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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/3/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 27 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 27 recites that the catheter securing flap “is fixed to the housing at one end of the catheter securing flap” but this limitation is repetitive in view of the amendment to claim 17 which recites “the securing flap having a first end fixed to the housing”. Accordingly, it is suggested to remove this limitation from claim 27. Appropriate correction is required.
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 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over O’Neil (PG PUB 2004/0171979) in view of Vancaillie (US Pat 6,423,038) and Palmer (US Pat 10,315,008).
Re claim 17, O’Neil discloses a catheter assembly 10 (Fig 1; it is noted that all reference characters cited below refer to Fig 1 unless otherwise noted) comprising: a catheter 24+30+38+42 having a proximal end (toward the bottom in Fig 1) with at least one connection fitting 48 and a distal end (toward the top in Fig 1) having at least one opening 26; a grip housing 22+52+58 having: a housing 52; a housing receiving passageway (within which section 24 of the catheter is residing in Fig 1) through which the catheter travels longitudinally there through (Para 22) and a grip (the round ribs seen on the external portion of the grip housing 52 between the distal end of bag 20 and the tip 22) proximate an outer central region of the housing (as seen in Fig 1); and a medicament device 50 connected to the at least one connection fitting and provided with a medicament (Para 25), the medicament being advanced by the medicament device through a passage of the catheter and exiting the at least one opening of the catheter (Para 25,35). O’Neil discloses in the background that balloons (like balloon 38) have been used in the past to delivery anesthetizing medicament (Para 4), but does not explicitly disclose that their catheter assembly 10 delivers anesthetizing medicament. Additionally, O’Neil does not disclose that the grip of the grip housing is a “raised webbed” grip or that the grip housing includes a catheter securing flap having a through hole aligned with the housing receiving passageway and having a first end fixed to the housing and a second end spaced from the housing.
Vancaillie, however, teaches a catheter assembly (Fig 2) comprising a catheter 24 (not labeled in Fig 2A, but described in Col 3, Lines 27-29) having a proximal end with at least one connection fitting 20 (Fig 2a) and a distal end having at least one opening 30 (Fig 2a) and an anesthetizing medicament device 22 (Fig A) connected to the connection fitting and provided with an anesthetizing medicament (Col 3, Lines 30-35) that is advanced through the catheter and exits the at least one opening (Col 3, Lines 37-40) for the purpose of reducing pain during procedures (Col 1, Lines 9-11). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify O’Neil to include the medicament within medicament device 50 as an anesthetizing medicament, as taught by Vancaillie, for the purpose of reducing pain during procedures (Col 1, Lines 9-11).
Additionally, Palmer teaches a grip housing 32 (Fig 1,3; it is noted that all reference characters cited below refer to Fig 1,3 unless otherwise noted) having a housing 40, a housing receiving passageway 49 through which a catheter travels longitudinally there through (as seen in Fig 2; Col 7, Lines 62-64), a raised webbed grip (best seen on body 40 in Fig 3) proximate an outer central region thereof (as seen in Fig 3), and a catheter securing flap 50 having a through hole 59 aligned with the housing receiving passageway (as seen in Fig 1,10A) and having a first end 51 fixed to the housing (as seen in Fig 3; Col 7, Lines 65-66) and a second end 52 (Fig 4) spaced from the housing (as seen in Fig 1,10A). Palmer teaches that providing a raised webbed grip aids in attaching the grip housing to the bag (Col 9, Lines 36-39) and providing a catheter securing flap allows the user to lock the catheter in place (Col 8, Lines 16-20). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify O’Neil to replace their entire grip housing with grip housing 32 of Palmer – which includes a raised webbed grip and a catheter securing flap – for the purpose of aiding in attaching the grip housing to the bag (Col 9, Lines 36-39) and allowing the user to lock the catheter in place (Col 8, Lines 16-20).
Claims 18 and 25-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over O’Neil (PG PUB 2004/0171979)/Vancaillie (US Pat 6,423,038)/Palmer (US Pat 10,315,008) in view of Palmer (US Pat 10,052,454).
Re claim 18, O’Neil as modified by Vancaillie and Palmer ‘008 in the rejection of claim 17 above discloses all the claimed features except that the securing flap includes a grooved catheter grip located on an inner region. Palmer ‘454, however, teaches a substantially similar grip housing 30 (Fig 10) comprising a housing receiving passageway 62 (Fig 10) and a catheter securing flap 40 (Fig 10) having a through hole 51 (Fig 10) and a grooved catheter grip (the teeth forming through hole 51, as seen in Fig 10) located on an inner region of the securing flap (as seen in Fig 10); Palmer ‘454 teaches that the providing of a grooved catheter grip on the securing flap ensures that the securing flap grabs the catheter and prevents the catheter from moving proximally through the grip housing after it has been distally advanced therethrough (Col 7, Lines 16-20). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify O’Neil/Vancaillie/Palmer ‘008 to include the securing flap with a grooved catheter grip, as taught by Palmer ‘454, for the purpose of preventing the catheter from moving proximally through the grip housing after it has been distally advanced therethrough (Col 7, Lines 16-20). It is noted that the only modification to Palmer ‘454 made by Palmer ‘008 is the change in shape of through hole 59; it does not change the location of the through hole 59, the plate shape of the securing flap 50, or the manner in which the securing flap is attached to the housing 40.
