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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 23 June 2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 23 June 2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is responsive to the RCE filed 23 June 2026 comprising the after final amendment filed 05 June 2026. As directed by the amendment: Claims 1 and 19 have been amended, claims 20-22, 24-25, 28, and 31 have been cancelled, claims 32-34 have been added, and claims 3-15 remain withdrawn. Thus claims 1-2, 17, 19, 23, 26-27, 29-30, and 32-34 are presently pending under examination.
Response to Arguments
Response to Arguments Regarding 35 USC § 112
Applicant’s amendment to claim 1 has overcome the previous 35 USC 112(a) rejection set forth in the Final Rejection mailed 07 April 2026, however, in view of the amendments made Examiner made note of a new 112(a) rejection for the claim.
Response to Arguments Regarding 35 USC § 102/103
Applicant’s arguments, see pg. 8-11 of Remarks, filed 05 June 2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of claims 1-2, 17, 19-22, and 26 under Huston et al. (US 2006/0178703 A1), hereinafter Huston have been fully considered and are persuasive. Thus, the 35 USC 102(a)(1) rejection of claims 1-2, 17, 19-22, and 26 has been withdrawn. Examiner makes note of the allowable subject matter below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 1 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Amended independent claim 1 reads “wherein blocking the subject’s right vagus nerve comprises delivering electrical pulses having a pulse width of about 50 milliseconds to about 100 milliseconds”, the claim language is inconsistent with the specification. Specifically, the disclosure, paragraph [0060], discusses where the frequency of the pulses that range from 1 Hz-10 Hz can have a pulse width of about 1 millisecond to about 100 milliseconds and further specifies examples ranging from 1-10 ms. Additionally, paragraph [0061] specifies that the frequency of 5 kHz which is used for blocking peripheral nerves ([0059]) has pulse widths ranging from 0-0.2 milliseconds. The specification fails to explicitly disclose the range of 50 milliseconds to about 100 milliseconds, which the Applicant now appears to be a critical feature with particular relevance in achieving the blocking of the vagus nerve. Applicant is requested to add clarification to the specification or indicate the support for the claims.
Claims 2, 17, 19, 23, 26-27, 29-30, and 32-34 depend from claim 1 and thus are also rejected by virtue of their dependency on claim 1.
Conclusion
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/ATTIYA SAYYADA HUSSAINI/ Examiner, Art Unit 3792
/NIKETA PATEL/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3792
