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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/24/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 21-22 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Selvig et al (2010/0049332).
Selvig et al teaches shock absorber system for a prosthesis having a prosthetic socket and a prosthetic limb or foot (fully capable of), the said shock absorber system comprising:
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an outer housing 14 having a bore;
an inner housing 13 received within said bore for relative rotational movement in response to torsional force between said inner housing and said outer housing (see at least par. 0048);
a resilient element 31 received within said outer housing and positioned between said inner housing and said outer housing, that resists said relative rotational movement such that torsional force that urges said rotational movement from an aligned configuration of said inner housing and said outer housing causes compression of said resilient element wherein said resilient element resists the torsional force and urges said inner housing and said outer housing back to said aligned configuration (see at least par. 0048);
and a clip 33 positioned between said inner housing and said outer housing, wherein said clip is restrained from axial movement relative to said outer housing (see figure 2a wherein pins 37 move the clip axially with the outer housing) and slidably engages said inner housing during said axial movement of said inner housing (end stop 34 is attached to the inner housing and slides relative to clip 33), and
wherein said clip slidably engages said outer housing for relative rotational movement (via pins 37 in slits 36 allowing for rotation) and engages said inner housing to rotate with said inner housing (clip is held between the end stop 34 and resilient elastomer 31 of the inner housing) and, whereby rotational movement between said inner housing and said outer housing from said aligned configuration causes said clip 33 to compress said resilient element 31.
Claim 22 is functional language which the system is fully capable of. See at least 0048.
Claim 35, see the rejection of claim 21 wherein the resilient element 31 is the second resilient element, the first resilient element is 10.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-18 and 35-36 are allowed.
Claims 25-34 are 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Selvig et al is considered the closes prior art of record as described above. However, Selvig et al fails to teach the combination of claim 21 and claim 24, “wherein said inner housing includes at least one slot extending in an axial direction, and the wherein said clip includes at least one rib extending into said slot, whereby engagement of said at least one rib with said slot permits relative axial movement of said inner housing and said clip and constrains said clip to rotate with said inner housing during said relative rotational movement between said inner housing and said outer housing”.
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.”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRUCE EDWARD SNOW whose telephone number is (571)272-4759. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am - 5:00 pm Monday through Thursday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Melanie Tyson can be reached at 5712729062. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRUCE E SNOW/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3774
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