Re claim 25, O’Neil as modified by Vancaillie and Palmer ‘008 in the rejection of claim 17 above discloses all the claimed features with Palmer ‘008 teaching that the catheter securing flap is a plate-like structure (as seen in Fig 3) with the through hole in a central region of the catheter securing flap (as seen in Fig 3). The motivation cited in the rejection of claim 17 above also applies to this claim. It is noted that the addition of the grooved catheter grip of Palmer ‘454 in the rejection of claim 18 only adds the grip to the through hole of Palmer ‘008 and does not change the location of the through hole or the plate shape of the securing flap.
Re claim 26, O’Neil as modified by Vancaillie, Palmer ‘008 and Palmer ‘454 in the rection of claim 18 above discloses all the claimed features with Palmer ‘454 teaching that the grooved catheter grip comprises a plurality of indentations (forming aperture 51) at least partially along the through hole (as seen in Fig 10,11). The motivation cited in the rejection of claim 18 above also applies to this claim.
Re claim 27, O’Neil as modified by Vancaillie and Palmer ‘008 in the rejection of claim 17 above discloses all the claimed features with Palmer ‘008 teaching that the catheter securing flap is fixed to the housing at one end of the catheter securing flap and is integrally formed with the housing (as seen in Fig 3; Col 7, Lines 48-51). The motivation cited in the rejection of claim 17 above also applies to this claim. It is noted that the addition of the grooved catheter grip of Palmer ‘454 in the rejection of claim 18 only adds the grip to the through hole of Palmer ‘008 and does not change the manner in which the flap is secured to the housing.
Claims 19-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over O’Neil (PG PUB 2004/0171979)/Vancaillie (US Pat 6,423,038)/Palmer (US Pat 10,315,008)/Palmer (US Pat 10,052,454) in view of House (US Pat 6,090,075).
Re claim 19, O’Neil as modified by Vancaillie and Palmer ‘008 in the rejection of claims 17 above replaces their entire grip housing of O’Neil with grip housing 32 of Palmer; this modified version of O’Neil does not disclose that the grip housing further includes an introducer tip connector at a distal end thereof. House, however, teaches a catheter assembly 10 (Fig 1A) comprising a catheter 90 (Fig 1A) and a grip housing 15 (Fig 1A,2A,2B) comprising a housing receiving passageway 74 (Fig 2B) and an introducer tip connector 77+78 (Fig 4A) at a distal end (directed upward in Fig 2B) thereof; House teaches that providing an introducer tip connector allows the grip housing to be attached to a reservoir having lubricant therein to lubricate the catheter extending therethrough (Col 4, Line 66 – Col 5, Line 5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify O’Neil/Vancaillie/Palmer’008/Palmer’454 to include the grip housing with an introducer tip connector, as taught by House, for the purpose of attaching a lubricant reservoir thereto which lubricates the catheter extending therethrough (Col 4, Line 66 – Col 5, Line 5).
Re claim 20, O’Neil/Vancaillie/Palmer ‘008/Palmer ‘454 as modified by House in the rejection of claim 19 above discloses all the claimed features with House teaching that the introducer tip connector includes an elevated set of rings 77,80 (Fig 4A) on the outer region (as seen in Fig 2B,4A). The motivation cited in the rejection of claim 19 above also applies to this claim.
Re claim 21, O’Neil/Vancaillie/Palmer’008/Palmer ‘454/House disclose all the claimed features except that the raised webbed grip further includes a D-shape icon in the central region on opposite faces of the grip housing. However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to modify the raised webbed grip of Palmer to include a D-shape icon since Applicant has not disclosed that having such an icon solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose and it appears that the device would perform equally well with either designs. Furthermore, absent a teaching as to the criticality of the inclusion of this icon, this particular arrangement is deemed to have been known by those skilled in the art since the instant specification and evidence of record fail to attribute any significance (novel or unexpected results) to a particular arrangement.
Re claim 22, O’Neil/Vancaillie/Palmer ’008/Palmer ‘454 as modified by House in the rejection of claim 19 above discloses all the claimed features with House teaching that the catheter assembly further includes an introducer tip 20 (Fig 2B) positioned over the introducer tip connector (as seen in Fig 2B) for the purpose of providing a lubricant reservoir to lubricate the catheter extending therethrough (Col 4, Line 66 – Col 5, Line 5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify O’Neil/Vancaillie/Palmer ‘008/Palmer ‘454 to include the an introducer tip, as taught by House, for the purpose of providing a lubricant reservoir to lubricate the catheter extending therethrough (Col 4, Line 66 – Col 5, Line 5).
Re claim 23, O’Neil/Vancaillie/Palmer ‘008/Palmer ‘454 as modified by House in the rejection of claim 19 above discloses all the claimed features with House teaching that the introducer tip includes an elongated cylindrical member 29 (Fig 3A), a protruding end piece 30+37 (Fig 3A) and a tip connector catheter receiving passageway 23 (Fig 3C). The motivation cited in the rejection of claim 23 above also applies to this claim.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 2/3/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the present rejections that utilize the newly applied Palmer reference (which differs from the Palmer reference applied in the last Office Action) which explicitly shows in Fig 1,10A that the through hole of the catheter securing flap is aligned with the housing receiving passageway.
Conclusion
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/KAMI A BOSWORTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3783