tube (191) having a straight distal end region (Fig. 10, distal portion of tube 191 is shown to be straight) extending from proximal of the treatment window (Fig. 10 above, distal portion of tube 191 extends proximal of A to 188) to an outlet of the jet tube (Fig. 10, distalmost portion of tube 191), the treatment window (A to 188) configured for treating tissue with a liquid jet delivered to the treatment window (col 4, ln 35-44) via the jet tube (191); and an evacuation tube (Fig. 10, evacuation lumen 194) mounted to the upper housing (Fig. 10, evacuation lumen 194 is shown mounted to catheter body 200).
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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Drasler in view of Lees (US Patent Publication No. 20200352553 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Drasler teaches the hand piece above, wherein the lower housing (A) defines a distal inner surface (Fig. 10 above, inner surface of housing A) and the upper housing (200) defines a distal inner surface (Fig. 10, lumen 196),
Drasler does not expressly disclose the distal inner surfaces being configured to guide the liquid jet from the treatment window to the evacuation tube.
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Lees teaches distal inner surfaces (Lees: Fig. 6 above, distal inner surface D) being configured to guide a liquid jet from a treatment window (Fig. 6, length 19) to the evacuation tube (Fig. 6 above, distal inner surface D and lower surface A guide the liquid jet from length 19 to channel 42; para. 0040).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the hand piece of Drasler such that the distal inner surfaces being configured to guide the liquid jet from the treatment window to the evacuation tube as taught by Lees in order to prevent direct contact of the jet stream to body tissue so as to not disturb the treatment site (Lees: para. 0040).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-4, 6-9, 19, and 20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LEI GONZALEZ whose telephone number is (703)756-5908. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am - 4:00pm (CT).
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/LEI NMN GONZALEZ/ Examiner, Art Unit 3783
/CHELSEA E STINSON/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3783
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